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 - Confession in the Music Room, and Daily Life Begins to Unravel
Whispered voices drifted through the morning classroom.
Late April. The sunlight streaming through the windows of Misonodai High School was far stronger than it had been just last week. Ikari Shinji paused for a brief moment in front of the classroom's sliding door.
(Today, too, I'm scared to go in.)
He muttered it in his heart, but there was no way he could avoid entering. Don't run. Don't run. He told himself, and slid the door open with a clatter.
In that instant, the air went taut.
His classmates' gazes. Some of them clearly avoided Shinji. The girls glanced at him for a split second, then immediately averted their eyes. Those eyes held a timid light, as if handling something fragile.
The boys' gazes were colder.
(What the hell...)
His chest tightened painfully.
Two weeks since he'd transferred in. The fact that he lived in the apartment next door to Ayanami Rei had somehow gotten out. The trigger was probably nothing major. But once a rumor spread, it took no time at all.
"Good morning."
A quiet voice came from the seat in front of him.
A bluish-silver short bob, translucent in the morning light. Large crimson eyes stared straight at Shinji. Ayanami Rei. A face impossible to read. But her voice carried a faint trace of relief.
"Ah, good morning."
Shinji gave a small bow of his head.
In that instant, he felt the girls' atmosphere grow even colder.
Whispers loud enough to be heard.
"Hey, so they really are living together."
"No way, right? He just transferred in, and already that..."
The rest of the words didn't reach him. He didn't want to hear them.
Shinji pulled his earphones from his pocket and stuck one into his ear. Not to play music—just as a wall to shut out the world.
"There you go again, retreating into your own little world all by yourself."
A sharp, cold voice from the seat next to him.
Asuka, her golden hair tied up in twin tails, sat with her arms crossed, looking down at Shinji. Her bright blue eyes wavered, as if probing him.
"No, I... it's nothing."
"Why don't you just say it? The atmosphere in this classroom is the worst, isn't it?"
As she spoke, Asuka slammed a lunch bag onto her own desk.
A cute bag with a floral pattern.
"...What's that?"
"Can't you tell by looking? It's a bento. You always eat bread, right? Don't you get tired of it?"
Asuka abruptly turned her face away. The tips of her ears were faintly red.
"I-It's not like I made it for you or anything! I just made too much! I wanted to try a new recipe yesterday, and I just..."
"U-Um, thank you, very much."
"...You're welcome."
A voice so faint it nearly vanished.
In that instant, sticky gazes pierced him from all corners of the classroom.
The boys' appraising eyes. The girls' cold eyes.
(Please, stop...)
Shinji still hesitated over whether he should accept the lunch bag. If he took it, something would change even more. If he refused, he'd be humiliating Asuka.
"...Thank you. I'll gladly accept it."
Shinji gave a small bow.
Asuka let out a triumphant "hmph" through her nose.
But Shinji didn't miss the fact that her smile was ever so slightly strained.
Lunch break.
Shinji slipped out of the classroom with Asuka's bento in hand.
He couldn't stand the classroom's atmosphere. Anywhere was fine as long as he could eat.
He walked down the hallway. Through the courtyard. Along the path by the Misono River, wandering aimlessly.
Eventually, he arrived at a small vegetable garden behind the school grounds.
Tomato leaves released a green scent as they bathed in the sunlight. Cucumber vines wrapped around their stakes. A small garden that Kaji Ryoji tended as a hobby.
Shinji crouched down in the shade beside the garden.
He opened the bento box.
"...Looks delicious."
The words slipped out before he knew it.
Tamagoyaki, fried chicken, spinach dressed in broth, cherry tomatoes. The colors were beautiful, and it was obvious at a glance that it had been made with care.
He brought a bite of tamagoyaki to his mouth.
Sweet.
It was fluffy, and the aroma of dashi passed through his nose, naturally softening his cheeks.
(She really is good at cooking.)
It had been the same in the previous world. Asuka, deep down, wanted someone to eat her cooking. Wanted someone to say "it's delicious."
Shinji took another bite—the fried chicken this time.
A dull ache throbbed near his temples.
Every bite he took, he felt the classroom's atmosphere crumbling little by little. Even knowing that, this bento was still delicious.
After school.
Shinji headed toward the music room.
Without any real destination, his feet moved on their own in that direction. The classroom was noisy, and just sitting at his desk meant enduring gazes stabbing at him from all sides.
Second floor of the special classrooms building.
He stood before the music room door.
The sound of a piano leaked from inside.
A soft, clear sound. A melody he knew.
...Knew?
Shinji quietly opened the door.
Inside the music room, there was a single boy.
His silver-gray soft-mushroom hair leaned over the piano keys as his fingers glided across them. Reddish-brown eyes gazed at the sheet music. Nagisa Kaworu. The ace of the choir club.
The evening sun slanted through the window, casting the river's light onto the piano's black surface.
Kaworu raised his head.
The moment his eyes caught Shinji, he smiled softly.
"You came, Shinji-kun. I've been waiting."
"...Huh?"
Waiting. Why?
"I had a feeling you would come today. I could hear your footsteps hesitating in the hallway."
Kaworu rose from the piano bench.
His way of walking was light, like a bird. He approached Shinji, making the air and the sound his own.
"Let me hear it. Your sound."
"My... sound?"
"Yes. Your cello. I heard a little of it during music class the other day. Since that moment, I've wanted to play together with you."
Shinji looked at the cello placed at the back of the music room.
School equipment.
Before he knew it, his feet were moving toward it.
(So this is why I came to the music room.)
