The stage of the battle was set. As the Apostolo slowly lurched its way towards Unit 01, Shinji noticed that he had stopped breathing.
"Relax, Shinji," Misato's voice came across the speaker. "You'll be fine. Now remember- just think about walking for right now."
"Easy for her to say," Shinji thought to himself. "She's not sitting inside a mecha that's about to fight a giant monster." Still, Shinji did as he was told. "Walk...walk...walk...walk. Walk. Come on! Walk!"
With that last urging, the white giant called Evangelion lurched forward. Making its way down the street, it felt to Shinji as an extension of himself. It was amazing how natural it felt to do something this unnatural. Looking towards the Apostolo, Ikari Shinji navigated Unit 01 through the buildings towards the creature. The rush of power to his brain was overwhelming; it felt to Shinji very much like he was trying to cross a child's room without stepping on any toys- both trying hard not to break anything and yet not really caring if he did. He had to focus on the task at hand, though, or people would be hurt. Finally coming to the far end of a street from the Apostolo, Shinji urged the Evangelion to stop. Much to the dismay of both Shinji and the Nerv staff watching from underground, it did not. Instead, Unit 01 continued to walk slowly down the street towards the metallic abomination.
"No!" Shinji cried out as he shook the controls uselessly. "Stop! Stop it!" Unit 01 continued its stroll down the street. When it was about halfway there, the hulking frame of the Apostolo started its way towards Shinji.
"Shinji!" Misato's voice made Shinji jump, even though he also felt a great deal more at ease knowing he wasn't quite as alone as he felt. "The Eva has a Progressive Knife in its shoulder! Get ready!" Shinji nodded and willed for Unit 01 to grab the weapon. When it did, both Shinji and Misato sighed with relief. Then, having been temporarily forgotten, the Apostolo swung a claw out at Shinji.
"Damn it!" Shinji cursed as the Eva hopped back with only milliseconds to spare. The Apostolo stumbled forward, losing its balance momentarily. Not one accustomed to knife fights, Shinji had Unit 01 do the first thing that came to mind. He punched it in the face. The monster screeched as it reeled back, and it was all Shinji could do to not let go of the controls and cover his ears.
"The knife, Shinji! Use the knife!" Misato called over the comm system again, the faint sounds of the Nerv staff cheering at Shinji's punch in the background not lost to him. Shinji smiled slightly to himself as Unit 01's grip on the prog knife tightened.
"Yes, Misato-san."
The Eva charged forward, knife raised over its head as its other arm pushed down on the Apostolo's shoulder. Shinji aimed for the coils of brainy tissue along the long, arched neck. Then the Apostolo that was about to die moved very, very quickly. Shinji screamed and moved his left hand to his right thigh. As it happened, the deadly claws of the Apostolo had just taken a large piece of Unit 01's thigh away; Shinji felt every single ripping nerve as if it had happened to him personally. Unit 01 flew back against the building behind it, slumping to the ground.
"Shinji! Shinji, you're okay! Your leg is fine. Ritsuko, cut the damn circuit!" Misato was yelling, but Shinji couldn't tell what she had said. He was still screaming far too loud to hear. A second later, the pain in his leg flashed away.
"What... what just happened?" Shinji asked as he looked up. He saw the Apostolo standing over him. He saw the claw come down towards the Evangelion's head. There was a sound of rending metal, and a flash of pain. Then, there was only darkness.
Ikari Shinji opened his eyes in a bright white room. For a moment, he was more blind with his eyes opened then he had been when they were closed. As his eyes adjusted, he realized he was in a hospital bed. The whirs and beeps of the monitors hooked up to him played along at a steady rhythm.
"What... what happened? Where am I?" Shinji muttered, placing his head in his hands. He had a splitting headache that was driving him crazy. The last thing he knew, he had looked up and-
"The Apostolo! It attacked me!" Shinji tried to scramble out of the bed, but his feet tangled in the sheets and his IVs pulled and hurt his arm.
"I wouldn't advise that." Shinji looked up to see Dr. Akagi standing in the doorway.
"Dr. Akagi! What happened? The Apostolo-"
"Was defeated, Ikari-kun. By Unit 01. I'm sure you have a great deal of questions, but you need to rest. Lieutenant Katsuragi will be by later to brief you when you are discharged. Now, as I said. Get some rest." With that, the doctor left, and Shinji laid there obediently. Sleep, on the other hand, was out of the question. Every time he closed his eyes, Shinji felt the pain of his leg being rended by giant claws. Every time his consciousness stated to lull, he was spurred back awake by the vision of doom descending on his prone Evangelion. Not to mention this headache... Eventually, Shinji settled on trying to count the number of tiles on the room's ceiling. But he just couldn't focus. Three hours later, when Misato came to get him, he had only gotten as high a forty before needing to start over.
"How are you feeling, Shinji?" Misato's voice was soft, much more reserved than he remembered from their earlier meetings. Shinji couldn't decide if he felt it was pity, empathy or a mixture of the two in her voice. He also didn't know which possibility made him feel the worst.
