Originally posted on 04-13-23.
Shinji spending some domestic time with Rei.
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If you asked Shinji, he personally believes that the entire apartment building Rei lived in should be demolished. He is certain that it is a condemned building, or at least should be, but despite that, it has yet to be razed. He suspects that something has interfered with that and is probably related to Rei living in it.
Obviously, he doesn't believe she should be living here for multiple valid reasons, but he also doesn't have any solutions. Seeing as how Dr. Akagi is aware the girl lives here and yet does nothing gives off the impression that she and, by extension, Nerv doesn't really care she lives here. The only other possibility he could realistically think of getting Rei to move would be to have Misato invite her to live with them, but there is currently no room for another person since Asuka moved into the apartment. It would be indecent for her to share a room with Shinji and knowing Rei, she would not allow him to give him her room for some reason that devalues herself, and Asuka would rather see the blue haired girl homeless than live under the same roof with her and or move out because of her. Not to mention that she would have to agree to move.
So, seeing as how he wasn't really able to help Rei get a better living accommodation, Shinji decided he would help her to improve her current one, or at the very least make it cleaner.
Afterall, that's the least he could do to help his girlfriend.
It was not very hard to clean it either. At least not when considering the fact that he has to clean his and Misato's apartment all the time. It was actually easier than his own home, as Rei, despite not really cleaning up her apartment, also didn't produce nearly as much waste as Misato, and unlike Asuka, actually helped him clean. The only problem was that she was trying to insist that he did not need to clean her things for her.
"You really do not need to wash these dishes Shinji" She told the boy as she stood to the side of him, "Please, you've already done enough for me."
"It's really no problem for me Rei," He said as he continued to scrub a dish, "I mean, I wash the dishes most of the time at Misato's, and you honestly aren't as messy as she is."
"But still, you should not have to do this for me, I do not require any dishes at the moment anyway."
"Rei... you were drinking water out of a measuring cup because all your cups are dirty" He turned to look at her.
"..." The bluenette at least had the decency to blush.
Shinji continued before she could try to dispute further, "I really don't care about doing some dishes Rei, I just want to help you out."
"You have helped me Shinji, very much so. But now your help feels exploitative on my part, and I don't want you to feel that you're obligated to aid me just because we are dating." She explained.
"Well, I kind of am obligated, or else I'd be a pretty bad boyfriend. But I really don't mind helping you, Rei." He told her.
"You're not a bad boyfriend Shinji," Came her quick reply, "I just... dislike you doing such dull and tedious tasks because of my irresponsibility."
"Oh, w-well I'm glad you don't think I'm a bad boyfriend, but e-even if you don't like me doing these chores for you, I'm not going to stop now. I want to help you" Shinji was firm with his decision.
Rei let out a quiet sigh, realizing that he won't be swayed, "Then, will you at least allow me to assist you?"
"W-well yeah, I wouldn't mind, um, could you help dry the dishes?" He wasn't quite expecting her to concede right there, though he supposes it's more of a compromise since she now gets to help him instead of letting him do it all alone.
