Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The first day of school term was always a bit odd. The spring weather in Tokyo-3 never seemed too sure of itself, an unpredictable selection of torrential rains and the hot blazing sun. The students never seemed too sure of what was happening either, and the short amount of time before the first class was always used as an opportunity to catch up on the changes they’d missed since they finished last grade. Fortunately for them, this year graced them with a warm sun blanketed by pale clouds. They could only hope for their cohort to be the same level of familiar and welcoming.

Resident troublemakers Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara were cooped up in the back corner of class 2-A, far away from the observant eyes of their teacher and with their laptops faced away from any student who might try prying at the messages the two would send to each other mid-lesson. They were in the midst of discussing their plans for monetising their antics this year, when a familiar mess of orange hair entered their line of sight – Asuka Langley Soryu.

While not on any good terms with the duo after their money-making plans the year prior involved photos of her taken without her knowledge, her arrival was usually followed by that of their third musketeer, Shinji Ikari; Shinji was nowhere to be seen, to their great surprise. The two always walked together to school, and his absence usually meant something bad as he almost never missed class. Asuka, uncharacteristically silent, wandered towards the other back corner spot by the window and slumped into the chair as she emotionlessly looked out at the school’s front carpark.

“Ya know, we haven’t seen Shinji since break started..” Toji whispered as he leant towards Kensuke.

Kensuke caught what he was laying down. “Yeah, I’m worried. Maybe all that bickering led the wife to finally kill him?”

The two chuckled. Even though Asuka and Shinji had never dated, with their consistent close proximity to each other and their constant fights they might as well have been a married couple. Although no one in the class would say it to their faces (lest they face the wrath of Asuka), most had treated them as if that were the case for years.

“It’s like those old murder mysteries,” continued Toji, “she musta poisoned his dinner!”

“Or maybe she suffocated him in his sleep with a pillow to shut him up,” wondered Kensuke.

Suddenly, Kensuke felt himself getting pushed back as Toji craned over his desk, hands cupped around his mouth. Kensuke knew what was coming next, and in that moment feared the unholy consequences that would follow.

“HEY ASUKA!” shouted Toji, projecting his voice across the entire room. “DID YA KILL SHINJI DURING BREAK?!”

Asuka whipped her head around to face the two boys. Her emotions were concentrated entirely in her eyes, which directed a thousand yard stare into their souls – the scowled expression told them all they needed to know.

“She totally did it,” Toji joked as he leant back into his chair.

“Yeah, and now she’s gonna kill us too,” retorted Kensuke. He was relieved Asuka hadn’t smited them there and then, although he knew that her revenge would likely come when they least expected it.

Before any revenge plans could take place, the creak of the front door let the class know that their teacher was finally here. Ms. Katsuragi (or as the rowdier students would informally call her, Misato) stepped in front of her desk, bowing to greet the students.

“Hi class!” said Misato, greeting the class with a wide smile. “It’s good to see you all back after break! I hope you all had a great time and stayed safe!”

Toji absently looked around as Misato continued with her generic first day spiel. He wondered where Shinji could be, as he still hadn’t shown up to class. His eyes travelled towards the door, as Misato had left it ajar. Outside the classroom, he could make out two blurry head shapes, although he couldn’t tell who they belonged to through the small gap.

“Now class,” continued Misato, “I’d like to introduce you to some new classmates.”

Misato moved aside, and gestured towards the door. An unusual looking girl stepped in, with pale blue hair, ghastly skin and a frail build. Her outfit accentuated her oddness, wearing a sweater vest and a skirt rather than the uniform dress. Her face appeared completely expressionless, although none of the class could make much out as she faced Misato the entire time.

“Would you like to introduce yourself?” Misato asked the newcomer, although it served as more of a command than any sort of question. She grabbed some chalk and began writing out her name on the class chalkboard. Her handwriting was rough, but not enough to be illegible. Rei Ayanami was the name up on the board, with her finally turning to face the classroom when she was done.

A meek voice came from the girl. “Hello.”

Rei silently stared forward, much to the surprise of her classmates and teacher who expected her to say more. Misato, realising that this was going nowhere, guided her to one of the few remaining free seats, putting her next to Kensuke. He and Toji glanced at each other, silently agreeing that this girl was weird.

Misato returned to the centrespace in front of the desk, glancing towards the door. She repeated her hand gestures to come in for the next student, although they appeared to be a bit more resilient to coming in, judging by how long she was at it. Finally, after a minute of awkward silence, the student walked through.

Chapter Text

“So, you live up this way too?”

The most miserable school day of Shinji’s life had finally ended, although the latter half of it wasn’t nearly as miserable as the former. Turns out, knowing someone had her back was enough to put her at ease, even if that someone was the emotionally stagnant Rei Ayanami. Shinji hadn’t invited her to walk home with her, yet found her trailing behind as she travelled. She had decided to try conversing with Rei again.

“Yes,” Rei replied.

“Cool! So that means we can hang out easily,” Shinji responded, before adding “...if you want to.”

“Yes,” Rei replied in an identical manner.

“...Did you want to?”

“Yes.”

Shinji shot Rei an odd look, her having repeated the same response in the same cadence multiple times. She really was a robot at that moment.

“Can you say anything other than yes?”

“When I feel like it.”

Shinji was satisfied with the slightly snarkier response – proof that there was a human operating Rei, if an incredibly muted one. The two continued up the street, closing in on the Ikari household.

“You’re really still following along… Did you want to hang out now?” Shinji mused.

“No, I just live this way.”

Their journey continued onwards, finally reaching Shinji’s street. She was surprised to see Rei still tailing along, wondering if she’d moved next door or somewhere close. After all, she’d recently seen a For Sale sign up in her neighbour’s yard… But now here she was, unlocking the door to her house, and she could still feel Rei’s presence behind her. With the door opened, she watched Rei walk past her, leaving her confused. She decided to follow along to see what was up.

In the kitchen she found her mother, Yui, surrounded by stacks of boxes labelled Ayanami. Rei shifted a seat from the dining room table to rest on, her blank expression giving away no clues as to what was happening in her head. Shinji was thoroughly befuddled at this point. At least her mother’s face animated with joy upon seeing her daughter enter the room.

“Oh Shinji!” Yui excitedly shouted before toning her voice down to something more reasonable. “I see you’ve brought Rei home with you! You two must’ve gotten acquainted!”

Shinji couldn’t catch what she was throwing, and responded with an exaggerated raise of her right brow.

“I forgot to tell you this morning, but this is Rei,” elaborated Yui. “She’s the daughter of a friend of mine. She’s come to stay with us on pretty short notice so I didn’t have much time to let you know…”

“Rei, did you know to meet with me?” asked Shinji. Rei shook her head in response.

