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 - Explosion of Confessions and a School-Wide Game of Tag
"Ikari-kun."
A voice called out.
Cold air drifted through the after-school classroom. Final preparations on the day before the culture festival. Beyond the work tables made by pushing desks together, Ayanami Rei stood. Her bluish-silver short bob, dyed by the setting sun, seemed almost transparent.
"Ah, Ayanami-san. What's up?"
Ikari Shinji set down the sheet of drawing paper he'd been holding. Coloring the sign for the café. A job Mari had left to him.
Rei didn't answer. Her crimson eyes stared straight at Shinji. The intensity of that gaze made him instinctively step back.
"Um, is something..."
"Come here."
With that, Rei walked to the corner of the classroom, in front of the cleaning supply locker. The boundary line of shadows cast by the sunset. Orange light and gray shadow split her body exactly in half.
Shinji, bewildered, followed after her.
Their classmates were absorbed in their own work. The sound of cardboard being cut, laughter, the rip of cellophane tape. The classroom's murmur felt distant.
Rei placed her hand against the cleaning locker door. Then she turned around.
With the sunset behind her, her face was hard to see in the backlight. But her shoulders were trembling.
"Rei...san?"
The moment he said her name.
Plip.
A single drop fell to the floor.
It was a tear.
"Eh...?"
Shinji's breath stopped.
Tears were overflowing from Rei's eyes. Her large crimson eyes, wet with the sunset, were shining.
"...I..."
Her voice trembled.
"I... could never say it."
Rei took a step forward.
"But I can't hold it in anymore. Once the culture festival starts, Ikari-kun will belong to someone else. That... scared me."
Rei's hand reached out and grabbed Shinji's sleeve.
Thin fingers. A trembling hand.
"I... like you, Ikari-kun."
Those words cut through the air.
Shinji's mind went completely blank. He had to say something. But his mouth wouldn't move. His heart pounded harder and harder against the inside of his chest.
"I like you. I have for a long time. It's not because of memories from a past life. The me right now... likes you."
Rei's tears wouldn't stop.
For the first time, emotion was overflowing from her face. Not expressionless. Not silent. She was crying. Her face crumpled as if she were smiling, and she cried.
"...You don't have to answer. Not now. But I wanted you to know how I feel."
Rei's voice faded to a whisper at the end.
Shinji couldn't move. Rei's tears pierced deep, deep into his chest.
At that moment.
Clatter.
The classroom door burst open.
"What are you two doing?!"
Golden hair blazed in the sunset light.
Soryu Asuka Langley stood in the doorway. Arms crossed, her blue eyes darting between Rei and Shinji. Her face was turning redder by the second.
"Are you trying to make a move on MY Shinji?!"
Asuka stomped toward them.
The air in the classroom went taut. Classmates who had been working all turned at once.
"Make a move? Ikari-kun doesn't belong to anyone."
Rei turned to face Asuka. She hadn't wiped her tears. She stood firm, cheeks still wet.
"Hah!? What's that supposed to mean! I was here before you, way before you, and Shinji is—"
Asuka's voice wavered at the end.
Unable to finish, she bit her lip.
"...It's nothing!"
Asuka shouted, then grabbed Rei's shoulder firmly.
"Listen up. Shinji is MINE. I'm not handing him over to some emotionless girl like you!"
"Emotionless girl... how rude. I properly told Ikari-kun. In my own words. You, on the other hand, are never honest."
"Wha—!!"
Asuka's face went bright red.
The entire classroom had already fallen silent.
Everyone held their breath, staring at the two of them.
"Ikari-kun. What do you think of me? And of her? Make it clear. Right here."
Rei turned to face Shinji.
"Shinji! Say something! Whose side are you on—mine or hers?!"
Both of their gazes pierced into Shinji.
He couldn't take either side.
If he chose one, he would break the other's heart.
His throat closed up.
"...Sorry."
