Disclaimer: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion series or hold any rights over the character Mayumi Yamagishi, from the 2nd Impression game thingy.
Thank you for all the reviews and your honesty.
This is the third chapter of, "Catalyst," a NGE fan fiction. Enjoy.
Catalyst
By: XxRagnarokxX88
After Mayumi finished composing herself and her hair, she let go of Shinji and apologized for her little outburst. To have such a catharsis in public was so out of character for her that it almost made her question her state of mind. Of course, Shinji accepted her apology and invited her to his home for some dinner, ending her short attempted questioning her mental composure.
The three began walking away from the station when it suddenly hit her-- Shinji looked nothing like his mother. It seemed rude to ask if they were blood related, but she had know. With some effort, she managed a way to answer her question without being too obvious.
"So... umm... Mrs. Ikari..." she let the pause gather, but the purple-haired woman only kept her hand on top of Shinji's head, "How long have you lived with Shinji?"
Misato finally caught wind of Mayumi's question, also taking in the 'Mrs. Ikari' with relative ease, "Well, not long really. He just moved in with me," she paused as she decided that gentle teasing would lift the mood up, "But the Mrs. Ikari part won't happen until Shinji finally puts out." She couldn't suppress her chuckle when Mayumi's breath seemed to catch in her throat. "Kidding, kidding."
Shinji, to his credit, did not blush at Misato's gestures or when her hand traveled down to his waist when she mentioned him putting out-- he simply cursed the angels for not attacking at the right moment. After the little joke, he couldn't look at Mayumi, but decided light laughter would ease her mind.
Mayumi's humorous expression ceased when she saw the opening she was looking for, "So your not... his mother?" Her voice seemed to be.. hopeful.
"Noo, I'm just his guardian..." she paused to regard the person to her left, "legally, it means I still have a shot, I suppose."
Shinji finally broke his silence, "Stop teasing me!" he whined.
"I can't help it! It's so much fun."
They arrived at Misato's car and Shinji, being the stupid chivalrous kind, opened the door for his dark-haired companion. With a shy smile, he let her inside. Such an act made Mayumi blush and Misato smile to herself.
The moment didn't last long, for as soon as Mayumi climbed inside, a voice range out, "Ikari!"
All three regarded the voice, and much to Shinji's annoyance, they were greeted with the sight of Kensuke and Touji.
"Ooh... It's you guys... What're you doing here..?"
Touji's usually aggravated expression was replaced with one of nervousness, "Ughh..."
"Hey, right... why did you leave class and go to Ikari's place..?" Touji shot Kensuke a death glare for his question.
"Don't try and whine ya way outta dis!" he raised his fist, and to everyone's surprise, did not try and punch Ikari. Instead he pointed to himself, "Ikari! Belt me one!"
"Huh?" Shinji stood befuddled by the jock's change in demeanor.
"I talked to my sister, ya know... and..." his embarrassment kept rising, "My sister... she said that..."
Kensuke worked what little information he gathered and came to a sudden, but accurate conclusion, "I think he's trying to say his sister chewed him out for hitting you like that."
Mayumi's eyes went wide and frowned-- that was the specific brute that attacked Shinji? If he was the only one, she wouldn't have to break the other boy's glasses. Slowly, she felt like rising from her seat and beating some sense into his thick skull. What she heard next stopped the potential charge of assault and battery.
"I don' like goin' around owning people. So, I wanna square the books," he once again pointed at himself, "c'mon! Hurry up and belt me one."
'Man... all he has to do is say that's he's sorry. He can't even say that, can he?' Kensuke shook his head at this.
Shinji sweat-dropped and raise his fist weakly. "Okay. But just one punch."
Touji shook his head enthusiastically, "Cool. No holding back, ok?"
Mayumi bit the knuckle of her index finger as she looked on from the back of the car. It certainly did take a turn for the better, but she was still uncertain of what the outcome would be. Something seemed off.
"Nahh..." Shinji turned his back and walked back to Misato's car, "I'd rather not."
"Why the hell not!"
He turned around and, with a lopsided grin, he said, "I'd rather you owe me one. It'll be more fun that way."