“Did your parents not tell you that you’d be coming home with Shinji?”

“I was told to look for the boy named Ikari with the short hair,” explained Rei. “That’s not Shinji.”

Shinji’s mouth didn’t move, but the shine in her pupils said everything – that was one of the nicest things she had heard in a while, and the first time she’d been called a girl by someone her own age, even if not directly. Yui could see her eyes light up, and ruffled her daughter’s hair in response.

“Shin only started her transition recently, so they might not have caught up with the news,” pondered Yui. Or they had no faith in my daughter and me when I told them a month ago, she quietly added in her head. “Since you met up with her in the end, it doesn’t really matter now!”

“Where’s Rei gonna sleep though? We’re using all the rooms in the house already,” Shinji said after realising the predicament at hand.

“Well, I was thinking–” Yui replied, “Since you’re both girls, it would be fine for you to share a room!”

Shinji’s face bore a look of confusion; Rei’s face bore the same expression it had since she had walked in.

“That is… if that’s okay with you Rei?” Yui appended to her previous statement, realising she hadn’t consulted the person in question. Rei nodded in response, to her great relief.

But what about my stuff? Shinji wondered as the other two grabbed boxes to take to her room. She followed along, wondering how they were going to fit everything into her already packed room. She was surprised to see once they had reached her doorway that the entire contents of it had been shifted to one side, creating a visible border between her belongings and the naked floor of the other half. Yui dumped the box she was holding onto in that other half, and Rei followed.

“Your father kindly rearranged your room while you were at school today,” explained Yui. “So all of your stuff is still there! Just with the space for Rei too. I’m surprised he was able to do it so neatly with the extremely short notice we were given…”

“Where is father?” asked Shinji, realising she hadn’t spotted him at all.

“He’s out grabbing takeaway so I don’t have to cook tonight! It’ll make unpacking all this stuff go by a lot quicker.”

Typical. Her father seemed to always have reasons to be absent from home, especially since she had come out. Working late, helping a friend out, running night errands… It felt like he was avoiding any sort of contact with her at every possible moment. She hadn’t cared too much, as when he was home it was as if nothing changed, but at the back of her mind that was the problem – it was as if he was trying to avoid acknowledging the big change right in front of his eyes. What does he really–

Shinji’s train of thought was interrupted once again as she found both her mother and Rei staring at her idling self.

“Do you plan on standing there the whole time or would you like to help your new roommate move in?” Yui said in a commandeering tone of voice she typically saved for when Shinji was in trouble. Shinji got the hint, and quickly scuttled to the kitchen to pick up a box of her own.

The trio quickly transferred the boxes to the room, totalling eight of them. Each was loosely sealed with duct tape, their poor application barely holding each end closed. Whoever had packed these boxes had done it with no care for the contents, as the tape peeled off with little effort. As Shinji looked inside, she realised the boxes were in great excess – all were barely filled, with their contents haphazardly thrown in.

Rei, or whoever had packed her stuff for her, hadn’t stored much. Out of the boxes came a small stack of clothes, mostly her old school uniform; a collection of roughed up notebooks, worn stationery, and some basic toiletries. By the opening of the eighth box, Shinji was befuddled by a lack of any personal flair, and moreso by the fact that she seemed quite content with what had been delivered. Yui briefly left the room, before returning with a roll out futon and a small cabinet for Rei to place her things in. Even with all her belongings strewn over the floor, her side of the room was still bare and unwelcoming, a stark contrast to the now tightly packed and brightly coloured half Shinji retained domain over.

Before Shinji could ask Rei what was up with lack of stuff, she could hear the front door of her house creak open. Her father had finally arrived home.

Gendo sat with his back straight, his expression stern and his eyes aimed at end of the dining room. He was always a man of appearances, and part of that was making sure his posture was always in top form, even in a situation as casual as a family dinner of takeaway fried chicken. Sat at the sides were his wife Yui, his daughter Shinji, and new arrival Rei. While fast food didn’t typically call for the fine china, as it created the dishes to clean that it was meant to alleviate, Yui thought bringing them out for the occasion would help Rei feel more at home.

“Go on, grab yourself something to eat!” Yui gestured to Rei after she sat there for a period, motionless. She began to pick at the fries, but didn’t touch anything else.

“Are you not hungry?” Shinji asked her, leaning in from the other side of the table.

Rei silently turned to meet eyes with her. “I don’t eat meat.”

Yui dramatically slapped her forehead. “Goodness! I should’ve asked if you were vegetarian first… I’m so sorry Rei.”

“It’s okay,” Rei replied, still grabbing fries one by one. “It’s my fault for not telling you beforehand.”

“I don’t have anything specifically vegetarian in the fridge,” Yui continued while getting up from her chair, “but I can prepare you a salad if you’d like!”

Gendo suddenly rose from his own chair, his body coming to life after being in a state of near-stasis since sitting down. He indicated with his hands for his wife to sit back down, before a rare grin formed on his face.

“It’s all good,” he blurted in his deep, gravelly voice. “You’ve done enough helping Rei today. I can go prepare the salad.”

Rei nodded in acknowledgement. Gendo walked briskly to the fridge, and he grabbed out various salad stuffs before making quick work of them into smaller chunks on the nearby chopping board. He reached under the kitchen counter, finding a small bowl to dump the pieces in, before mixing them with some salad dressing. The process was surprisingly brief, and Rei had only grabbed a few more fries in the time it had taken Gendo to fix the salad for her. She began to pick at the salad instead, although with a lot more interest than she had the fries.

A pang of jealousy lit itself in Shinji’s subconsciousness. Her father had just gone more out of his way for a newcomer than he had for her in… well, she couldn’t remember a single time he had. And the smile! Her father rarely, if ever, smiled for her. It was a small collection of gestures, but they all slightly upset her nonetheless – the kind of upset she would store in the back of her mind, never to act upon.

Dinner was over as quickly as it began, with Rei quickly but gracefully devouring her salad and Shinji losing her appetite. Shinji ate just enough to not rouse suspicion, and excused herself back to her room, where she crashed onto her bed. Rei soon followed, sitting cross-legged onto her futon. She sat quietly, unmoving, like if she were in a meditative trance. The two remained still for a period of time.

“So why did you move in with us?” asked Shinji, trying to break the ice.

“I don’t know,” Rei responded.

“Okay, uh… where did you come from?”

“I lived in the area,” Rei answered. Shinji sat waiting for her to elaborate, but a follow-up never came.

“So… do you have any hobbies?”

“I like to draw.”

Finally! Something Shinji could learn about Rei. She decided to press further.

“Oh! That’s cool! What do you like to draw?”

