I'm Mom's only child

The star athlete in his tracksuit was sent flying by a single kick from the transfer student who looked like such an easy target. He even flew several meters through the air!

After tracing a long, aesthetically pleasing arc over the open space on campus, he crashed into the hard stone pavement with considerably less grace.

With a dull thud, the hard pavement, his own weight, and the force of the impact combined to make him scream uncontrollably in pain!

Shinji Ikari walked toward the boy in the tracksuit.

Picking a fight with so little skill-how brave. Didn't he know I'd trained?

Shinji Ikari stared coldly down at the tracksuit-clad boy rolling on the ground, the slightly raised corners of his mouth forming a gentle smile.

He slowly crouched down, leaned toward the boy's face, which was contorted with intense pain, and spoke in an almost cruel tone:

"School bullying is a sin that deserves hell..."

The moment Shinji Ikari delivered his judgment, his foot slammed into the buzz-cut boy's face. A second later, blood mixed with broken teeth sprayed from his mouth.

In just a few seconds, the tracksuit-clad boy's threats were reduced to miserable, agonized whimpers.

"Wait! It's not what you think! Actually... Toji's little sister got caught up in all the chaos, so he..."

The boy with glasses standing nearby had initially watched in silence as his friend vented his anger on the transfer student.

But in the mere blink of an eye, his friend had ended up under the other boy's foot instead.

At the gruesome sight before him, and the scarlet blood spreading across the ground, the bespectacled boy went deathly pale. Beads of sweat even broke out on his forehead.

He hurried forward to explain, but before he could finish, a fist smashed into his face and cut him off.

The bespectacled boy heard the sharp crack of breaking bone coming from his own body, immediately followed by piercing pain in his face.

"I see. Not just school bullies, but beasts who can't even act human! You stepped forward all on your own. I'd almost forgotten he had an accomplice."

Shinji Ikari glanced at the tracksuit-clad boy, who could no longer get up or even make a sound, a cold smile curling his lips.

Without sparing him another look, he bent down and brought his smiling face close to the terrified boy with glasses. He grabbed him by the collar and hauled him up, leaving the two staring directly into each other's eyes.

The boy whose glasses had been smashed was utterly panicked. Ever since collapsing onto the ground, he hadn't been able to stop trembling.

"Classmate, what are your names?"

"I'm Kensuke Aida. His name is Toji Suzuhara. He only wanted to..."

"I don't want to hear that. What's his little sister's name?"

"Sakura. Sakura Suzuhara."

"Mm, that's a very cute name. Now, what would happen to her if I weren't here?" Shinji Ikari pressed.

"She... she..." Kensuke Aida couldn't get the words out.

"She'd die. And not just her. You two, and even every 'human' in the world, would die too. So poor little Sakura, right? Having an idiot like that for a brother."

Kensuke Aida, whose eye was already beginning to turn bloodshot, didn't know what to say. Shinji Ikari didn't need him to say anything, either.

Because Shinji Ikari, who occasionally moonlighted as a priest, had two ways of hearing people's confessions.

One was verbal, but he preferred the second: making people repent physically.

After Kensuke Aida also had his teeth kicked out, he passed out alongside Toji Suzuhara. Shinji Ikari had the classmates who had gathered to watch the show take them to the infirmary.

Dealing with this trouble hadn't taken Shinji Ikari much time, and he headed straight back to the classroom.

As soon as he pushed the door open, his gaze met that of the blue-haired girl sitting quietly by the window.

At that moment, a smile finally returned to the boy's lips.

With light steps, he headed toward his seat at the back by the window, a spot commonly known in anime as "the king's homeland."

Then he stopped before reaching his destination.

The blue-haired girl watched him approach without moving from her seat, as though she had been waiting for him. Her gaze stayed fixed on him the entire time.

Shinji Ikari looked at her with growing curiosity. She sat quietly in the corner, watching him, as though he were the only thing in her eyes.

She had short, pale-blue hair like moonlight soaking into seawater, ruby-red eyes, and an ordinary blue-and-white school uniform that looked Soviet in style.

Her skin was so pale it was almost translucent, faint blue veins showing through it, and her slender figure resembled a plant that had never seen sunlight.

Everything about the girl gave Shinji Ikari the impression of fragile porcelain.

Rei Ayanami.

"First Child, Rei Ayanami." Shinji Ikari greeted her warmly. "Hello. I'm Shinji Ikari, the Third Child."

"I know. You're Mr. Ikari's son." The blue-haired girl stared at his face with a gaze that Shinji Ikari felt was almost too intent and intimate.

But although Shinji Ikari had seen her before, he didn't truly know her. He was also certain he had no siblings he had never met. He was his mother's only child.

That made this inexplicable closeness rather strange.

"You don't need to go out of your way to mention that obnoxious man."

Shinji Ikari made his distaste for Gendo Ikari perfectly clear, even muttering regretfully:

"I had a chance last time, but I didn't get to give that guy a good kicking. What a waste."

Upon hearing that, Rei Ayanami narrowed her eyes slightly, as though she wanted to express something, but that was all. Her expression barely changed, even at the end.

Still, Shinji Ikari could feel that her gaze had grown a little sharper.

Though the change in Rei Ayanami's expression was faint, almost imperceptible, Shinji Ikari still noticed it. He studied the girl curiously.

"Seriously? You're actually getting angry over someone like him? Are the rumors true, then? Are you Gendo Ikari's illegitimate daughter?" Shinji Ikari asked, looking thoroughly puzzled.

"No," Rei Ayanami replied flatly.

Shinji Ikari smiled slightly, then continued:

"True. Even an illegitimate daughter wouldn't defend him. Being his child is even worse luck, after all. When he uses other people as tools, he at least pays something. When it's his own child, he expects to get it all for free."

Rei Ayanami frowned. "Why don't you like Mr. Ikari?"

"I remember Gendo Ikari saying, 'Rei isn't dead. Bring her here.' I imagine he's said plenty of things like that, and not just about you. I happen to dislike hearing that sort of thing."

Shinji Ikari folded his arms and spoke earnestly.

Leaving Rei Ayanami looking expressionless yet somewhat puzzled, he returned to his own seat and turned his gaze toward the window.

"I take back what I said before, Rei Ayanami. Now I'm certain you don't just resemble a human... You are human. You're simply a little different from other people."

I'm Mom's only child.