His fingers sought the cello, whether he wanted them to or not.
Shinji picked up the cello and sat down on a chair.
"Well then, let's begin."
Kaworu sat back down at the piano and placed his fingers on the keys.
Elegant, efficient movements.
Kaworu's fingers played the first note.
In that instant, Shinji's entire body trembled.
He knew this.
He knew this piece.
That piece from his previous life, the one that had filled him to the depths of his soul. That sound. That air.
Shinji's right hand moved on its own.
The cello's bow glided across the strings.
A low, deep sound.
The piano's notes and the cello's notes slowly melted together in the music room's air.
Kaworu's piano was soft, as if enveloping him, yet its core was strong. Shinji's cello, hesitant as it was, sank deeper and deeper, as if guided by Kaworu's sound.
A session.
A secret time for just the two of them.
The evening sun slid through the music room window. The air was dyed gold, and the particles of sound seemed to swim slowly through it.
The piece ended.
The afterglow lingered quietly, long, between the two of them.
Kaworu stood up.
His footsteps, too, were as light as music.
Kaworu came to stand before Shinji.
"Your sound makes my heart tremble."
A quiet voice. Words like poetry.
Kaworu took Shinji's hand.
Cold, slender fingers—but strong.
Kaworu closed his eyes, still holding Shinji's hand.
His long eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks.
"I have been waiting for this sound all along. Your sound. The sound of your heart."
Shinji couldn't move.
He couldn't shake off the hand.
He didn't want to shake it off.
(I know this sound.)
(This hand, this voice, too.)
(...I want to run away.)
(I don't want to run away.)
Two emotions swirled simultaneously in the depths of his chest.
At that moment.
Clatter.
The music room door flew open.
"Whoa! Am I interrupting something fun?"
A bouncing voice.
A petite girl with deep chestnut semi-long hair curled in soft waves stood at the entrance, her round glasses sparkling. A beret on her head—Makinami Mari Illustrious.
"U-Um, this is..."
The moment Shinji started to speak, Mari stopped in her tracks.
Her sparkling eyes turned serious.
The mouth that had been about to laugh closed.
Mari stared at Shinji's face.
At Shinji, standing frozen with his hand still held.
"...Let me join in too."
Mari's voice was much lower than usual.
A quiet, composed voice he'd never heard in the classroom.
"Mari-san..."
"Shinji-kun, that's a cello, right? I can't play piano, but I can sing. And hey, shouldn't we talk about the culture festival?"
The culture festival.
The Harukaze Festival in October.
Mari was on the culture festival committee.
"For the Harukaze Festival in October, the class is doing something, right? I've got all kinds of plans. Let's all do something together. If it sounds interesting, I'll get serious too."
Mari circled around to face Shinji directly.
Kaworu gently released Shinji's hand.
Mari's large, greenish eyes peered at Shinji from up close.
"Shinji-kun, you're better suited to not running away."
A voice far lower than usual.
A voice that gripped the depths of Shinji's chest.
Shinji couldn't say anything in return.
Mari said nothing more, spun lightly on her heel, and leaned against the music room entrance.
"Ah, youth!"
A bright voice, as if the quiet from moments ago had been a lie.
But her eyes weren't smiling.
The next day's homeroom.
The classroom's atmosphere was even heavier and colder than yesterday.
The homeroom agenda was the Harukaze Festival event. Mari, the culture festival committee member, stood at the podium and wrote "Café" on the blackboard.
"The candidates are, as usual, a café and a haunted house! And my pick is the café! If the great Asuka-san handles menu development, it'll be unstoppable!"
"Hey, don't drag me into this without asking!"
Asuka stood up from her chair.
"But you want to do it, don't you? It's written all over your face. 'Alright, time to show off my cooking!'"
"Ugh... N-No I don't!"
The classroom buzzed.
Opinions split cleanly in two: the café faction and the haunted house faction.
"A haunted house is easier for everyone to cooperate on. A café puts too much burden on the kids who can cook."
"Yeah, haunted house is better."
"Isn't a café easier?"
Voices clashed.
Amidst it all.
"I'll handle the accounting."
Rei raised her hand, deliberately.
A quiet but clear voice.
From the seat in front of Shinji, Rei spoke while staring straight ahead.
"Ayanami-san, you can do accounting?"
"I'm good at it."
That was all.
But Rei's crimson eyes were unusually serious.
"Wait!"
Asuka raised her voice.
"The accounting is obviously my job! I'm better at negotiating for supplies and calculations and stuff like that, and besides, since I'm managing the cooking too, it's more efficient to keep the accounting consistent!"
"...I'll do it too."
"Are you trying to compete with me?"
"That's not it. I just want to do it."
Rei's voice remained calm.
But that calmness ignited Asuka's anger.
"Then let's settle this! We'll let the class decide who's more suited for accounting!"
"Fine."
The classroom fell completely silent.
Only the two voices clashed.
"In that case, I'll handle the accompaniment."
A smooth voice flowed through the classroom.
Shaking his silver-gray hair, Kaworu raised his hand with a smile.
"I'll be in charge of the café's BGM. I'll create the atmosphere with piano and vocals."
"Isn't that the best deal of all?"
Mari grinned.
"Singing, solo, in front of the whole school? Kaworu-kun? That's totally hogging the spotlight! So unfair!"
"Is it? But if your voice joined in, it would be even more fun."
"Hehe, an invitation from the ace? Not bad. Sure, maybe I'll sing too. And if that's the case, Shinji-kun should join in on cello!"
"Eh, me!?"
The conversation suddenly jumped to him, and Shinji straightened his back.
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