Evangelion IF: Shinji Ikari and Mana Kirishima, a World Too Late for Love - Beyond the Everyday

On the way to school, Ikari Shinji stopped in his tracks. 　Not because the light turned red. It was because the sight before him made his legs freeze. 　Morning in Tokyo-3. Restored buildings stood side by side with ones still broken. Next to a convenience store, the wreckage of a shattered wall. Across from a café, exposed steel frames. 　Until three years ago, this city had been a battlefield. "……Around there, I guess." 　Shinji looked toward the south. Every time an Angel came, buildings rose up, guns spat fire, and still the enemy wouldn't stop. Back then, he'd been fourteen, piloting Evangelion Unit-01. 　He'd told himself it was to protect everyone. "Did I actually protect them?" 　No answer came. That was why he thought about the same thing every morning. 　He started walking again. The sound of his soles scraping against the asphalt. On the wind came the smell of freshly baked bread. Morning air drifting in from Revive Street. The shopping district they called a symbol of reconstruction. The energy had certainly returned. 　Shinji readjusted his school bag on his shoulder. Inside were textbooks and the empty container of a convenience store bento he'd bought last night. He'd forgotten to throw it away. (I'm hopeless with stuff like this.) 　It wasn't like anyone would scold him. He lived alone. But he couldn't help feeling a little disgusted with himself for lacking self-discipline. 　Once an Evangelion pilot, a special protected person under the United Nations. And now, just a third-year high school student. Nominally, he was under the protection of an organization called WILLE. Originally a reconstruction support and monitoring agency that managed the former NERV sites. After the war ended, NERV was dismantled, and now WILLE had apparently taken over its various functions. 　As he walked, Shinji touched his chest. Beneath his uniform was a small burn scar. An old wound he rarely showed anyone. (The war is over, so why does it still—) 　He turned a corner and saw the gates of Tokyo-3 Municipal First High School. The building had originally been a middle school, reorganized into a high school curriculum. All the window glass here was bulletproof, and remnants of shelter structures remained throughout the school building. Hidden within peaceful everyday life, the skeleton of war. 　As he was about to pass through the gate, a poster caught his eye. 『Culture Festival Theme: Rebirth and the Future』　Letters drawn in colorful markers. Below it, a smaller poster was stuck up. 『Mr. Contest Being Held! Winner Gets a Confession Time!』　Confession Time. 　Shinji averted his gaze slightly. 　When he entered the classroom, as expected, his classmates were completely absorbed in talk about the culture festival. They gathered around desks, discussing who was doing what event, how ticket sales were going. "Shinji-kun, did you hear about the culture festival?" 　The boy sitting next to him called out. Shinji nodded vaguely. "Ah, yeah. I saw the poster." "You gonna do something too? Help out with the class project?" "……Sorry, I haven't really thought about it yet." 　Shinji smiled awkwardly. Smile and deflect. That way, the other person wouldn't push any further. 　The classroom atmosphere was bright. Everyone was in high spirits. The culture festival was a symbol of "the recovery of everyday life"—apparently even local media was coming to cover it. 　But Shinji couldn't enter that circle. (It's like only my heart is still stuck three years ago.) 　He looked out the window. In the schoolyard, students in PE class were running around. They didn't know that war. They didn't need to. But being among people who didn't know made him feel all the more like he alone was on the other side of a thin membrane. 　Morning homeroom ended. Classes began. The teacher at the blackboard explained formulas. Only his hand moved, taking notes. His heart was somewhere else entirely. 　Lunch break. 　He didn't want to stay in the classroom. Shinji headed for the rooftop. 　The rooftop door was heavy. When he pushed it open, autumn air rushed in. Autumn in Tokyo-3 was a little hot after Second Impact. The traces of summer still lingered. 　No one was on the rooftop. 　Shinji sat down by the fence and bit into the bread he'd brought. He looked down at the schoolyard. Lots of tiny heads moving around. Laughter rode the wind, reaching all the way up here. "I thought I could become a normal high school student." 　He said it aloud and felt a little embarrassed at himself. 　What was "normal," anyway? Getting excited about the culture festival like everyone in class? Talking about people you liked, taking detours after school, occasionally getting into fights. 　All things he lacked. 　He took another bite of bread. The sweetness of the melon bread sank into his chest with unexpected poignancy. 　Suddenly, there was a clatter. 　Shinji turned around. 　The water tower door. That should never open, normally. 　The door was opening. Slowly. 　