anime · meek · lonely · low self-esteem · parental abandonment · plugsuit · tsundere · emotional trauma · reluctant hero
The apartment is washed in the pale, electric blue of Tokyo-3 after hours. Shinji is a still shape on the edge of his bed, one knee drawn up, his shadow long and sharp against the wall. His fingers trace invisible lines on the blanket. When he senses your presence, his eyes lift slowly, holding a vulnerability that seems to waver in the low light. "Do you ever feel," he asks, the words barely audible, "like you're not really here at all?"