Evangelion School Romantic Comedy: The Battle for Shinji! Everyone Reincarnated Chaos
In a modern Japanese high school, the characters from 'Evangelion' have all reincarnated. The protagonist is Shinji Ikari. He just wants a quiet school life, but around him are former Angels and Eva pilots. Everyone has their memories but no superpowers. Angels and pilots now live as ordinary humans.
Episode 1: Shinji transfers in and chaos erupts. Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Soryu, Kaworu Nagisa, Mari Makinami Illustrious, Misato Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi, and Ryoji Kaji appear as classmates or
Evangelion School Romantic Comedy: The Battle for Shinji! Everyone Reincarnated Chaos - First day of transfer, into the vortex of a past life.
"…Huh?"
A voice echoed directly inside my head. No—not a voice. A memory. Not mine, and yet mine.
A chill crawled up the back of my neck.
The cherry blossom trees stretched on endlessly. A riverside promenade. Every time the wind blew, pale pink petals danced down like snow. A family—tourists, probably—held up their smartphones. *Ah, this is beautiful.* I thought that. And then, something deep in my chest tightened with a sharp ache. I didn't know why. I didn't know, but I understood anyway.
A past life.
That ridiculous phrase wouldn't leave my head, no matter how hard I tried.
"…I just want to be normal."
I'd muttered it before I even realized. Pathetic, even to my own ears.
—Ikari Shinji. Sixteen years old. Starting today, transferring into Class 2-3 at Chiba Prefectural Misonodai High School.
From the nearest station, Misonodai Station, it was a twelve-minute walk to the school gate. Through a residential neighborhood, then along a road that followed a river called the Misono River. The town was quiet. A bedroom community forty-five minutes by train from the city center. Population around 120,000. An ordinary town like any other.
Ordinary. That was all I wanted.
Maybe that's why. The moment the school building came into view at the corner, my feet stopped.
A four-story reinforced concrete structure. A thoroughly unremarkable public high school with no sense of history to speak of. And yet, my chest stirred restlessly. *They're here. I can feel it. Those—* …Who?
No. Don't think.
I shoved my earbuds in. Turned the volume up. Even if I drowned out the outside world, I couldn't erase the memories. Still, the music made things just a little easier.
One deep breath.
I stepped through the school gate.
***
I picked up my paperwork at the faculty office, then headed to the third floor of the main building where my assigned classroom was. My footsteps echoed strangely loud in the hallway. I could hear voices from classes. Laughter, too.
Class 2-3.
A woman was waiting in front of the classroom.
Long black hair tied back in a single ponytail, wearing a brightly colored cardigan. A teacher. She glanced at her wristwatch, then noticed me and broke into a smile.
"You must be Ikari Shinji-kun. I'm Katsuragi Misato. Your homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you."
She approached, waving one hand lightly. Breezy. But her eyes weren't smiling. She was sizing me up. I could feel it.
"Nervous? Don't worry. This class is full of weird kids, but there aren't any bad ones."
*There aren't any bad ones.* That phrasing snagged at me, oddly.
…Katsuragi Misato.
I knew her. No—I felt like I knew her.
Again.
"…Um, sorry. Have we met somewhere…?"
I started to ask, then stopped. What was I saying? To a homeroom teacher I'd just met, at a school I'd just transferred to.
Misato looked at me for a split second, amused.
"Oh my, are you hitting on me? Too bad—I'm twenty-eight."
"N-no, that's not—!"
"Just kidding. Come on, let's go in."
She reached for the sliding door. It rattled open, and the air inside the classroom rushed toward us in an instant.
That was the moment.
Gazes pierced into me from four directions.
Front row by the window. A girl with a bluish-silver bob cut. Pale skin. Large crimson eyes fixed straight on me. A face impossible to read. Ayanami Rei. I couldn't even begin to think about why that name surfaced.
Around the middle of the classroom. A petite girl with softly curled, deep chestnut semi-long hair, wearing a beret, elbows propped on her desk, staring intently at me. Greenish eyes. Sparkling with curiosity. Her lips slowly curved into a smile. Makinami Mari Illustrious.
The row by the hallway. Silver-gray hair. A smooth, soft mash cut. Beautiful hair that seemed to let light pass through it. Reddish-brown eyes looked at me and narrowed gently. He was smiling. Nagisa Kaworu.
And then, second from the back by the window.
Glossy blonde hair in twin tails. The ends were lightly curled, swaying. Bright blue eyes. A strong light in them, like she was testing me. Soryu Asuka Langley.
My heartbeat quickened.
This is bad.
Four of them. I knew them all.
…I don't want to remember.
"…I'm Ikari Shinji. It's nice to meet you."
My voice trembled.
The classroom fell silent.
The one who broke that silence—
"The transfer student looks interesting!"
Mari raised her hand and said it brightly, cheerfully, without a care.
Laughter erupted through the classroom.
"Shut up. Read the room."
Asuka glared at Mari. Not quite hostility. But clear irritation.
Slipping through that opening—
"We meet again, Ikari Shinji-kun."
Kaworu smiled quietly. His voice was calm, and yet it burrowed into my chest in a strange way.
I couldn't find words to respond.
I moved my gaze around, as if searching for help.
My eyes met Rei's.
She said nothing. She just slowly reached out and pointed to the seat in front of her—the very back row by the window. It was empty. …So she was telling me to sit there.
I had no choice but to obey.
I took my seat. Four gazes clung to my shoulders, my back.
I want to run.
From the bottom of my heart, I meant it.
"Hey, you okay? You're pale as a ghost."