"I'm fine, I guess. A bit of a headache, but over all I'm okay." Shinji hoped she believed his lie. She didn't, but she decided it would be best to move on.
"Okay, if you say so. Anyway, it'll take some time for Nerv to get you quarters assigned here on base, so you're going to stay at my place tonight." Misato smiled at Shinji. She really was trying to get Shinji to relax and become comfortable in this new place; that was far more than anyone else had done. He supposed that he should accept her hospitality. After all, he did like her, and he was far too tired to put up a fight.
"Thank you, Misato-san." Shinji did his best to bow from his sitting position. She smiled, but waved off his thanks.
"No need for that. I'm just doing what's right." She tossed a small bundle on to the foot of his bed. "Those are the clothes you had on. I'm going to go collect your bag from downstairs while the nurses unhook your IVs and you get dressed. I'll come back up to get you in a little while and then we can go get some stuff for dinner, how does that sound?" Misato rattled off her list of procedure very quickly. Shinji supposed it came from being a person who gave orders as her job. Still, it sounded nice.
"Yes, Misato-san. Thank you, again."
She smiled and waved him off again as she left the room.
Half an hour later and they were back in Misato's car, heading to a market that was apparently down the road from Misato's apartment building.
"Okay, here we are!" Misato patted Shinji on the shoulder as she parked. He got out of the car and followed her slowly in to the store. He was a nervous boy by nature, and going in to a new store in a new city after what could quite possibly be the most stressful day anyone had ever had wasn't sitting very well with him. Trailing along behind Misato as she pulled a great deal of instant food from the shelves in to her basket, Shinji overheard a couple of women talking in the next aisle.
"Did you see those things? Evangelions, they're called. Not to mention that monster they fought. The Apostolo. How terrifying they all are!"
"Yeah, it was pretty scary having to evacuate to the shelters like that. But I guess that's what they're there for. Still, I'm glad that white Evangelion showed up. Who knows how bad the damage could have been if it hadn't stopped the monster!"
Shinji smiled. He had done something right. Even if he couldn't remember what it was right now, he had helped people. That had to be worth something. He'd have to get better at controling the Eva if this was going to continue though.
"Shinji! You still in there somewhere? I asked what kind of curry we should get. I can't decide!" Misato's dinner inquiries snapped him out of his thoughts, but the good mood stayed. Now he knew; no matter what else happened, agreeing to pilot Unit 01 had been the right decision.
"Here, Misato-san. Let me see those..."
The sun was just beginning to set as Misato and Shinji made their was across the walkway to Misato's apartment. Admittedly, he was unsure how to behave. Certainly Misato was far nicer to him than most people he had known. But by his age he was unable to shake the notion that every kindness had a less savory motive behind it. Shinji looked up from the sneakers he had been pondering and stopped short, narrowly avoiding running right in to Misato's back.
"Well, here we are. Home sweet home!" Misato opened the door and stepped through. Turning around, she saw Shinji still standing just outside the door.
"Come on, Shin-chan. You don't need permission to come inside." Shinji turned an interesting shade of crimson at this, and Misato laughed.
"Oh, relax. You know what I mean. Still, I suppose it just goes to show you really are a boy after all." Laughing, she walked further in and waved for Shinji to follow. He did, and bowed when he came in before taking off his shoes. Welcome or not, Shinji was still a guest. Carrying both his bag and the groceries, he followed along after Misato, and stopped short as he came to the kitchen. Shinji could hardly believe his eyes; there were empty packages of snacks and even more empty bottles of alcohol cluttered everywhere.
"Um. Misato-san? Where should I put the food?" He called out to the apartment in general, as he didn't actually know where Misato had gone.
"Oh, just put the cold things in the fridge and leave the rest on the table. When your done with that, you'll be staying in the last room on the left down the hall. You can put your stuff away in there." Misato's voice echoed back in to the kitchen, and Shinji followed its instruction. Opening the fridge to find even more snacks and beer than what there was littering the room, Shinji managed to cram the groceries in amongst the myriad cans. Proceding to Misato's guest room, he unloaded the few things from his bag in to the small dresser against the wall. Shinji found the small room quite pleasant; there wasn't much in it really, just the futon and the dresser. There was a small window along the top of the wall opposite the door. Plopping down on the bed, Shinji tried to remember what had happened to him in the battle. Diving deeper in to his thoughts, the sounds of Misato moving around the kitchen didn't register in his ears. He was afraid to remember anything more; what he did remember was horrible enough. But he had to know, and this seemed as safe a place as any to try and figure it out.
"Think, Ikari... think..."
The sound of metal tearing apart had been the Evangelion's head. For a split second, right before the darkness came to him, Shinji was certain that his own head was being torn in half as well. After that, all Shinji could remember was a faint memory of his childhood. It had been a hot summer day at the park, and a four year old Shinji had begun to cry because another boy had been bullying him. Like an angel all in white, his mother had come to his rescue. Shinji was safe inside her arms, and remembered her voice, warning the boy away.