Rei didn’t say anything, and instead reached for the stack of notebooks beside her, handing Shinji one of the books. As she flicked through the pages, she found them covered in nothing but drawings of mecha, ones that she seemed to recognise from somewhere but couldn’t recall exactly where from. They were intricately detailed, with some expertly shaded with pencil and others hatched with fine ink lines. Her eyes sparkled as she looked back up at Rei.

“These are so awesome Rei!” she shouted, barely containing her excitement. “Are they from a cartoon? They look familiar but I don’t remember where I’ve seen them before.”

“Thank you,” Rei replied, her eyebrows raising ever so slightly. “I like to draw what I see in my dreams.”

“Your dreams?” Shinji responded, confused.

“They’re not from a show,” Rei said as she side-stepped the obvious question laid out. Shinji decided not to ask again, as she thought she could hear a slight annoyance in Rei’s tone; she wondered why she got such a sense of familiarity from the designs. Rei handed her another notebook filled with more of them, this time painted with watercolour.

As she continued to gush over the art she noticed Rei’s mouth begin to curve upwards. It had taken all day, but she’d finally discovered that the girl had an expression other than neutral. Rei continued to say few words as she took in the endless compliments and dug through her pile, but Shinji swore she could hear a perk to her voice too. A smile formed on Shinji’s own face in response.

Eventually, Shinji hit the end of the last notebook. She sat on her bed staring at Rei, waiting for her to bring out something else.

“Is that all you’ve got?” asked Shinji, now invested in seeing more of her art.

“I ran out of books to draw in,” replied Rei, her face returning to neutrality.

Shinji thought for a second before responding. “I’m sure mother would be happy to take you shopping for more! She could get you some more clothes too, and you could get the school uniform so that the principal doesn’t get uppity about your outfit…”

Rei looked down at her sweater vest, before looking back up at Shinji. “Would you be coming along?”

“Well, uh…” Shinji began muttering under her breath, “I’m not… really… comfortable going out like this.”

“But you could purchase clothes that make you comfortable,” remarked Rei.

“I, uh, I’m– I’m good,” stuttered Shinji, struggling to come up with an excuse. “I have enough clothes already that– that work.”

“Did you already purchase those clothes?”

“Ye… n– no. My mother got the school uniform for me… and the rest are her hand-me-downs.”

“Then it would be good to have clothes that you picked yourself, then you will find them comfortable.”

“I– I really am good!”

Rei focused her eyes on Shinji, whose face had turned a bright shade of pink as she tried to break eye contact. A trickle of sweat beaded down her forehead, and Rei swore she could see the girl tremble a little before she fell back on her bed and let out a big sigh.

“I don’t want to humiliate myself,” she whispered meekly, before closing her eyes.

Before she could go comatose for the night, Shinji felt a bony hand clasp around her wrist, pulling her up from her slumped state. She opened her eyes again to see Rei dragging her out to the kitchen, where she spotted Yui washing the night’s dishes. Shinji didn’t bother protesting, although she let her body stay limp. They stopped at the foot of the dining room table as Rei let go of Shinji’s hand.

“Mrs Ikari, we would like to go clothes shopping,” Rei loudly announced to the one other person in the room.

Yui turned around with a surprised expression on her face, one that upped in intensity when she saw her daughter standing there (if begrudgingly).

“We?” Yui said, a tinge of confusion appended to her voice.

“Yes,” Rei elaborated, “Shinji and I.”

Yui looked at Shinji, whose eyes were directed at the floor.

“Is that true Shinji?” Yui asked, with more of a chirp to her voice.

Shinji let her body tense up again and looked up at her mother. She could see the same sparkle in Yui’s eyes that she had when Rei had referred to her as a girl earlier. And anyways, what harm could a shopping trip do? She thought to herself.

She took a second to let her confidence build up before speaking in a much happier tone: “Yeah, I’d love to!”

Yui almost knocked over the neatly laid plates onto the floor in her joy. Her face beamed as she rushed over to the duo in excitement, before gathering herself and neatly folding her arms behind her back while standing herself up straight.

“Oh that’s just lovely!” she cheerfully grinned. “I can drive you two down to the plaza on the weekend, and I’m sure I can lend you some money to spend too!”

Rei silently nodded in acknowledgement as Shinji let out a deep, steady breath. A weird sense of relief washed over her, despite how against the idea she had been at first. She really did need some clothes of her own, because as nice as it was for her mother to have donated some of her old clothes, they weren’t her. But even then… she still shook at the thought of presenting female publicly, in an environment she had no control over.

The two returned to their room after Yui had arranged a time that weekend – she was a very punctual woman, and she had a work schedule to uphold. As Shinji sat back down on her bed, she realised her skin had gone as pale as Rei’s. Rei seemed to take notice as well.

“Was I too forceful?” Rei asked, her face and tone still stone cold but her intentions caring. “I apologise if I was too forward.”

“No, don’t apologise, it’s okay,” countered Shinji, “I really needed that. It’s just… well, a lot of people out there don’t like people like me.”

Rei’s expression remained unchanged. “Like what?”

“Like…” Shinji began to motion her hands towards herself. “A lot of people out there don’t perceive me as a girl.”

“I perceive you as a girl.”

“But not everyone does…” Shinji’s voice trailed off as she turned to face her wall. “... and the people who don’t might hurt me.”

“Then I will protect you.”

Shinji looked back at Rei. She was physically quite small, and her body was practically nothing but skin and bones; her off-white skin was baked with the history of a person who rarely went outside. Yet, she had somehow dragged Shinji’s limping body along without struggle. Maybe she wasn’t lying; Shinji appreciated the thought regardless.

“Thank you, Ayanami,” she whispered through a smirk.

Rei gave Shinji her second smile of the day, before leaving the room. Shinji noticed the time right after – it was getting late, and they still had school in the morning. Four more days of it until the weekend, in fact. Four glorious, wonderful days.

Shinji’s face fell flat once again as she pondered if tomorrow would be as terrible as today had been.

Chapter Text

Shinji awoke to Rei lightly shaking her, head craned over her face. It was still dark outside, and the clock read 3:04am. This wasn’t the time to be waking up.

“What’s wrong?” Shinji whispered, barely conscious enough to speak.

“You were asking for help and thrashing about in your sleep,” explained Rei, straight-faced as usual. “I thought this would help.”

Shinji looked at herself. She had drenched through her pyjamas with sweat, and her chest was beating up and down as her heart raced. She was having those dreams again.

“Oh, was I?” Shinji asked in the most clueless voice she could muster. “I must’ve had a really bad nightmare, haha…”

Rei was still hovering above her. “I apologise for waking you up.”