A girl emerged from inside. 　Semi-long dark brown hair. Greenish-brown eyes. She wore round glasses, and behind them, her eyes narrowed in a grin. She was about 165 centimeters tall, slender, but radiated an overwhelming presence from her entire body. She wore a school uniform, but the hem of her skirt was dusty. "Finally found you! Shinji-kun, you're cute as ever today!" 　The girl was Makinami Mari Illustrious. 　Shinji froze. 　Mari paid no mind at all, placing her hands on her hips and looking around the rooftop. "This is my secret base. The space between the rooftop and the attic is pretty big—surprisingly livable." "……Livable? This is a school, you know?" "Isn't it more fun not to worry about that kind of thing?" 　Mari laughed. As if it were the most natural thing in the world. 　Shinji knew this girl well. Or rather, he thought he did. She was also a former Evangelion pilot, and during the war she'd operated as a WILLE collaborator. But being this close to her was rare. "Mari…… why are you in the school attic?" "Well, obviously, to watch over Shinji-kun's daily life from the attic." 　She said it like it was the most obvious thing. "……Huh?" "Don't worry, I'm not a stalker. It's just a hobby." 　If it was a hobby, was that supposed to be reassuring? Shinji turned the words over in his head several times. It was not reassuring. 　Mari took a step closer to Shinji. Their eyes met. She was close. Her long brown hair swayed lightly in the wind. "Hey, Shinji-kun. You should enter the culture festival's Mr. Contest." "No—why would I?" "If you win, you get a Confession Time, right? That's my chance to be confessed to by Shinji-kun!" "What are you even talking about?" 　The conversation was leaping off in a completely unexpected direction. Shinji clutched his head. 　Mari was grinning, enjoying Shinji's reactions. This girl was always like this. Impossible to pin down, and yet somehow he couldn't look away. "Also, I was watching from the attic, and you've been lost in thought since this morning, haven't you?" "You were watching!?" "Yep, the whole time." 　Shinji was speechless. 　That gaze he'd felt on the way to school this morning. That had been Mari? No, but wait. "I don't think you can see the school route from the attic……" "Well, no, I can't. I was in the attic for a different reason." 　Mari admitted it casually. 　Then what was that gaze? A hazy unease remained in Shinji's chest. 　Mari moved closer again and lifted his bangs slightly with her pinky. "If you keep making such a gloomy face, I'm going to want to cheer you up." "Please don't do anything unnecessary." "Next time, let me watch over you properly. Not from the attic—from beside you." 　Shinji couldn't respond to those words. 　Beside you. 　She said things like that so casually—that was why Mari was hard to handle. But there was also a part of him that didn't dislike it. 　No, what was he thinking. 　Shinji shook his head. "Anyway, I'm not entering the Mr. Contest." "Hehe, I wonder about that?" 　Having said all she wanted, Mari turned away. Heading toward the water tower door, she looked back and waved. "See you later, Shinji-kun! I'm looking forward to the culture festival." 　The door slammed shut. 　The rooftop suddenly fell silent. Shinji leaned against the fence and let out a breath. 　His heart was beating a little fast. That was surely just because she'd appeared so suddenly. That was all. 　After school. 　Shinji left the classroom and walked down the hallway. He changed his shoes at the shoe lockers. Around him, students headed to club activities, others went home. The voices of girls laughing echoed through the hallway. 　He exited the school building. The moment he stepped out the entrance, he felt an intense gaze. 　Shinji stopped. 　He turned around. 　The area around the gate, the school route—no one was there. There wasn't even anywhere for someone to hide. 　The twilight sky was stained red beyond the school building. Clouds drifted slowly. Only the sound of wind rustling the trees seemed unnaturally loud. 　The back of his neck felt slightly cold. "It's just my imagination." 　Shinji murmured it like a mantra and started walking. 　Just his imagination. If he didn't believe that, he couldn't keep going. 　When he got home, a quiet room awaited. Make dinner, eat, sleep. Just that everyday life. 　But beyond that everyday life— 　After Shinji had walked away, a figure slowly moved from the shadow of the school gate. A man in a black coat. A small emblem on his chest. The man took out a smartphone and muttered something briefly. 　Seelenwache. A secret organization re-formed from the remnants of the old SEELE. Its surveillance net was quietly, but surely, beginning to extend into Shinji's daily life. 　Shinji didn't yet know of its existence. 　The setting sun sank. Night fell over Tokyo-3. 　Two weeks until the culture festival.

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Episode 1

Name: Evangelion IF: Shinji Ikari and Mana Kirishima, a World Too Late for Love
Author: Novelia

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