Chapter Text
Shinji woke up with a jolt that morning. His head couldn’t stop racing all night from the previous day’s events. He didn’t know how to feel about his best friend since childhood, and he was scared to find out. I couldn’t like him.
Right?
Yet in his attempt to wrestle his own thoughts, he realized that he had spent way too much time overthinking and was now almost late for school. He quickly put on his uniform, brushed his teeth, ruffled his hair, and ran out for breakfast. His mom greeted him, handing him his breakfast to go.
“Don’t be late on your second day!” She called out as he was putting on his shoes to leave.
But just as he was about to open the door, he was met face to face with the one person he really wanted to avoid.
Kaworu.
“Good morning Shinji! Ooh, what do you have for breakfast, also bye Mrs. Yui have a nice day!” He called out, dragging Shinji along too.
Oh god he’s holding my hand what do I do what do I-
“Oh, were you embarrassed by me coming to see you? Your face is suuuper red, sorry I didn’t mean to bother-”
“Oh no no, it’s fine, it’s not that at all!” Shinji quickly cut him off.
“Oookay…” He responded, but didn’t try to push any further. “Anyway I was thinking since we live so close I thought it would be nice for me to pick you up in the mornings, you know, so we can catch up.”
“Oh yeah definitely,” He wants to walk together?? To SCHOOL??
“Yeah, so anyway, what’s in that box? I remember your mom being the best cook ever!”
“Oh uh, just some rice and fish, not much,” he mumbled, even more embarrassed now.
“What! You’re sooo lucky! My mom is a horrible cook still, if you can remember,” he giggled.
“Oh I do, sadly,” Shinji drew a strong breath, the backlash from all the horrible meals he had at Kaworu’s house hitting him all at once. “God, I wish we had dinner at my place more often,” he sighed. “Oh! But speaking of dinner, both my parents agreed to invite you and your family for dinner sometime, they really miss having them with you guys.”
“Really?! Oh I have to tell them as soon as possible, oh I can’t wait, you always have good food and I miss those dinners too!” He sang, his hands clasped and brought up to his face in a longing manner, batting his lashes at Shinji.
“Stop that! You look really dumb right now!”
“Oh but I thought I look prettyyyyy,” continuing his same performance.
“You do, but it's just uh-... um…” he internally cringed, I can NOT believe I just said that. Also he doesn’t look good… in that way.
“Aww really Shinji? I’m so glad you feel that way,” he persisted, “Well if it evens it out you look great too!”
Shinji felt like he had just been hit in the stomach, with around a million butterflies at full force. He stood dumbstruck, jaw open, glaring at Kaworu for a solid 30 seconds.
“What?” he asked, putting the most innocent look on his face.
“Nothing..,” his face now more red than ever, but held his head down low to avoid Kaworu seeing him in that state.
They finally arrived at school, taking their seats. Shinji silently gazed out the window, purposefully avoiding Kaworu’s own stares. But in the end, he could still see the reflection, and how Kaworu was longingly staring at the back of his head, and how his hair looked even fluffier today, and-
“Everyone rise!” Hikari announced. The class stood up and bowed, then sat back down. The teacher droned on about today’s lesson material, and Shinji slowly felt his eyelids closing against his own will. He was quickly startled from his haze when Kaworu slightly poked him, passing him a note. It read,
‘Wanna go to the coffee shop again today? I really like like that place’
He lifted his pencil and scribbled back ‘Sure’. He returned to his former state, his dreams engulfing him, making him pass out for the rest of class.
He was slowly shaken awake by Kaworu, who urged him to get up to the next class. They walked out together, and Kaworu proudly announced that he had gotten his schedule today.
“So what classes do you have right now,” he asked.
“Uhhh, right now after this class it’s math, orchestra, biology, P.E, and social studies, what about you?”
“Ooh! We have orchestra, P.E, biology, and math! Lucky us!” he exclaimed.
“Oh, nice, I can just take you to math then-”
Suddenly, Kaworu grabbed his hand and pointed forward, shouting, “Lead the way!” Shinji was both flustered and ashamed, two feelings that were way too overwhelming in a school hallway. He pushed forward and rushed to math, praying no one saw that.
Aaand of course someone did… The exact person he wished would not bother him today.
“Well if it isn’t the losers that barged into my job yesterday!” Asuka, the fierce and stubborn girl from the cafe and sadly most of their classes, announced. “Rei get a hold of this!”