“No, it’s okay!” Shinji said in the loudest voice she could whilst remaining quiet. “I appreciate your help. It should be me apologising for waking you up in the middle of the night.”

The room was silent again as Rei returned to her futon. Shinji wasn’t sure if she had registered her apology.

“Goodnight, Shinji.”

“Goodnight, Rei.”

Shinji continued to lay awake as she stared at the ceiling, steadying her breathing. She could never remember what went on in those dreams – just that they often led to her mother rushing into the room and making sure she was okay, and that they left a general feeling of dread in her stomach for days that followed. She wondered if it was worth the risk of returning to that nightmare by going back to sleep.

Eventually, the rising sun bled through her window, meeting with her still-open eyes.

The school hallways fell silent as yesterday's topic of discussion walked through the doors. Shinji could feel a million eyes piercing through her skin, trying to break her down – students of other grades drawing their own conclusions from what they saw of the "Wondergirl" Ikari. It didn't help that the already enigmatic Rei was the one walking beside her, her consistently neutral face and uniform mismatch leading her to stand out like a sore thumb.

"Can you walk a bit faster?" Shinji spoke through gritted teeth to Rei, wanting to get to class but not wanting to leave her behind.

Rei quickly outpaced her, entering an almost run state that drew the stares away from Shinji. She was relieved people weren't paying attention to her for a second, but felt second-hand embarrassment watching Rei scuttle along as fast as her legs could take her. Shinji started speed walking in an attempt to catch up, before a familiar arm stopped her in her tracks.

“Oh mein Gott Shinji!” cried Asuka with great dramatics. “You’re still pulling this act after yesterday?”

Shinji stood wordlessly, doing the best she could to not acknowledge the red-haired menace harassing her.

“You know, it’s rude to ignore your best friend,” Asuka jeered, “especially when she’s just trying to help you out! Unless of course, you know, you hate me now, which would be a real shame…”

Shinji kept looking away, noticing that all eyes had returned to her direction. She began considering if she should’ve run along with Rei. At least that would’ve been less embarrassing than this, she told herself as she played it out in her head.

“Between you and me, Shinji,” Asuka continued, lowering her voice as she moved her face closer to Shinji’s ear, “that newbie girl is a robot, not a person. And if that’s the only thing you have to justify your… position, maybe you should reconsider.

“Your standards have really dropped if all you’ve got to talk to is a machine that spits out nothing but ‘yes’ and ‘no’ answers!” Asuka shouted, followed by a laugh as she began to walk away.

Shinji stood frozen in place, trying to process what had just happened when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She turned around, where she found that class rep Hikari had entered her range of vision.

“Are you all good, Shinji?” she asked, concern bleeding through her eyes.

“I’m– I’m fine,” Shinji stuttered out in response.

“Well,” Hikari began projecting her voice so the hallway could hear, “as your class representative, I’ve gotta make sure that all my fellow classmates are safe and happy! So, if you ever have any trouble with anyone or anything, especially her, make sure to let me know! I’ll make sure it’s dealt with.”

A smirk had formed on Hikari’s face as she made her announcement, which had caused the hallway’s population to return to their travels. Despite her small build, the sternness in her voice was enough to commandeer them.

As the crowds dispersed, she could spot Asuka up the hallway, who’d stopped by the 2-A door the moment she heard Hikari making her speech. A visible rage was building behind Asuka’s eyes as she stared her down before entering the classroom. Hikari hoped that it would deter her from harassing her at lunch again.

“Thanks… but did you need to be that loud?” Shinji asked, breaking her silence.

“Hey, just doing my part as class rep!” Hikari replied with a giggle. “Anyways, I am being serious here – I’ve got your back, and the new girl’s too. As much as I don’t wanna drag your mood down, you’re probably gonna need it.”

“Not really much further you can pull me,” Shinji quipped in response, her face breaking into a smile.

“Exactly.” Hikari said, before the two shared a mutual nod as they walked together to their class.

Rei was sitting in her spot from the previous day, while to Shinji’s great relief Asuka had chosen a different spot to sit – unfortunately for Hikari, the spot in question was her’s. Asuka smirked once again at the duo, as if this had earned her the upper hand; Hikari rolled her eyes before sitting in the back corner next to Shinji.

Toji and Kensuke were the last students to walk into the room, making it past the door frame as the clock read less than a minute until class officially started. Shinji avoided making eye contact with them, although Kensuke waved at her anyways. Hot on their trail was Misato, who managed to walk through the door the exact moment the minute hand ticked over.

Unlike the day prior, the day’s lesson started with zero shouting and not a single insult sparred. Shinji managed to begin her work, before realising Rei was once again staring towards the front of the class, completely unmoving.

“Are you good Rei?” Shinji said as she leant over to her right.

“Yes,” Rei replied bluntly.

“Then why aren’t you writing anything?”

“I do not have anything to write with.”

Shinji gave her an odd look. “Did you not bring your school stuff?”

Rei returned an odd look, however she bore no response. She didn’t have anything for school. Shinji, realising Rei’s predicament, scoured her bag for a spare pen before ripping a handful of pages out of her notebook and passing them over. Rei nodded blankly at Shinji before grabbing them out of her hand, quickly scribbling down everything written on the chalkboard as soon as they hit the desk.

The rest of the lesson went by quite quickly, with the lunch bell signalling their freedom. Rei got up as soon as it rang, with Shinji following her out shortly after; Hikari’s eyes tracked Toji and Kensuke trailing them closely. She watched as most of the class flooded out the doors, hoping that as the crowd scattered she’d find that Asuka had left the room. Asuka seemed to have other ideas, as she sat stubbornly, grabbing her lunch box out of her bag. Hikari, not wanting to deal with her, chose to stay stuck in the back corner, and she too grabbed out her lunch box. This brief peace, however, was quickly disrupted by Asuka turning around once the room was near-empty.

“What was that about?!” she cried, a clear annoyance in her voice.

Hikari began to eat her food, ignoring Asuka.

“Don’t tell me you’re a part of the silent club with Wondergirl, Miss Class Rep!” Asuka continued on, to no avail. Hikari continued eating her lunch while not acknowledging the rant aimed towards her.

For the second day in a row, class 2-A was subjected to the sound of metal grinding against the wooden floorboards as Asuka raised from her chair to head over to Hikari. She slammed her hands onto Hikari’s desk, sending her lunch box for a short flight before it crashed back down, spilling bits of rice everywhere.

Chapter Text

“Yes, Mrs Ikari. I appreciate you heading down on such short notice. We’ll be here waiting for you.”