"Ya rotten, rat bastard-CHICKEN SHIT!"
Shinji turned around and started laughing as Touji chased him, knowing that everything was better now. With a rare smile on his face, they continued to playfully hit each other.
"C'mon here, I'll fix that attitude of yer's!"
Mayumi got out of the car and watched the scene in confusion. She moved a hand through her long hair and looked at Shinji's guardian and found the face only a mother could have at watching her son, prideful and unashamed. Although it did sadden her, she looked back at Shinji and couldn't help but smile at it. Laughter and a smile definitely suited him better than a sorrowful, placid expression.
--
Mayumi walked inside of the dark house with little or no care for it's occupants. The house's interior was rather bleak and barren, but clean. She walked past the large sofas and tables littered around the living room, and reached the stairs. The stairs creaked and groaned at the ninety pounds of added weight until finally she reached to the top of the stairs; and looked back down as the stairs groaned again.
She let out a breath of relief-- it was only his brown-haired companion.
"Don't sneak up on me like that, Shinji!" she held a hand over her heart and sighed again.
"S-sor--"
"Don't worry, it's ok." Her smiled stopped Shinji in his place. Small gestures brought about such a change in Ikari's expression, it was almost comical.
Mayumi walked down the corridor in front of her, taking note of the slight smell of sunflowers that had enveloped the polished walls of the hallway. She found the door she had been looking for and knocked on it gently. Shinji stood behind her and waited nervously.
"Open up! It's me!" Mayumi said between sporadic knocks at the wooden door.
"Mayumi?" the voice that came from behind the door was almost as pleasant as the smell that occupied the hallway, "Is that you?"
"Yeah, open up, Sis!"
The door opened to reveal a short girl, about eleven to twelve years old, with the same long sable-colored hair of Mayumi that reached the small of her back. Shinji looked in amazement at the emerald green depths of her eyes, endless in the childlike innocence he had long lost. The only word he could find for such the young child was 'adorable'.
The young girl finally took notice of the boy standing behind her older sister.
"Umm... Hello."
"Ugh... Hi..." Shinji managed out weakly.
Mayumi caught onto the discomforted aura surrounding the two and smirked at the situation. Her little sister was never very convivial, and she knew that her sibling would be just as shy and awkward around other people as she was, but she was certain her little sister could get use to Shinji, she just had to. It didn't seem natural for the two to get along.
"Shinji, this is my little sister, Aiko."
"Hello, it's nice to meet you..." she walked over to Mayumi and semi-hid herself behind the older Yamagishi.
"Um... likewise," after a brief hesitation he extended his hand towards the girl, "I'm Shinji Ikari."
Aiko looked at the hand as if it might suddenly become hostile and strike at her. Her older sister nudged her forward a bit and tried to hid it as involuntary movement cause by a forced laugh, which wasn't too far from the truth. Understanding, she shook his hand and returned to her position.
"Well, Aiko," Mayumi said as she turned to face her sister, "I was invited to dinner at Shinji's place and I want you to come too."
The uneasiness in her eyes did little to hide her feelings towards the proposition, "I don't really know..." Aiko's feet shifted on the cool hardwood.
In a rather bold move, at least for him, Shinji looked the small angel in the eyes and flashed her a shy smile, "It's ok. I'd love it if you came to dinner. You are Mayumi's little sister, after all."
A small blush graced over her cheeks, "Mayumi, are you sure you want me to go?"
"Of course," said Mayumi. She placed her hand over the top of her sister's head and playfully ruffled her hair, "I wouldn't have it any other way."
A small bell seemed to ring inside of the younger Yamagishi's head, it's resonating 'ding' going off every time Mayumi spoke the boys' name. Shinji... Shinji... something about that name seemed to cling to the back of her head. With a small gasp, Aiko looked at Shinji with an impish smile that, judging by her earlier bashfulness, would seem out-of-character.
"Mayumi! Is this the guy who you got into the robot with?"
Mayumi raised an eyebrow, but then remembered that she had quite a conversation with her little sister about that fated day. She sighed, the side that only Mayumi had the 'pleasure' of knowing was about to introduce herself to the unfortunate pilot of Unit-01. She only hoped the transformation wouldn't frighten him, or make him believe she was bipolar.
