Chapter Text
Shinji Ikari woke up in his new dorm room. A mere two days had passed since his arrival on campus; he'd spent the first day, like many first-day first-years do, unpacking and unpacking and sleeping. He rolled out of bed, stumbling a little as his foot made awkward contact with the hardwood floor. After washing up and whatnot, he opened his newly organized closet and realized, with a start, that he was nervous. First impressions are everything, and he didn't know what to wear.
Should he dress in his usual comfort clothes from high school? Try to change things up- new year, new place, new life, right? Though… It's not as though his old wardrobe received any major overhaul over the summer.
"Better safe than sorry," he murmured as he pulled out his old standby attire. He got dressed quickly, anxiously- like he was about to go on a first date, but instead of going on a date with someone, it would be a date with a new world entirely (or at the very least, a new square mile). Although he was assigned a roommate, whoever it was had not yet moved in for some reason, so Shinji was, for now, on his own. He grabbed his backpack, took one last look in the mirror, and headed out the door. There was an orientation to get to, plus some sort of club fair that would be later that day.
He pulled out his map as he walked, trying to get his bearings. Orientation was supposed to be in the student center, wherever that is, and frankly, Shinji was lost. He stopped and looked around again. The bookstore was right there, so the center should be...
"You look confused," a voice said. Sweet, like fresh honey. Warm, like a spring day. Gentle, like a sunrise. Soft, like an angel's feathe-
"Like, really confused," the voice said again, this time accompanied with a tap on the shoulder. Shinji started with a jolt and whipped his head around to locate the source of the voice. He found that it belonged to a pale, slender young man. He was... pretty.
"Hello?" The man's head tilted slightly, light gray hair falling over his crimson eyes. "Anyone? Anything going on in there?"
"Oh! Oh. Yeah. Hi. I’m… a little lost.” Shinji gave a sheepish grin. “Do you happen to know where the student center is?" asked Shinji. "I'm supposed to be going there for orientation pretty soon."
The man smiles. "I'm actually on my way there for orientation, too. Did you not tour the school before you came here?"
Shinji shrugged. "I didn’t feel like it. Didn’t really want to make the time for the trip- I’m not from around here. Went to high school an hour and a half away.” He takes a breath- rambling is not the first impression he wanted to make. “What's your name? I'm Shinji. Shinji Ikari."
"Kaworu. Nice to meet you, Mr. Ikari.” He extends a hand. “Shall we?"
Shinji took Kaworu's hand and shook it. His hand was smooth, his grip was firm. And perhaps it was just Shinji's imagination, but he could’ve sworn there was a static shock, a spark between their fingertips when they let go. Kaworu turned and started walking, and Shinji followed.
"So..." Shinji cleared his throat. "Are you a freshman? What are you going to be studying? I'm technically undecided, but I’m probably going on the sociology track.”
“Business. I was studying it at my old uni, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea over there- by the end of month one I was already looking at getting out of there. People were… weird. I always felt a bit alien. In any case, I’ll be a second year here, but you and me-” he looked back at Shinji with a twinkle in his eyes- “I suppose we are starting a new life here together.”
And there they were. They’d come to a stop, the student center looming in front of them, as hundreds of students swarmed around them. It was as though they were stones at the delta of a river, the current parting around them and pouring into the complex that lay before them, a myriad of possibilities ahead. And despite how small this ocean of students may have made him feel before, Shinji realized that he wasn’t so scared anymore now that Kaworu was with him. An odd way to feel about someone you’d met mere moments prior, perhaps, but it was a reassuring feeling nonetheless. Empowered, Shinji walked up to stand by Kaworu’s side. “Let’s see if we can grab some decent seats.”
Kaworu smiled. “Lead the way.”