A click of the phone signalled that the call was over as it was returned to its home on the wall. On the opposite end of the room sat a row of chairs, one of which currently housed Shinji Ikari. Her head was slumped down and her hands sat limp in her lap, with only the slow motions of her chest signalling she was alive. Misato had found her mid-breakdown in the corner of the front car park and successfully ushered her inside administration, however, she couldn’t figure out how to get her to speak.

Misato sat herself on the chair next to Shinji. “Y’know, I can’t help you out much unless you talk to me.”

Shinji remained unresponsive.

“Was Asuka terrorising you again?” she inquired, lowering her head to meet with Shinji’s.

A weak shake of the head answered no.

“Okay, well… give me names. Tell me who upset you and I’ll make sure they’re in the deepest trouble of their school lives.”

After a short wait, Shinji turned her head to face Misato. “Ms Katsuragi, am I a girl to you?”

Misato looked shocked that this was even a question. “Of course you are!”

“Do you really think that Ms Katsuragi? Or are you just saying it to be nice?”

“That’s all I see in front of me, so it must be true,” she responded, face filled with concern. “And please, you can call me Misato – I’ve taught you for years! It’s not like the other kids in class don’t already.”

“Well, Misato… does it disappoint you that I am one?”

Misato's jaw nearly fell agape. "Why would it disappoint me? Why would it disappoint anyone?!"

Shinji let her head limp downwards again. She didn't want to answer the question.

“You have to answer at least one of my questions at some point, Shinji.”

She continued not to speak, but Misato could hear her exhale a heavy sigh as she picked her head back up to lean against the chair. Misato grasped her hands around one of Shinji’s, allowing her arms to hold up the limping weight. She looked Shinji as directly in the eyes as she could from the side.

“Look. There are going to be people who don’t accept who you are. There are people out there who will make sure it’s loud and known that they don’t agree with your existence, and they’re going to try and make you feel as unsafe and unwelcome as they possibly can. But please don’t give up on yourself to try and appease them! You’ll only make yourself feel worse, and it won’t make them stop.”

Shinji shifted her head to face Misato once again. Her eyes were watering, but she refused to let them cry. This was not the time and place.

“You’re one of my star pupils, Ikari. I’d hate to see you burn out now when you’ve finally just found yourself.”

Soon after Misato finished her speech, the light patter of shoes moving against the carpeted floor filled the room. Rei walked into the room, unannounced, as she travelled towards the chairs.

“Are you okay, Ayanami?” Misato asked as she broke her attention away from Shinji, letting go of her hand.

Rei did not bother answering. Instead, she dropped her bag by Shinji, before unzipping it and removing a blue lunch box; Shinji looked confused as Rei handed it to her.

“You forgot your lunch box,” stated Rei.

“Oh…” Shinji sheepishly replied as she grabbed the lunch box from Rei’s hands. “Thank you Rei.”

No other words were exchanged as Rei plopped herself down on the seats, wedging Shinji between herself and Misato.

“What are you doing?” questioned Shinji, her face of confusion returning. “You don’t need to stick around for me.”

“I am protecting you,” Rei responded.

“I appreciate it,” Shinji said with an awkward smile, “but break ends soon, and I wouldn’t want you to miss out on class.”

Rei remained unmoved from her seat. “We can return to class together.”

“Actually, Shinji’s headed home,” interjected Misato. “Her mother’s coming to pick her up now.”

“I can come home with her,” countered Rei. “We live together.”

Misato looked at Shinji, her face bearing an expression asking if that was true. A quick nod from Shinji confirmed it. Although Misato would typically argue that Rei should return to class and that Shinji was her own person, she felt like making an exception since it was only the first week of term and the circumstances were unusual at best. It’s not like she could parse either of them anyways.

The end of lunch bell soon rang through the walls, prompting Misato to rise from her chair. Rei remained in place, staring forward; Shinji appeared less anxious than when she had arrived. Misato turned around with a request for her:

“Please stay safe, and take care of yourself.”

The patter of shoes against the carpet returned to fill the room once again as Misato walked out of the room, leaving the other two alone to wait for Yui’s arrival. They could hear the chatter of students rushing back to class outside, eventually returning the room to silence. Shinji didn’t say it, but she was glad that Rei was here, making sure she didn’t wait alone.

It wasn’t long before Yui rushed into the room, running up to Shinji and embracing her tightly. She quickly reciprocated, appreciating the warmth of her mother’s hug.

“Rei?” Yui blurted in surprise as she noticed the pale girl sat next to her daughter. “I didn’t know you were gonna be here?”

“She’s coming home as well,” answered Shinji. “Ms Katsuragi already knows.”

“Oh!” Yui was a bit confused, but chose not to press further. “In that case, let’s get in the car already… we can talk more then.”

Thankfully, the walk to the car was a lot briefer than the time spent sitting waiting for it to arrive. Yui’s boxy van stuck out amongst the rounder, sleeker vehicles owned by the teachers there. Rei and Shinji slipped in the backseat together as Yui hopped into the driver’s seat. The car cackled to life without a hitch, and it was on the road before the backseat duo could strap their seatbelts in.

“Now I’m glad you’re safe,” began Yui as she kept her glance directed to the road, “but you’re just lucky that they didn’t need me at work today. I can’t give them the family emergency excuse each time, so please don’t make this a regular thing, okay?”

Shinji looked down at her feet, embarrassed that her predicament had brought her mother off work.

“Shin,” Yui continued, “I know it’s baby steps and I’m happy you’re finally getting out of the house, but it’s your second day and you’ve already been sent home early panicking! You have to find better ways to deal with it…”

“I’m sorry,” muttered Shinji.

“There’s no need to grovel, this can be a learning experience for you. And anyways, I’m sure you and Dr Akagi can work out some solutions together! I booked you in for an in-person session this Sunday – who knew that she did weekends?”

Shinji’s head shot up upon hearing that last line. Although Dr Akagi was her therapist, the two hadn’t met in person on the account of Shinji being housebound in the few months they’d had sessions together.

“W-wait!” stuttered Shinji, surprised by the revelation. “I’m not ready to go out in public… like this…”

“Aren’t you shopping with Rei this Saturday?”

“It will be a good opportunity for you to practice going out,” chimed Rei.

Shinji nervously laughed. She’d forgotten about that shopping trip already, putting it to the back of her mind; she didn’t want to let Rei down and call it off, but every inch of her mind was crying out at her to find a way out of it.

Catching on that that line of conversation was over, Yui decided to switch gears.

“How are you finding school here Rei?”

“Adequate.”

“Is there anything you’ve found interesting there?”

“No.”

“Is there anything different to your old school?”

“Not really.”

Yui knew better than to bother asking further – when Rei was giving short answers like that, she was probably uninterested. Yui could spot the Ikari household up the road, a welcome sight meaning that she didn’t have to clear the dead air any longer. A short period later, and the van’s passengers had already made their way inside the house.