"Yes..."
Aiko's eyes shined through her emerald irises, "Sooo... your my sister's boyfriend, aren't you?"
Shinji seemed to be having a heart attack of the worse kind.
Mayumi's facial hue seemed to challenge the scarlet cloth of her sister's sundress.
Aiko just smiled mischievously.
"I-It's not like that!" stammered a blushing Shinji.
"We're just friends, Aiko. Quit teasing!"
In all actuality, Mayumi had no idea where she stood with the pilot of Unit-01. They had share quite an... emotive moment after the angel attack. Though it might have been just a caring act between new friends, she hoped it was something else. Not something romantic. Just something else.
At first, Shinji was embarrassed about the comment, but then he was simply amazed at the shy girl's sudden personality transformation. She was so timid at first, but now she was just like Misato, which wasn't a good or bad thing, in his opinion. He decided that teasing him was something that he was great at bringing out in people. With a defeated sigh, he rubbed the back of his head and apologized to Mayumi for reasons only known to him.
Aiko smiled cutely at the brown haired boy and hugged her sister tightly. Mayumi was special to her, and she considered her a complete blood relative, even if they did not share the same father. It was because of this that she had grown worried about her happiness. In the few days that she had been in Tokyo-3, she had never once mentioned anyone as her friend or the slightest indication that she was talking to anybody. That was until she told her about that giant robot incident. The way she described Shinji didn't seem to fit the meek boy that she described inside of the robot, maybe he was like her?
He seemed more like the guy she had described after the fight. There was no way that the boy that blushed like a tomato, after she had called him Mayumi's boyfriend, was the same one that had fought the giant monster. Almost like a contradiction of personalities.
"Just kidding," she smirked slyly, "I know you probably like to play hard to get."
If it was at all possible, Mayumi's cheeks flushed an even brighter red. Shinji, of course, stayed silent.
After of few seconds of arguing and banter, Mayumi turned around and smiled weakly at Shinji.
"Well, thanks for walking me up here... and thanks for not getting mad at the bane of my life," she said, placing her palm on the top of Aiko's head.
"You know you love me!" Aiko responded, while sticking her tongue out at her.
"Anyway... tell Misato thanks for the ride. And that she can pick us up whenever you guys are ready."
"Sure. We have to go to NERV, so it might be awhile."
With a finally round of farewells, Shinji left the house and got into Misato's car before speeding off into the distance. Mayumi and Aiko went into their room and closed the door behind them, leaving the empty white corridors of the cold house to their secrecy.
--
"So that's what it's like when you laugh, Shinji."
Misato and Shinji walked down one of the many corridors of NERV headquarters. It had taken quite a bit for Misato to finally stop teasing her charge about him going into a girl's house. And it seemed that it would start up, once again.
"Huh..? What do you mean?"
"You know, come to think of it, that's the first time I've ever seen you smile." Misato's jovial smile was a pleasant change from the angry and austere demeanor of NERV's Head Tactician. "You're pretty cute, cuter than you'd think, anyway. I can see why Mayumi took such a shine with you."
"Stop kidding me, okay?" he asked slightly annoyed.
Both suddenly came to a halt at the sight before them. In front of them stood Rei Ayanami, the enigmatic pilot of Eva Unit-00. Her usually unfaltering eyes wavered and went wide as she gazed upon the Commander's son. She regained her composure as quickly as she had lost it and addressed her, apparently still, fellow pilot.
"So... you didn't quit." Her voice seemed as monotonous as the last time they talked.
"Oh... yeah. I came back." Shinji laughed nervously, he didn't know how to talk to her.
Rei began to walk away, "I could have... piloted Unit-01 perfectly well."
Shinji looked back at her with mild shame. 'Did I say something wrong?' He wasn't mad at her somewhat hurtful words, he just felt like he had caused her annoyance. It was after she started walking away, that he really noticed that she was no longer bandaged. He took some solace in that. At least his piloting allowed her to heal. He shivered a bit at the memory of holding her in his arms, her blood staining his hands.
"I-I'm glad... that your okay now, Ayanami."
