Misato felt the edge of her heels scrape against her bare ankles. She was late for work again and her headache was increasing. She remembered nothing about the night short of a piercing glare from a random male.
Her voice became very raspy as she put a hand to her face and then tried to fake a smile. "Shinji, I'm going now!" She quickly made it out the door without hearing a word from the young boy.
The city was so cold and lonely that it made her head hurt even more. She knew she was living for only one reason and that this purpose was holding her together. Everything she had said was a lie. All she had done was an act.
Misato was the kind of woman to act as others thought she should. She would often act funny, or cynical, or romantic, and even okay. The truth was it all haunted her, every moment was like a bright light shining in her eyes, and it was as if another younger person lived deep within her. Misato was a lie.
The other night she had realized it, when she looked at the person up until that moment she saw someone who was trying to hold it together. When she heard the remains of Kaji's voice it had all broken a part. She was nothing but fragments floating around within society.
She had clearly heard his voice say those words to her and it had shaken her. She knew now that everything she had done with him was a lie. She had wanted her father back; she had wanted the past self back, from before her father died. Kaji was her father. Kaji was dead. She was broken and disillusioned, and alone...
Shinji opened the fridge and noticed that all of Misato's beer was gone. He felt her pain in his chest. The pain he had felt back to beginning. From the moment his mother had died he had been but a fragment of the past striving to keep on. He wondered how he would feel if the same thing happened to him.
He realized that he and Misato were a lot alike. They were on a similar path in life. Shinji only liked Rei because she looked like his mother, she was like his mother. He wanted those days back and even though Rei wasn't really his mother his mind couldn't distinguish.
Shinji pulled out a cup of noodles locked in some tuber ware dish and drank it down cold. He wondered if he should visit Rei or if he should wake the sleeping Asuka from her bed. He doubted either would make him feel better. He missed Kaji too but obviously not as much as the other women in the house did.
Quickly Shinji put on his white top and buttoned it part way up. With a sigh he noticed Asuka was leaning on her elbows looking at him. Shinji became protective and covered up his top half. Asuka only laughed slightly and then turned away.
Shinji wanted to say something but he knew that would make her get mad at him and yell out obscenities. He moved away from the fridge and into the doorway to put his shoes on. He knew there was no school to attend but maybe there was something in the town to do so he could take his mind off the violence and the images of war.
Asuka moved quickly and dropped her shorts to the floor. Shinji turned away but she seemed not to care. She donned her school uniform and quickly ran ahead to the door and rushed out before Shinji could say something to her. She was gone out of sight before her could even tell her anything...