Rei looked up from her book, slightly confused. She is the most quiet and shy person in the whole school, a polar opposite of Asuka, but they’re somehow the best of friends. “I do not understand the problem, they are.. Agreeable,” she finally concluded.
“Well today’s your lucky day idiot Shinji and the new kid! You’re accepted by Rei! Any friend of hers is mine.” She proudly stood up. “Oh! And I can’t just keep calling you new kid, new kid, but today I’m feeling merciful! You can choose your own nickname today.”
“Oh, lucky me! Hmmm well I think dummy is fine for me, so I can match with Shinji!” he beamed back at her.
“Ugh, whatever losers,” She fumed, turning her attention completely to Rei now.
The rest of class went smoothly, but Shinji sadly could not stop staring at the back of Kaworu’s head, lost completely in thought.
The next class was orchestra, one of Shinji’s favorites, mainly because playing the cello calmed him down a lot. But today was different, he was way too nervous to be practicing like normal, not with Kaworu looking so intently at him. Why is he staring at me now?
But he managed to get through his piece somehow, after all his stalling.
“Wow, that sounded so great, Shinji! I’m truly honored to be in the presence of such a great musician!”
“Oh, it’s nothing, I honestly wasn’t even that-”
“No. Don’t even finish that sentence,” he interrupted. “You are a great musician and many people including myself are envious of your talent.”
“Okay, thank you,” he murmured, trying to ignore all the stares they were getting. The rest of class was quiet (not including the music) and that left Shinji alone with his thoughts. But for him, cello was an escape, a sacred space of nothing but him and the music. He poured his heart and soul into that rehearsal, but by the end he was shocked to see a teary-eyed Kaworu looking straight at him. Shinji instantly dropped his head, face already heating with shame. They walked out of the classroom, but Kaworu caught up quickly behind him.
“That performance was amazing Shinji! Now I really see your talent!” He winked at him.
“What? That really was nothing, I was just kinda playing for fun you know?” He stumbled, wondering how much more flustered he will be today.
“It just hit me. How about we do a duet together!” He exclaimed. “Oh it would be so fun! And I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else but you.”
“Oh, um.. Yeah that would be cool,” he agreed, though reluctant to embarrass himself further with his music. Oh nonono, he’s gonna see me mess up and think I’m bad and I’ll never redeem myself and-
“Great! It’s settled then, but what piece should we play?” He asked eagerly.
“I’m not sure, I don’t really know any duets.”
“How about Canon in D by Pachelbel? I’m sure they have a version for us with violin and cello,” he smiled, melting Shinji’s heart instantly.
“Sounds good, but where could we practice?”
“I was thinking we could to my place or yours, since we live so close to each other”
Shinji held his breath. “Are you sure your parents are fine with me coming over?” he squeaked.
“Of course! I told them about you, you know. They’re actually very excited to see you again!”
“You talked about me?” he squealed.
“Absolutely! Almost constantly, my mom actually says I talk about you so much it's as if you were always there!”
“Uh, wow..” Shinji mumbled, absolutely dumbstruck.
They continued to biology, which went very fast as the teacher just went over notes and Shinji slept through all of it. But the next class was the one Shinji dreaded the most. They walked together to P.E. where the teacher announced that they had to go to the locker rooms to change. Oh god he’s gonna see me and think I look weird… But I’m also seeing him and eww get your mind out the gutter!!! He scolded himself.
They headed to the locker room where Kaworu shamelessly started changing in front of him. Shinji did the same, but tried doing it as fast as he could to avoid further embarrassment.
They headed out to track, where he and Kaworu started running, and some of their classmates, Toji and Kensuke, joined along.
“Yo Shinji! What happened with you! We don’t talk anymore man,” Toji started.
“Yeah! We gotta start hanging out some more,” Kensuke agreed, them both looking at Shinji suspiciously.
“Oh. Sorry about that, I don’t really know what happened, I guess break just made me want to rest all day, you know,” Shinji apologized.
“You gotta tell us about your new friend though, what was his name? Oh yeah, Kaworu!” Toji asked.
“Oh, we were family friends a long time ago, we’ve been catching up recently,” Shinji replied blankly.
“Hello. I am Kaworu, it is very nice to meet you all! Are you all friends of Shinji’s?” Kaworu barged in.