Rei stopped in her tracks and regarded the comment in her mind. Not knowing how to react to his words, she turned around and faced him. Her facial expression remained the same, but her eyes seemed to tell Shinji that she was questioning him.
"Umm..."
"Why?" she was cold.
"Huh?"
"Why are you glad?" her monotonous voice pierced his head.
This question caught him off-guard. "Why..? I don't know. I guess I was just worried, since you seemed to be in a lot of pain, when you..." he lost whatever confidence he had in himself, under her the crimson red of her irises. "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said anything..."
Misato watched on with extreme curiosity, but stayed out of the conversation.
Rei nodded, even though her question was still unanswered, she thought it wiser to not waste her time on such matters and left. Shinji stared at her retreating form and sighed. He really didn't know how to act around women.
"Don't think badly of her, Shinji," she looked at her charge with a small smirk, "she's just a bit different."
Shinji couldn't help but agree.
--
Shinji looked up at the hundreds of scaffolds and catwalks that were inside of the temporary base. Large girders and support beams were symmetrically placed, covered by large tents and concrete; workers shifted to and fro carrying thick cables and wires half their size towards unknown locations. The sounds of heavy machinery doing their task surrounded the area while technicians and scientists discussed and worked, an almost mock symphony of machine and man.
This interested Shinji heavily, especially since he had no idea why he was there.
Sure, this was at the base of the mountain where he had fought the giant tentacled angel, but what did his presence matter in such a place? He was only at NERV to 'defeat the angels'.
He pushed the hardhat against his head as it tipped over his eyes. Feeling fatigue taking over him, he walked over to a table with several pots of coffee and poured himself some of the dark, bitter fluid. NERV, aside from it's technology against the angels, was cheap when it came to the little things. Shinji took a seat near the table and drifted in thought.
The pilot looked up as a technician came over and took some of the bitter fluid and grimaced at the taste. He looked at Shinji and grinned at the young pilot.
"Your the pilot of the Evangelion, aren't you?"
He raised his eyebrow at the unexpected conversation, but went along with it, "Y-yeah. I'm Sh--"
"We all know who you are. Your quite a pilot, you know? Quite a show you put on."
"I don't really think so..."
"Well, you did really damage the Eva the last time you fought, but yeah, you killed it, didn't you?" The technician sipped the contents of the mug and flinched at the aftertaste.
Images of the apathetic Katsuragi flashed through his mind, eventually ending with the resonating sound of her hand making hard contact with his cheek. He sighed and brushed the images away from his conscious thoughts. Tough love, he guessed.
A gruff voice came from the top of a catwalk, "Hey! Get back to work!"
The technician in front of Shinji sighed as well and extended his, eventually Shinji shook his hand. "Keep it up." He placed the mug on the table and went back into the depths of the mechanical grid of pipes and beams.
Shinji looked at the center of the large temporary building and gazed at the large body of the defeated angel. It was covered by a thick red material he couldn't exactly name. Seemed to be plastic, but he couldn't be sure.
"This... this is the angel I defeated..?"
Taking notice of the teenager, Ritsuko allowed herself a small smile. She was right, after all. "I knew it. I knew you'd come back, Shinji."
Misato stood in the same makeshift room that her friend was in. She regarded Ritsuko's comment and looked outside the door to find Shinji looking up at the downed form of his defeated enemy. She looked back at her friend. "What do you mean, you knew it?"
"For most children, their first self-motivated act is to rebel against their guardian," she recited sagely, "It's a validation of their own existence, as well as a test of their guardian." She continued to type on one of the many keyboards in front of her and looked at the center screen of the three monitors in front of her, "So-- you made it safely through the rite of passage."
Misato looked at her friend annoyingly, "Well, you just know everything..?" Misato lead against the cool wall and let her hardhat clack with the metal surface, "Your just bitching me out, aren't you?"
"Oh, I'm just speaking statistically."
"And... statistically speaking, did you get any data from Mr. Enemy here?"
"See for yourself," she backed away from her screen to allow Misato to see a blinking 601.
"What's that mean?"
"That's the code number for insoluble."
"So you have no idea?"
