Work Text:
I'll Follow You into the Dark
Blue haired EVA pilot Rei Ayanami was sitting down on an overturned log. Rei wasn't doing anything in particular, just staring up at the starry nights, with her usual deadpanned expression on her face. However, on the inside, Rei was feeling more content than she had in the past few days. Rei's mind had been racing much more than it usually did, and it resulted in her getting more stressed and tired, but nobody seemed to notice, much to her disappointment, so she decided to try and fix it herself.
"Ayanami?" Rei's head lifted up in surprise and turned over to her left, seeing her fellow EVA pilot, Shinji Ikari, looking at her in worry, walking over to her.
"Pilot Ikari? What brings you here?" Ayanami asked as Shinji sat down on the overturned log next to Rei.
"Well…I noticed that you were looking down, and I wanted to talk to you. So I followed you here to ask you what's wrong," Shinji explained as Rei looked at him in surprise with a light pink blush appearing on her face.
"There is nothing wrong Ikari…," Rei mumbled, looking down to the ground to make sure Shinji didn't see her blush. Shinji, however, didn't leave her side and rather put a comforting hand on her back, causing Rei's blush to darken.
"Rei, most people may not be able to see it, but I've seen the look in your eyes and the slight frown you had on your face. Clearly, something's bothering you, and I'm worried about you. So please, can you tell me what's going on with you," Shinji explained as Rei took her eyes off of the ground and looked back at Shinji, completely disregarding the blush on her face.
"Well…I have been thinking lately. I've been thinking about what there is outside of piloting EVA. I used to think that this was all I had, but I…I..," Rei hesitated, unsure of how Shinji would react to what she had to say next. "I saw you. You were opening up to other people, and having fun outside of EVA, and it made me wonder what that was like," Rei continued, with Shinji looking on with his eyes wide open in surprise. This surprise only increased as much as his heartbeat when Rei turned around and grabbed both of Shinji's hands with hers.
"Shinji…I…want you to help me. Help me participate in life outside of NERV and the EVAs," Rei stated with her red eyes locked in on Shinji's. Shinji's nervousness was starting to take over as his face was burning red with a blush and his eyes were darting all around, trying not to look at Rei. However, the second his eyes landed on Rei, Shinji couldn't take his eyes off of the blue-haired girl staring at him with her red eyes in expectance. Shinji then took a deep breath, and using all the confidence he could muster, kissed Rei in the middle of her forehead.
"I'd love to Rei," Shinji responded as Rei's face while trying to remain stoic, was covered in a dark red blush. Rei responded by grabbing ahold of Shinji's hand again and resting her head on his shoulder.
"Thank you Shinji, I really appreciate it," Rei whispered. Shinji responded by gripping Rei's hand and resting his head next to Rei's.
"Believe me, I would do it anytime," Shinji whispered back as the two stayed in content silence for a couple of hours, simply gazing at the gleaming stars in the sky and taking each other in.