Shinji quickly dumped her stuff before heading to her room, shutting the door, and collapsing onto her bed. Here, she could finally cry. A muffled sob bounced across the walls of the room as she buried her face in her pillow, letting her emotions out as quietly as she could. For her, they were problems to keep to herself, for they were too pathetic to let anyone else deal with. Besides the warmth of her tears staining the pillowcase against her face, her entire body felt cold, and she felt alone.

She could take Toji not accepting her – it hurt, but she knew he could be stubborn and set in his ways. But his sister? The young Sakura Suzuhara, who somehow seemed completely star-stuck whenever she saw Shinji, sparkles in her eyes; who made Shinji feel like she was worth something whenever she’d excitedly shout her name when she came over to hang out with her brother… Toji might have been talking out his ass, but the idea of her having her heart broken completely destroyed Shinji.

And Kensuke. Sure, he seemed to accept her, but the way he had questioned her made her feel like an alien creature, mentally being prodded and poked at as he jotted down notes like a scientist observing an experiment. The way he had made her feel like an inhumane other made her feel worse than the rant Toji had directed at her.

As far as she was concerned, the best people she had in her life were gone. Toji, Kensuke… Asuka. Had she messed up picking this path? Were the pangs of euphoric joy worth a lifetime of being perceived as a lesser being?

Before she knew it, her sobs had transformed into wails of longing and regret, barely kept at bay by the pillow on her face. She threw her blankets on her head to try and hide what she could, but she knew that the chokes of air she needed to take in were travelling through the house. She was a mess, face flushed with a disgusting mix of tears and mucus. She didn’t care.

The intensity of it all quickly tired her out. Her throat was hoarse, her face red and puffy, her eyes glistening with tears yet simultaneously dry. Her cries had reduced to quiet sniffles, her body otherwise still and lifeless. She wanted nothing more in the world at that moment than to be nothing.

A creak at the door notified her that someone had entered the room, followed by it closing again. She tried not to acknowledge it, but she felt a bony hand poke into her side that then began to shake her. She raised her head, finding herself eye-to-eye with Rei holding a tissue box once the blankets fell.

“I brought you tissues,” Rei said, stating the obvious. “Please wipe your face.”

Shinji grabbed a few tissues out of the box without another word said. She stood up as she tried to wipe her face clean, but she could still feel a general slickness of tears that would take a while to dry away. She looked at Rei, and tried to crack the best smile she could – her face was too sore to emote, so the corners of her mouth barely lifted. Rei responded with a slight frown of worry, causing Shinji to look away in shame.

She began to profusely apologise. “I’m sorry Ayanami, I really didn’t need to make a scene, I–”

Her speech was interrupted as she felt Rei’s skinny arms wrap around her, pulling her in for a hug. Her dry eyes began to well once more, blurring her vision. She didn’t know how to react.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself,” she could hear Rei say to her.

Different tears began to fall from Shinji’s eyes. These ones were a lot quieter, her mouth quivering but not making noises; less upset than the ones from before. They trickled from her cheeks onto Rei’s vest, which seemed to cause Rei to hug her tighter.

“Friends hug to tell each other they will be okay,” Rei continued. “This hug is to tell you that. It is okay to cry. It is okay to be sad.”

Shinji returned the favour, wrapping her own arms around Rei and holding her tight. Rei was a lot colder than the average person, but with how pale and icy Shinji’s skin was at that time, she may as well have been the sun.

As the two stood there, Shinji wished that she could verbalise how much she appreciated Rei. In just two short days of knowing her, she had shown more care for Shinji than any of her other friends had. What did it matter that her old friends weren’t there for her when Rei was while still accepting her for who she is?

She knew that eventually that her tear ducts would dry and then it would be time to let go and for life to move on as it normally did. But until that moment came, she told herself that it was going to last forever.

Chapter Text

Toji and Kensuke were wandering down the halls to 2-A, many minutes after lunch break had ended. Despite every classroom door being closed, their loud bickering managed to bleed through the walls into every room; students from other grades listened to their muffled, but audibly heated, argument. While no one could make out the exact words, it was obvious they were trying to trade the blame for something to the other, a long-standing habit of theirs.

The war of words died down as the duo reached their class door, trying to slide open the door as inconspicuous and quietly as they could. About to step foot through the doorway, Toji found himself bumping into Kensuke’s back as he froze.

“What gives?” Toji whisper-yelled.

“Don’t make it obvious you’re looking,” answered Kensuke, “but the class rep is staring us down. She looks mad.”

Kensuke stepped in as light-footed as he could, Misato not bothering to discipline them as the two troublemakers regularly showed up late. As Toji followed, he observed Hikari’s seat through his peripheral vision – sure enough, her eyes were narrowed down on the two, brows lowered and curved inwards. She certainly wasn’t happy with them.

As the two moved towards their seats, Hikari’s gaze followed. Shinji and Rei’s seats were unexpectedly empty, keeping her stare unbroken as Toji and Kensuke sat down. They both refused to acknowledge it, setting their eyes towards the front of the class and grabbing out their laptops. Their fingers gracelessly clacked away at the keys as they messaged each other to discuss.

SuzuharaT: wtf

SuzuharaT: y is class rep mad at us

AidaK: idk

AidaK: shin n new girl arent here

AidaK: prbly smthn with that

SuzuharaT: hows that our problem???

AidaK: dude i will hit you on the head again

SuzuharaT: ill punch u

SuzuharaT: really tho what we do

AidaK: u did make her cry

SuzuharaT: not my fault

AidaK: r u serious

The rapid increase in keyclacks from the two signalled that their debate had shifted from the school hallways to their school messenger, Hikari’s glance eventually shifting back to the board as she realised they wouldn’t be paying attention to her anytime soon. She still had schoolwork to do, anyways.

Before they knew it, the end of their second day back had finally arrived as Misato dismissed the class. While most of the class got up to leave, Toji and Kensuke sank behind their laptops, trying to make themselves invisible to any observers. They watched as Hikari got up to leave with the rest of their cohort, followed by Misato, leaving them the only people in the room.

The two looked at each other, nodding to sign a silent contract for neither of them to ever speak of today’s events ever again. They quietly grabbed their stuff and began quickly walking out single-file, trying to speedily make their escape from school. Unfortunately for them, the moment they stepped foot out of class they were met face-to-face with Hikari, her face more furrowed and angry than before.

“You two!” she shouted, finger jutting out towards them. “What did you do to Shinji and Rei?”

“What do you mean, what did we do to Shinji and Rei?” Kensuke laughed, acting as clueless as he could as he scratched the back of his head.