"Don't you dare be mean to my Shinji again. Understand?" The coldness in her voice made the July day feel like January. From his safe perch against his mother's hip, Shinji had watched the boy's eyes widen and began to tear. The bully had wet himself and run off, doubtless in search of his own mother. Shinji was lifted up and found himself face to face with his mother.
"I will always protect you, Shinji. My sweet boy..." The memory trailed off. It was a good one, and one of the most vivid he had of his late mother. It had taken place a mere week before she had died, and his life had become the lonely hell he always felt it was. The next thing he could remember was a sound of splashing, and opening his eyes slightly. In the red-lit cockpit, he looked out to see the crimson dyed hands of Unit-01 yanking a red orb out of a puddle he supposed had once been the Apostolo. Shinji had just enough time to wonder who was making the Evangelion do that before he slipped back in to darkness again. That was all he remembered until waking up in the hospital.
"Shinji?" Misato brought him out of a trance for the second time that day. She was calling him from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready! Come out when you're ready!" Shinji got to his feet and smiled. Whatever had happened, he was okay, and everyone else seemed okay. The Apostolo was dead, the day was saved, and dinner was ready. Whatever fears he had, surely they would pass in time. Shinji smiled and made his way to the kitchen. When he arrived, though, he was finding it hard to not focus on Misato. Quite different from the professional, well dressed woman who had given him orders while he was in the Eva, The woman in front of him was chugging a beer while wearing a pair of denim shorts and a flimsy tank top (without a bra, as Shinji was very quick to note).
"Yeah! That's good stuff!" Misato slammed her beer down on the table and looked up at Shinji. "Come sit down and celebrate, Shin-chan!"
"Celebrate? What for?" Shinji asked as he sat down across the table from her.
"Well, for you saving the city! It's not every day a hero comes to dinner. So eat up, okay? It's pretty good for instant food." Misato took another swig and started shoveling food on to her dish. Shinji was flustered by how relaxed Misato seemed, and didn't quite have it in him to reach out for food.
"Hey, Shinji! Why aren't you eating? C'mon! Eat-eat-eat!" It became increasingly obvious to Shinji that the beer in her hand was not the first she'd had since they had gotten back, and Misato leaned across the table to scoop food on to Shinji plate for him. With great effort, Shinji managed to keep his eyes away from the tempting forbidden zone swaying before him, instead looking up at Misato's face. Her face was flushed from the alcohol, but he could tell that she was happy in a more fundamental way. It made him feel good that she was happy eating dinner with him. It was a rather new experience for Shinji, but one he embraced.
After dinner, Misato convinced Shinji that he should go take a bath and relax. It seemed like a good idea to Shinji, who after all had been having a very stressful couple of days. Misato pointed him to the bathroom that went off of the kitchen to the side opposite the hallway, and Shinji went in after grabbing a change of clothes from the dresser in the guest room. Stripping down before going to the bath, Shinji was acutely aware of the multitude of Misato's clothes and underwear scattered around the room. Trying not to dwell, he let out a sigh and opened the door. Finding himself, inexplicably, groin to face with a penguin, Shinji yelled out and ran. Throwing the door open, Shinji stammered to Misato.
"Mi-Mi-Misato-san! There's a-a-a penguin!" As Shinji said this, the penguin waddled out past Shinji, going around the corner to a smaller fridge located in the corner of the kitchen. Both Misato and Shinji paused to watch him go inside.
"Oh, right. I knew I knew I forgot something. That's PenPen. He's an experimental warm water penguin. When Nerv acquired some lab space a few years back, they were just going to put him to sleep. So I rescued him. I guess you could say he's my roommate." Misato paused and gave Shinji a once over glance.
"A little cold in here, Shin-chin-chin?" She smiled devilishly. Now that she mentioned it, Shinji did feel a bit chilly. Looking down, he realized why and flushed bright red as he flung himself back behind the wall. "Ah! Misato-san! I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" She chuckled to herself as he retreated to the bath. He was a good kid. She just hoped that the boy called Ikari Shinji would still be the same at the end of all of this.
An hour later, Shinji was in bed, staring at yet another ceiling he had never seen before. Misato had just come out of the bath herself, and tapped lightly on the door. Shinji was lost in thought, and didn't hear her.
"Shinji... I just want you to know that I'm proud of you." Misato spoke quietly through the door before retreating to her own room. Shinji registered that, and smiled to himself. Misato was kind. Maybe life here would be good. Within ten minutes, Shinji was asleep. He dreamed of his mother. Her hands were red, and she was pulling a red orb out of the boy who had bullied him.
She looked up at Shinji and smiled.
A/N: Well, another "episode". I hope you guys enjoy it! To answer a question I got in a review of Episode 1, I'm going with Ayanami Rei as opposed to Ichijo Yui because the image named "Ichijo Yui" is not in the proposal, despite being in things such as Sadomoto's Der Mond. Her name is listed in the proposal as Ayanami Rei, so that's what I'll use. I guess it was phased out before the finished putting the proposal together. Anyway, Eva belongs to Gainax, and thanks again to EvaGeeks!