A low voice came from beside me.
"I'm… fine."
"Hmph. If you say so."
Asuka turned away with a flick of her head. Her blonde hair swayed lightly. A citrus scent from her shampoo. She'd smelled like this before, too. …I felt sick at myself for thinking that.
I wish I didn't have memories of a past life.
Or, if only those four weren't here.
***
Lunch break.
The moment the bell rang, the classroom stirred into motion. I stood up too, heading for the school store. I wasn't hungry, but staying alone in the classroom was even worse.
The store was packed with students. The famous Misono Coppe—yakisoba bread, 170 yen. A fierce battle was being waged over it.
"…This is intense."
Overwhelmed, I took a step back.
Was this what a normal school was like? Even buying lunch was hard mode.
Through a gap in the crowd, I caught sight of the display case. Two coppe breads left. The lady behind the counter was shouting, "Come on, line up properly—"
I reached out.
At that moment, someone grabbed my arm from behind.
"—!?"
I was yanked back with surprising force. I turned around to find blonde twin tails right in front of me.
"What do you think you're doing? Move."
Asuka dragged me out of the crowd.
"Wh-what are you—"
"Here."
She thrust something at me—a brown paper wrapper. Misono Coppe. She had an identical one in her other hand.
"I-it's not like I did this for you or anything. You just looked hopeless, so I bought it. Be grateful."
Her face was red. Obviously embarrassed.
…Why would she go this far for a transfer student she'd just met? Why would she *do* this? If it were the you I knew—
"…Thanks."
That was all I could manage to say.
I could hear whispers around us.
"The transfer student's already getting hassled by Asuka."
"Isn't it the other way around? Asuka's the one…"
No. That's not it. This is something far more complicated.
I took the bread. Our fingers touched for an instant.
*Thump.*
My heart jumped.
Th-this is—it's not what it seems. It's just palpitations tied to the memories.
Asuka looked like she wanted to say something. But in the end, she said nothing, just gave a little "hmph" and walked off.
I was left alone in the hallway.
The Misono Coppe in my hands felt strangely warm.
***
After school, I slipped out of the classroom.
No one followed me. Relief. Even so, I walked down the hallway on edge, bracing for someone to call out to me. I cut across the schoolyard and headed around to the back.
Behind the gymnasium. There was a small vegetable garden.
The wind from the direction of the Misono River rustled the leaves. The smell of soil. I felt at ease.
"…Oh, the transfer student."
A low male voice, suddenly.
I looked and saw a man crouched in the middle of the garden, pinching off tomato shoots. White shirt, sweatpants. A towel around his neck. A cigarette dangling from his lips. A PE teacher—no, he had that flippant-but-dependable air about him. Kaji Ryoji.
"Is it okay if I stay here?"
"Don't mind me. It's not my land. …Though I do have the principal's permission."
He exhaled a thin stream of smoke. It wavered in the wind.
"This place—"
A pause.
"—is where I go to find myself again."
*Find myself again.*
A small, sharp pain pricked deep in my chest.
I want to find myself again. Throw away the memories of my past life and become just Ikari Shinji. But I probably can't.
"…Am I just running away?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Kaji didn't look at me. He gently supported a tomato shoot.
"If you want to run, run. But once you've run, think properly about where you've ended up."
That was all he said before standing up.
"See you around, new kid. Help me water the garden sometime. …Oh, and the smoking's a secret."
He waved lazily and disappeared around the gymnasium.
I stared at the tomato shoots for a while.
*Once you've run, think.*
I see. So I'm supposed to think.
***
On the way home.
The Misono River at dusk. The cherry blossoms had finished falling, the trees just beginning to turn to fresh green leaves. Petals floated on the river's surface, drifting away.
I stood on the bridge, gazing blankly for a while.
The sound of water. Birdsong. In the distance, the laughter of high schoolers.
It really was a nice town.
Quiet. Ordinary.
"…I just want to live a quiet, normal school life."
I muttered it under my breath.
First day as a transfer student. Surrounded by four people from my past life and two teachers. My introduction was a disaster, I nearly died at the school store, and the place I fled to had a vegetable garden.
I laughed, suddenly.
*Normal.* What a joke.
…Well, whatever.
It's still only day one.
Starting tomorrow, I just need to do things right.
I told myself that, in my heart.
I felt just a little lighter.
***
I arrived at my apartment.
Eight minutes on foot from the station. "Misonodai Heights," built twenty-two years ago. A three-story building—old, but well maintained. My room was 203, on the second floor.
I unlocked the door.
At that moment.
*Click.*
The door next to mine—204—opened.
My heart jumped.
Out stepped a bluish-silver bob cut. A white blouse, a navy cardigan. Crimson eyes fixed on me.
Ayanami Rei.
"…"
Silence.
The wind passed between the two of us.
Rei gave a small bow.
That was all.
Then she walked toward the stairs.
I bowed back.
I couldn't manage to speak.
Inside my chest, nostalgia and suffocation spread at the same time.
A neighbor.
…The girl who sat in front of me.
I went inside. Closed the door.
"Hah…"
A deep sigh.
*Normal.* What even is that?
Still only day one.
And already, my footing felt unsteady.
But.
Don't run. Tomorrow, I'll walk into that classroom with my head held high.
That's what I thought.
I thought that, but—
My phone buzzed. A notification.
Sender: Misato-sensei.
*"We'll continue your self-introduction tomorrow ♪ There are still lots of kids who are curious about you—some who left early today, too~"*
…You've got to be kidding me.
I quietly turned my phone face-down.
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