“I watched you trail behind them at lunch,” Hikari explained, “and then they didn’t come back to class. I know you two have something to do with it!”

Kensuke pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Well I’ve–”

“IT WAS KENSUKE’S IDEA!” Toji interjected as Kensuke’s eyes went wide in disbelief. “I DID’N HAVE NOTHIN’ TO DO WITH IT!”

“You’re the one who made her cry numbnuts!” retorted Kensuke, punching Toji in the shoulder.

“MADE HER CRY?!” replied Hikari, hand shaking.

“Yeah Toji!” Kensuke cried, shifting himself over to Hikari like he was an innocent party. “You’re terrible for making a girl cry!”

“Don’ act like ya weren’t the one askin’ the bad questions!” Toji grumbled through gritted teeth, arms folded over each other.

Hikari turned to face Kensuke, her face tinged with red. “What questions, Aida?”

“Uhh… y’know…” Kensuke began waving his hands around as if that explained it.

“HE ASKED SHINJ ABOUT ‘IS PISS!” Toji shouted with a jutted finger poking into Kensuke’s nose. “I JUST ASKED ‘IM WHAT’S WITH THE GIRL DRESS-UP?! NOT NEARLY AS MESSED UP AS FOUR-EYES OVER HERE!”

Kensuke’s face paled as the blood drained from his face in fear. Conversely, Hikari’s eyes looked ready to bulge out of her head as the blood rushed through her face in anger. She yanked the pair’s heads down by whatever ear of theirs was in closest proximity to her, pulling their faces closer to her thousand-yard stare. She took a deep breath in, ready to rattle the halls with rage, but calmly exhaled as she considered her other options.

“You two are on bathroom cleaning duty for the rest of the week,” she announced with a much steadier voice, her anger beginning to subside. “And I expect you two to go and apologise to Shinji once your duties are over.”

“Like you ‘ave the power to make us do it,” muttered Toji.

“Unless, of course,” Hikari went on as her voice began to raise, “you want to have Ms Katsuragi deal with it?”

Hikari had raised her voice as Misato conveniently walked past, of course, and the clink of her heels against the hardwood floor had stopped as she overheard the tail end of that sentence.

“What am I dealing with?” she chimed.

“Nothing, Ms Misa– Katsuragi!” an anxious Kensuke replied, knowing that whatever punishment she had in store for messing with one of her favourite students would be a lot more dire than a few days of bathroom duty. Kensuke proceeded to awkwardly salute his teacher as if she was his military commander, and with neither of the other students present debating his statement, the now slightly confused Misato continued on her way.

Toji, who’d realised his mouth running on full throttle was getting him nowhere good, silently stood by with his hands outwards and a face of embarrassment directed towards Kensuke. He felt a small chunk of metal fall into his half-opened palm.

“That’s the key to the cleaning closet,” Hikari commented as she began to walk away. “Don’t lose it, or you might have to clean the bathrooms with your mop heads.”

Kensuke began to mope his way out of the school, too ashamed to crack any sort of jokes or fire a comeback. Toji followed close behind, tightly clenching the key in his hand.

To the relief of everyone involved, the rest of the school week was a lot more uneventful. Shinji and Rei were back in class the following day, both acting like nothing had happened. They continued to eat their lunches in the same small nook, this time remaining undisturbed as Toji and Kensuke worked away at the caked-on stains of the school’s bathrooms.

Hikari was not so lucky. Just as she had the two days prior, the awful sound of metal chair legs attacking the floor announced the presence of Asuka, who sat herself next to Hikari, albeit this time without a word exchanged. The two ate their lunch without acknowledging the other, both their gazes directed forward.

This same stunt was repeated the next day, once again in complete silence. Hikari briefly glanced over at Asuka, trying to figure out what was going on in her head; Asuka appeared to be lost in her own world, and didn’t acknowledge the look she had received. Hikari returned to staring forward for the rest of lunch.

By the time Friday’s lunch break had arrived, with Asuka performing her usual schtick, Hikari had become more intrigued by it than annoyed. This intrigue quickly cascaded inside of her, until she found herself unable to do anything but initiate a conversation with the girl beside her.

“What are you hoping to achieve here?” Hikari asked, her head turned towards Asuka.

“I already told you,” she responded, head unturned; “to each my lunch with you, which will make you my friend.”

“But you don’t even speak to me.”

“I don’t need to! Is my presence not enough for you, Miss Class Rep?”

Hikari’s face furrowed as she watched Asuka’s face curl a smug smile in response.

“You know, calling me by name would be a good start.”

“As you wish, Hikari,” Asuka droned, drawing out her name as if to emphasise that it was something she was saying against her will. “Does that appease you, my liege?”

Hikari sighed. “I don’t think I’d want to be friends with the person who takes pride in terrorising her ex-best friend.”

“I don’t ta– I’m not ter– UGH! I already told you she wasn’t my best friend! You ask too many stupid questions.”

Asuka huffed out her chest and crossed her arms, still facing towards the board. Normally, this would be where Hikari would let the conversation die, but something about Asuka’s motivations had her enraptured. To her, they were borderline nonsensical – why hang out with her? It’s not exactly like she was popular, policing the halls at lunchtime and staying back after school to clean up her class; if Asuka was trying to make anyone jealous, she’d already failed.

That was nothing to say of her crusade against Shinji, which the more Hikari thought about, the less it made sense. She could write it off as the girl simply being transphobic, but if that was her only intent she was certainly going out of her way to keep using the right terms. Hikari was sure, at the very least, that her heart wasn’t in it. That it was something else.

Hikari wanted to figure Asuka out. She weighed up her options, mentally scrolling through a list of reasonable ones before settling on something a bit stupider, bolder. Something that would appeal to Asuka.

“Friends invite their friends over to their house, right?” Hikari spoke into the open air.

Asuka turned to her, a single eyebrow raised. “Are you trying to imply something here?”

“Nothing, the thought just crossed my mind.”

“I’m not stupid, Hikari. You want to come over after school, because I’m just that cool.”

“If the offer’s open, I guess.”

This sudden change in tone seemed to catch Asuka off guard, and her facial expression loosened up a bit in response.

“Aren’t you busy after school? With class rep things?”

“It’s the end of the week, I’m free to go.”

“Buuuuuuuut…” Asuka drew out the word as she leant backwards, “I’m sure you’re against the idea of hanging out with someone so below you.”

“I like to keep an open mind.”

Asuka locked up before responding. The confidence she’d exuded earlier had melted away, and she was suddenly a lot cagier about making a friend out of Hikari.

“...Sure. See you after school, then.”