He let it slip out, quietly.
"I... can't do this anymore."
Shinji turned and ran for the back door of the classroom.
"Hey, Shinji!!"
"Ikari-kun!"
He felt them about to chase after him. But his legs wouldn't stop. His heart felt like it was being torn apart.
He ran away. Again.
—He ran.
—Ran, and ran.
When he came to his senses, he had passed through the school gate and emerged onto the road along the Sanson River.
The Sanson River at dusk reflected the color of the sky, burning bright red.
Shinji flopped down onto the grass of the riverbank. He was out of breath. His whole body was hot. Sweat stung his eyes.
"...I'm trying to run away again."
His own voice sounded dry.
Rei's tears were burned into his eyes, impossible to shake.
Asuka's scream-like voice clung to his ears, refusing to fade.
What could he have done besides flee from that scene?
Hold Rei?
Calm Asuka down?
He couldn't take either side.
All he could say was "sorry." And "sorry" was just running away. The worst kind of words—postponing the answer, hiding himself somewhere safe.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
A message.
Sender: Nagisa Kaworu.
"Tomorrow, at the culture festival, I want to give you a song. All of my heart, turned into sound. Will you listen?"
He couldn't reply.
It vibrated again.
Sender: Makinami Mari Illustrious.
"Tomorrow's going to be so much fun! Don't run away, Shinji-kun. If you run, I'll chase you with everything I've got!"
Four faces spun round and round in his head.
Rei. Shedding tears, yet still standing tall.
Asuka. Angry, shouting, but with a face that looked even closer to crying.
Kaworu. A gentle voice, but one that said he would absolutely never let go.
Mari. Looking like she was having fun, but she really would chase him.
He wanted to run.
He mustn't run.
Two voices rang in his head, both at the same volume.
The sky sank into night.
Shinji couldn't get up from the riverbank.
Only the cold smell of grass and the sound of the flowing river continued at the edge of his fading consciousness.
—Morning came.
The morning of the culture festival.
Shinji left the house having barely slept. His face in the mirror was terribly pale.
The route to school. The hill leading up to Misonodai High School.
Cherry blossom leaves glowed green in the morning light.
The school gate came into view.
—But before it.
A figure stood there.
Blonde hair. Twin side-up.
Asuka.
She stood perfectly still in front of the gate, like a doll left behind. Both hands gripped the hem of her skirt, head hanging low.
Shinji's legs froze.
She noticed him.
Asuka raised her head.
Her bright blue eyes caught Shinji. Those eyes trembled.
And then, with a face desperately holding back tears, she smiled.
"...I thought you might not come."
Her voice was shaking.
It squeezed Shinji's chest, tight.
Had Asuka been waiting here all night? If he hadn't come, would she have kept waiting?
"...Sorry."
"Sorry" again.
But he didn't know what else to say.
Asuka shook her head.
"Don't apologize. If I didn't want to wait, I wouldn't have. ...I just wanted to wait."
A single tear spilled from her eye.
Asuka hastily wiped it with the back of her hand.
"Don't look at me! This is your fault—I'm a total mess!"
Asuka turned her face away from Shinji.
Her profile was lit by the morning sun, her golden hair swaying gently in the wind.
Shinji had never felt more pathetic.
He had run away. Yesterday.
But Asuka hadn't run.
She had waited.
Shinji took a step forward.
"...Let's go."
For the first time, he reached out his hand on his own.
Toward Asuka's palm.
Asuka looked at Shinji's face, startled.
"Eh...?"
"Let's go into the culture festival together. ...I won't run anymore."
Asuka's eyes went wide.
And then she squeezed Shinji's hand back, tight.
"...Obviously! I'm your first partner, after all!"
Her voice was still shaking.
But her hand was warm.
The two of them passed through the school gate.
—The opening ceremony.
The entire student body was gathered in the gymnasium. Murmur, murmur. The excitement of the culture festival filled the air.