“Nice to meet you too. For the most part we are Shinji’s friends, but he hardly talks to us anymore, you know?” Kensuke sighed. Shinji looked slightly taken aback. They thought we were friends?
“It’s nice that you include him, though. I hope you have room for one more friend!” He beamed. The group finished the laps they were running and headed inside to change again. This time, Shinji only looked dead straight at the floor and quickly got out of the room, earning some puzzled looks from Kaworu. When they walked out, Kaworu caught up to Shinji, concerned.
“Are you alright? You look really sad and nervous,” he asked.
“Uh, it’s nothing, really.” Shinji said back, trying to sound as convincing as possible.
“Okay, just know you can talk to me about anything.” he put his hand on Shinji’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Oh, thank you.” They parted ways after that, where Shinji sat through his last class. He eventually dozed off in that class as well, clearly struggling to stay awake from his lack of sleep. Luckily, no one bothered him in that class, not even the prideful Asuka. Shinji left the class and walked up to the tree in front of the school where he and Kaworu agreed they would meet up. Oh! I still need to let Mom know that I’m going with Kaworu. He took out his phone and started texting his mom. ‘Staying with Kaworu after school today, he wants to go to the same coffee shop. Love you.’
‘Awwww how nice! You too have fun then <3’ He put his phone up and saw that Kaworu was eagerly running towards him, getting closer and closer and not stopping and oh god-
Kaworu ran up and gave Shinji a big hug, nearly knocking the two of them over.
“Oww! You don’t have to run and hug me, you know,” Shinji said sourly.
“Sorry, I was very excited to see you again after school!”
“It’s fine. Are we going to the same place again?”
“Yep, follow me!” He looped his arm around Shinji’s and started pushing forward through the crowd. They made it out, on their way to the coffee shop they visited the day before. Today, Kaworu decided to be a little more touchy today because his arm remained looped through Shinji’s for the rest of the way, leaving Shinji a blubbering mess throughout their small talk. They made it to the coffee shop, greeted with a familiar, yet unfriendly face.
“Come back to annoy me?” the cashier, also known as Asuka from their class, commented rudely. “Anyway, what can I get for you two losers?”
Kaworu stepped up and ordered. “I’ll get hibiscus tea today, thank you!”
“And for you, idiot Shinji?” she deadpanned.
“Uhhh I’ll have a peach tea and a fruit tart.”
“And will you split the bill?”
“Nope! I’ll pay for it!” Kaworu quickly jumped in before Shinji could protest. They went and sat down at a table for two.
“You can’t keep paying the bill, you know?” Shinji whined. “It’s unfair to you.”
“I really don’t mind it, I’m happy to pay for you!”
“Fine. You win this time, but at least let me share my tart with you.”
“Hmmm. Deal!” He shook Shinji’s hand for extra flare. But after that he just set their hands down, leaving them on the table and leaving Shinji a blushing mess. He tried to ignore it though, and eventually met Kaworu’s eyes.
Kaworu continued as if nothing happened, though. “So I managed to find the sheet music for Canon in D during my last class, but I didn’t want to tell you for a kind of “surprise”. But I also just told you so it doesn’t really count.” He frowned after that sentence, clearly distraught.
“Oh wow! That was so fast, it takes me forever to find my sheet music. How do you do it so fast?”
“I pirated them,” he said blankly. Shinji burst out laughing.
“What? How did you even find a website for that? And why are you so casual about it?” he questioned, almost tearing up.
“Well I find it very important to celebrate the virtues of music, but paying 30 dollars on a sketchy American website does not respect these virtues. I pirate for convenience.” He said proudly.
“Whatever suits you, but could you share some of these techniques sometime because my sheet music is very expensive for some reason.”
“Of course! Any time you want, you can come over and ask.”
“Are you guys finished?” Asuka popped up between them with their order, clearly not enjoying the show.
“That was quick! Thanks so much,” Kaworu grabbed the tray, but doing so disconnected their hands, to Shinji’s disappointment. They grabbed their respective drinks, each trying their first sip.
“Wow, I do not regret getting the hibiscus tea, it tastes almost as good as yesterday.”
Shinji laughed. “How does it taste different? It’s the same thing.”
“Nothing tastes better than stolen food.”
“I guess you’re right, but normally it’s me who gets my food stolen. I like cooking a lot and I sometimes make food for my friends,” he said shyly.