The gravel had begun to scratch away at the finish of Asuka’s shoes as she dragged her feet along the ground, trying to slow herself down as much as humanly possible. Every few steps, she’d turn her head around to check if Hikari had left her and gone home, yet each time she found her continuing to trail her instead. The two travelled silently, Hikari simply following Asuka after class ended as she didn’t wait for her. She got the sense she wasn’t wanted there, but walked along anyway.

Asuka could spot her house up the road. She’d done all she could to procrastinate, but she knew she had to enter with her plus one soon. Another head check, and sure enough, Hikari was still there.

As they travelled up the driveway, Hikari took notice of the house’s mailbox. It was stuffed full of letters, some frayed around the edges from wetness. They looked like they had gone untouched for a long while.

Asuka decided it was time to break the silence as she twisted the door key. “Well, we’re here.”

A soft click signalled that the door was open, and she pushed it open before stepping inside. The entranceway was dark, but she didn’t bother turning on a light before knocking off her shoes and continuing inward. Hikari followed Asuka’s silhouette, performing the same courtesy as she realised the entire house was just as dark.

As they ventured further in, Hikari spotted a light switch on the wall and flicked it to the on position. To her surprise, there was no change in the room’s luminance.

“Don’t bother,” muttered Asuka. “The lights here died a while ago.”

They were in what Hikari could make out as the kitchen. Dishes were stacked high by the sink, the tap of which had fallen into a rhythmic drip. The dinner table looked long-unset, the chairs meant to be slotted underneath it strewn around the surrounding floor. She couldn’t see very well, but she could swear there was a thick layer of dust buildup on top of it too.

She continued to trail Asuka, walking down a hallway strewn with wrinkled clothes and random trash. She could feel something crunch under her foot; she chose not to investigate for her own wellbeing. Eventually, they hit the end of the hall, where Asuka opened a door and finally turned on a working light.

The room behind the door might as well have been from a different house, as it was properly maintained and not covered in trash. It was safe to assume this was Asuka’s bedroom, as she quickly crashed onto her bed after dropping her bag.

“So…” Hikari awkwardly began, unsure of what to make of Asuka’s living situation. “Your family lives here?”

“What kind of stupid question is that?” jeered Asuka. “Of course they live here, I can’t afford to live on my own.”

“Your house doesn’t look very lived in.”

Asuka shot her a dirty look, wordlessly telling Hikari that she did not want to talk about it.

“So, do you wanna keep interrogating me, or do you wanna do something?”

“Well, what did you have in mind?”

Asuka got up off her bed, wandering over to a neatly stacked pile of disc cases by a small, boxy television screen. She grabbed two off the top of the pile, holding them up for Hikari to see.

“I’ve got Sega Rally, and I’ve got Daytona. Pick one.”

Hikari recognised the names from her family’s game collection at home. “Oh, I don’t really play video games…”

“Right, right,” Asuka responded, lowering her arms. “I should’ve known that Miss Hikari Horaki was too good for an activity as lowly as gaming!”

Hikari waved her hands in the air in apologetics. “No, I didn’t mean it like that! I meant like… I don’t know if I’d exactly be fun to play against.”

Asuka looked at her with intrigue as she processed that statement, before returning one of the discs to the pile. “Daytona it is.”

She walked over to the TV screen, under which lived a few boxes of varying purposes hooked up to it. She removed the disc from the disc case, and placed it inside one of those boxes; as it whirred to life Asuka threw Hikari a controller.

“Now since you’re an amateur,” explained Asuka, gesturing at the screen; “you should pick the automatic car ‘cause it basically does everything for you.”

Hikari wondered if she was being talked down to or if Asuka was genuinely trying to help her understand the game, her tone for once not betraying her intentions. She also wondered if it was really a wise idea to be sticking around a house of this condition as she quickly cooked up a few excuses to get out of there in her head, but dismissed them as she selected the car as Asuka had told her.

Soon enough, the game had started, their cars racing into action. Once the start text had rolled off screen, though, Hikari’s car had rolled to a stop. Asuka paused the game, and Hikari got ready to be berated for her ineptitude.

“Y’know, you have to hold the B button to keep your car moving,” Asuka stated in a much calmer voice than Hikari expected. “I’ll restart the race for you.”

“Thank you,” Hikari responded with a smile.

“...Only this time though,” added Asuka, already mashing away at the buttons on her controller to get back through the menus. Even with her face turned away from her, Hikari swore her trademark smug smile had already returned.

The race began again with Hikari’s car actually moving along the track at her command. It, however, never stood a chance at catching up to Asuka’s, whose car ducked and weaved the computer racers as it easily snapped up first position. Clearly, she had had a lot of experience with the game, and she wasn’t letting up for the sake of giving Hikari a good first experience – not that Hikari minded, her brain more focused on the fact that she wasn’t sure the Asuka sat next to her was the Asuka from her class. While she was still as competitive as ever, her face tensed up as she was engrossed in the race, every other element of her ego had seemingly melted away.

Asuka leapt upwards as her car crossed the finish line first, making a show of herself for her audience of one. Hikari’s car was miles away in game, eventually defaulting as the timer ran out. She calmly placed down the controller as Asuka turned back to her.

“Another round?”

Hikari nodded, and they raced again. And again, again, again until Hikari had managed to climb the racer count to a podium spot; Asuka kept up her pole position each time. Once the last race had finished, Asuka kicked back and laughed.

“Keep practising and maybe you’ll be almost as good at this as me!” she cackled.

Hikari couldn’t help but return a giggle, surprised to have found herself enjoying her time competing against Asuka. They laughed together for a bit, before the room died down to the buzzing of the TV mixing with the music on the Daytona menu.

“It’s getting late,” said Hikari, her eyes catching the clock sitting above them. “I should probably head home...”

Asuka quickly jumped up, not responding but her expression drooping. She walked out her room, and Hikari followed close by, not wanting to take a solo trip through the rest of the house. When they reached the front door, Asuka stepped aside, allowing Hikari to walk through. Her face perked up again, imbued with an idea.

“Let’s do this again next Friday, alright?!” she shouted, one hand on her hip and the other pointed at Hikari. “As the best Daytona player, you can only get better by hanging around me!”

Hikari took a second to consider the offer, before remembering there was another duty she still had as Class Representative. “Alright… on one condition.”

Asuka seemed taken aback by her not immediately accepting the proposal, leaning forward with her eyes squinted. “What condition?”

“You apologise to Shinji.”

Now Asuka was really taken aback… was all that to get her to apologise to Shinji? She couldn’t believe the audacity of it all. What was left of her smile vanished, and her hands began to shake.

“See. You. At. School.” She gritted through closed teeth, enunciating each word as if it were its own statement. And with that, the door slammed shut on Hikari, leaving her with nothing but the setting sun and her own thoughts as she considered if that was the right way to go about it.