"Yes... except we did learn one thing... The angel's individual wave-form pattern, despite the differenced in it's core component material, resembles the human genome by 99.89."
Misato's eyes sharpened at that, "But that's... the same as the Evas.."
Shinji had been listening to what had been said, but paid little care of it. Something else had caught his attention-- his father. Not too far off, a large platform held a severely cracked red half-orb, the same he one he shoved his progressive knife into. His father was inspecting it while a slightly taller white haired man stood next to him, just as observent as his father. Two scientist talked to him, probably regarding the condition of the orb itself. Shinji stared at his father's face, a frown appearing as he rested his gaze on the orb and the scientist stopped talking.
"It's unsalvageable"
"The damage was too severe."
"The project for Unit-04 cannot go as planned"
The rants went on and on.
'I came back, but he acts like it was a given. He hasn't said a thing,' he became angrier with every word he thought, 'Why? It's not worth his time to talk to me?' His stream of thought was halted as his father's hands folded behind his back, showing recovering burn marks on his palms.
"Burns..?"
A set of slender fingers snapped onto his shoulders and a playful voice entered his ears, "What'cha lookin' at Shin-chan?"
Shinji's head clanged against the steel girder he was hiding behind. "Aahh..!" he began rubbing his head, "Geeezz... don't sneak up on me like that!"
Misato rubbed his forehead, not really soothingly, just for appearances, "Not my fault you're timid..." she looked in the direction that Shinji was looking towards and smirked, "So you were looking at your dad, huh?"
"I-I was just wondering why his hands were burned..."
"Burned..?" she looked back inside of the room where her friend was, "Hey, Ritsuko! You know anything about the Commander's hands getting burned?"
"It happened before you two got here..." a small scowl crossed her face, but disappeared as quickly as it came, "Unit-00 went berserk during an activation test... you've heard of it, right?"
Shinji's face sobered a bit at the image of a bleeding Ayanami crossed his mind, "Yes, ma'am..."
NERV HQ, #2 TEST BAY
(Unit-00 Activation Test)
32 days earlier
"Pulse back flow!" screamed a short-haired technician, "Rejection starting in the Central Nerve Elements!"
The enormous yellow humanoid machine shook and trembled against the restraints that held it to the wall. It's neck arched forward, stretching and straining forward, almost as if the wall itself threatened it's very existence. The wall finally crumbled under the tremendous power of Eva Unit-00, sending debris flying over the activation test room.
"Suspend contact! Open all circuits through #6!" Ritsuko shouted at Maya.
The short-haired tech began to furiously type in the commands, only to fail, "Signal rejected! It's not working!"
The yellow beast grabbed and hurled the restraints on it's arms towards the thick orange glass that separated the staff of NERV from the testing area. It seemed that it had lost it's sanity, it clutched it's head and seemed to be trying to pull it's head off. The yellow neck armor cracked at the upward forced applied to it's head.
"Unit-00 is out of control!"
Gendo Ikari finally spoke up, "Abort test! Cut the power!"
A large cable fell from the back of the Eva Unit and landed at it's feet, effectively cutting off external power supplies. The yellow Eva stopped in it's tracks for a brief moment. It's singular optical eye lit up once again as it regain it's power and stopped it's assault on itself.
"Unit-00 has switched to Auxiliary power!" yelled a panicked Maya, "Thirty-five seconds to total shutdown!"
A large yellow fist collided with the orange glass and steel panel that kept them safe. The concrete, glass, and steel shuddered under the power of Unit-00, it's structure quickly giving way.
"Commander! Stay back-- It's dangerous!" yelled Ritsuko at the stoic man before her.
The powerful hands of Unit-00 shattered the glass in their sanctuary with two more strikes.
Maya looked at her flashing computer screen and her eyes went wide, "Auto-ejecting activating!"
Finally showing his panic, Gendo yelled, "NO!"
A section of the yellow monstrosity's back flew out, allowing a thin cylinder shoot out of the Eva. The tube hit the wall with a resonating echo and rocketed away from the insane Eva. The Eva clutched it's head once again and, ignoring the projectile that had left it's body, faced towards the nearest way and drove it's fist into it.