On stage, the culture festival executive committee members were doing final checks.
Shinji hung his head in the class line. Beside him, Asuka—her earlier tears nowhere to be seen—stood with her arms crossed, sulking.
Rei, from a few seats ahead, occasionally turned back to look at Shinji. When their eyes met, one of them would quickly look away.
Kaworu watched Shinji quietly from diagonally behind, his usual smile on his lips.
Mari was on stage. Wearing an executive committee armband, grinning.
And then the opening ceremony began.
The executive committee chairman, Asakura Shota, gave a speech. With a serious face, he spoke of his enthusiasm for the culture festival. But the words didn't reach Shinji's ears.
And then, it came suddenly.
"Heyyy, everyone! Eyes up! It's Makinami Mari Illustrious~!"
Mari snatched the microphone.
Asakura let out a startled yelp.
"Hey, Mari! The MC is still—"
"Don't sweat the small stuff! More importantly, I've got a huuuge piece of big news for everyone today!"
Mic in hand, Mari bounced along to the edge of the stage. Her beret flopped up and down.
Cold sweat ran down Shinji's back.
(She's planning something.)
"To make today's culture festival even more exciting, I've come up with a special event!"
The gymnasium buzzed.
"Its name is—'Whoever Catches Shinji-kun Becomes King of the Culture Festival!'"
Silence.
And then, the next moment.
The gymnasium erupted.
"Wha—what are you saying?!"
"...Mari, that's..."
"Haha, you do such interesting things."
Classmates all turned to look at Shinji at once.
No—not just classmates.
The eyes of the entire student body, roughly seven hundred and twenty people, stabbed into Shinji all at once.
Interest.
Laughter.
Jeers.
—Oh, that transfer student.
—This'll be good.
—Catch him and you're king of the culture festival, huh.
Murmur, murmur, murmur.
"Eh, wait, Makinami-san?! What are you doing on your own—"
Before Shinji could shout.
"The rules are suuuper simple! Before the culture festival ends, the first person to catch 'Class 2-3's Ikari Shinji-kun' becomes King of the Culture Festival for the day! And the King gets to make one request of Shinji-kun! Ready... start!"
Mari's voice echoed through the gymnasium via the microphone.
In that instant, the air in the gymnasium turned to frenzy.
"UOOOOOHHH!!"
"Shinji, don't let him get away!!"
"Catch him!!"
The entire student body roared.
This was no longer an opening ceremony.
Seven hundred pairs of eyes, fixed on their prey.
Shinji felt sweat pouring down his back.
(This is bad.)
"I have to run...!!"
Shinji corrected himself—I—and shouted.
"If I stay here, I'll get caught!!"
The moment he made up his mind, his body moved on its own.
He sprinted for the gymnasium exit.
"Wait—!!"
"Catch him!!"
"I'm gonna be King!!"
The entire student body surged after Shinji.
Footsteps like rumbling earth.
Laughter like screams.
Compared to yesterday, when he'd fled from the fight on the eve of the culture festival, there was nowhere near as much room to escape.
Because the entire school was his enemy.
—Run.
—Dash up the stairs.
—Turn down the hallway.
—People, people, people.
"There he is!!"
"It's Shinji!!"
"Hey, don't run!!"
First-years reaching out their arms. Third-years swinging their hands. Unfamiliar classmates chasing him with mouths wide open in laughter.
Everyone's eyes were bloodshot.
A mob where the sweet nectar of "King of the Culture Festival" and the violence hidden in everyday life were churned together into a mess.
"Hah... hah... no good, there are people everywhere...!"
He rounded a corner.
In the hallway, pursuers came from both directions.
He was trapped.
"—Ikari-kun."
At that moment.
A quiet voice reached him.
It was Rei.
Standing in the shadow of a classroom door, her blue-silver short bob.
She pulled Shinji's arm.
"This way."
As if drawn i
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