“Another great thing about you! I didn’t know you could cook! I personally can not cook to save my life, I had a great teacher after all.”
“I sadly know,” he sighed, but turned very timid suddenly. “But, um, you could always come over and I could teach you sometime.”
“Really? I would love to! Oh also you said you would share. Sorry for being rude, I really enjoy sweet things.,”
I know, I actually got it for you. “Yeah, of course! Here you go.” He cut it in half with his fork and slid the plate towards him. “Oh wait, I forgot to get another fork,” He slapped his forehead in embarrassment.
“It’s good, we can share it if that’s fine with you.”
“O-oh, umm sure.” He handed the fork to Kaworu for the first bite.
Oh my god it really is an indirect kiss this time!
Kaworu gave it back to him, smiling expectantly
“It’s super good! You really do have the best taste in food.”
“Um thanks?” He took a bite out of his half, ignoring the fact that he was eating with a shared fork. It really is good! If Kaworu likes it so much then maybe I can make it and Kaworu will like me. As friends though! They finished their drinks and cake, having entertaining conversations about some of their classmates, despite Kaworu really knowing them for a day.
They walked out of the cafe, and this time Shinji looped his arm through Kaworu’s. Kaworu jumped a bit, face dusted with a light pink.
“Oh, this is good right? Sorry I didn’t really ask.” Shinji said apologetically.
“No, it's fine! I’m happy with it.” He returned a warm smile. They finished walking, this time in peaceful silence.
They finally arrived at their apartment building, and Kaworu walked Shinji up to his apartment. But when Shinji opened the door he was left with a surprise. Inside, Kaworu’s parents and his own were chatting in the living room, as if no time had passed. Shinji’s mom noticed they arrived, however, and eagerly ran up to greet them.
“Oh you’re back! Did you have fun?” She asked.
“Yes, it was very nice Mrs. Yui!” Kaworu politely replied. Then Kaworu’s mom came up, wrapping them both in a hug.
“Ohh Shinji! It’s been so SO long! You’ve grown so tall and handsome, wow!”
“Um, thanks Mrs. Misato,” Shinji mumbled.
“Well you two come in, we have dinner ready already. I managed to convince the Nagisas to come join us tonight!” Mrs. Yui beamed. Everyone came to the table, which had been set up with chicken katsu and rice.
“Thank you for the meal!” Everyone said in unison, and proceeded to start eating.
“This is so good Mrs. Yui!” Kaworu’s dad, also known as Mr. Kaji, exclaimed. Shinji gave him a look of pity, implying that he understood his suffering, and Kaji gave him a wink back. Misato elbowed him after that, though. Shinji and Kaworu finished their meals first and excused themselves.
“Um, let’s go to my room,” Shinji said shyly. His room was always tidy because he never really did anything but listen to music and do his homework, so he at least didn’t have to be embarrassed about a messy room. But he was definitely more embarrassed by the fact that Kaworu was standing right there, in his room.
Kaworu noticed the cello in the corner of his room. “Oh, that’s your cello?”
“Yeah, my mom gave it to me when I started playing.”
“That’s so sweet, could you play something? I love hearing you play,” He looked up eagerly at him, already taking a seat on his bed.
“Oh.. umm, sure then.” he hesitated. He walked up to his cello and brought it over to his chair. He decided to play his favorite song, since it was the one he could play best: Cello suite no. 1. He closed his eyes, doing his best to calm down. He started playing, and eventually stopped being nervous. He finished the song, scared to lift up his head to Kaworu’s. But instead of being disappointed, Kaworu stared at him in complete awe.
“That was the best thing I’ve ever heard,” he said very quietly.
“Oh, um really? It was really nothing, I’m not-”
“No no, don’t finish that sentence. I’ve honestly never seen anyone play that good before.” This time, it was Kaworu’s time to be shy, who had also been blushing the entire time. They stood in silence for a couple minutes, but it felt like eternity to the both of them. It was interrupted soon by Mrs. Katsuragi, who walked in to tell Kaworu that they were going to be leaving. Kaworu walked up to him and wrapped him in a hug, whispering, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah.. see you,” Shinji said, returning the embrace. Kaworu and his parents left, saying their goodbyes. Shinji returned to his room and sat on his bed, staring up at his ceiling. Why was Kaworu acting so weird? Why am I acting so weird? He sat, asking himself questions he was too afraid to find answers for. He eventually got up and went to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is another day, I guess.