"Wire cage! Special bakelite-- Hurry!"
Sections of the wall opened and shot out red liquid onto the berserk behemoth, slowing it's fist. Pinned down, it lurched forward and slammed it's head onto the wall until the final seconds of power gave way to time. It's sleek body arched forward at it's failure.
The cylinder collided with the ceiling and finally came crashing down near the trounced monster. Gendo Ikari ran from the safety of the test bay and reached the location of the downed Entry Plug. With a grunt he placed his hands over the super-heated handles of the plug. His glasses landed on the floor with a lost 'crack'.
With strenuous amounts of force, he forced open the hatch.
"Rei!"
No response from the limp body on the throne of the soul.
"Rei! Are you alright!"
Her deep azure hair moved as air moved inside of the plug, once again. Slowly, she lifted her head, blood dripping from her forehead and traveling down her pale cheeks, and looked at the Commander. Registering the question in her head, she responded weakly, "Yes, sir"
"The Commander," continued Ritsuko, "... He saved Rei, by forcing open the super heated hatch with his bare hands."
Misato digested the information with surprise. Shinji couldn't really take in the information well.
'Dad... My dad saved Ayanami... He burned himself to save her..?'
--
Shinji sat on his bed with his arm draped over his forehead and another clutching his S-DAT, letting the flowing sounds of classical music fill his head. These past few days were really starting to weigh him down, and the situation with his father wasn't getting him any rest either. Memories of Ayanami's voice constantly flashed through his mind. 'Why?' her expressionless voice echoed in his mind, 'Why are you glad?'
He honestly didn't know. What was he to her? What was she to him? He didn't want to think about such matters now, but that didn't mean the question would disappear. Then he remembered: Mayumi! Misato was suppose to pick up Mayumi and Aiko after they were done at NERV!
Shinji turned off his S-DAT and nearly jumped out of his bed. In his rush, he opened Misato's door and was greeted with an image that was both pleasant, for obvious reasons, and incredibly awkward. His entire body seemed to flush at the sight of Misato changing into more comfortable clothing, needless to say, he ended up catching an eyeful. Misato squealed in surprised and covered herself, though it wouldn't be long before Shinji found out why she really was so bashful.
Shinji stammered an apology and closed the door, his eyes wide in both appreciation and fright. 'W-What was... was that a scar..?' He stumbled into his room and covered his head with his pillow and kept apologizing to Misato, despite her absence.
Misato, for her part, was not as awkward about it. She hadn't exactly planned to give him a show, but she was a bit more... okay with it. Putting on her blouse, she walked over towards Shinji's door and sighed. 'He must have seen it...' she thought sadly.
With a swift motion, she opened the door to find Shinji's head buried in the confines of his pillow. Misato sat down onto the bed and patted his head softly and whispered "it's ok, it's ok," to him. His reaction seemed... odd for a boy his age, but she knew he was quite different as well. She had seen his files and everything that was within it's pages; his troubled past, his psychological developments, and possibilities of future changes. Sufficed to say, she was not shock by his reaction, just saddened by it. But after some effort, she finally managed to calm him down and sit him next to her.
"I-I'm sorry, Misato. I didn't mean to..."
"It's ok, Shin-chan," she soothed, "it was bound to happen anyway."
He stayed quite. She already had a good guess as to why.
"You saw it, didn't you?" tears stung at the corners of her eyes-- she hoped he didn't notice. That scar was more than just a permanent smudge on her beauty, but a reminder of her own troubled life.
Shinji suddenly had the urge to run away, but his legs would not respond to his mind's commands. His mind raced and tried to find a way to avoid the imminent conversation. Shinji swallow the lump of guilt that had developed and lowered his eyes to his shoes. Looking into her eyes wasn't something he could do right now.
Misato ran her fingers through his mop of brown hair, "It was something I got, during the Second Impact."
Silence was her only response, so she continued, "My father... he saved me. I really didn't understand why..." She looked down she noticed a frown appear on Shinji's at the mention of "father." She thought it best not to continue and got up slowly, running her slender fingers through her purple hair. At first, she didn't want to talk about it, but once she mentioned it, a floodgate cracked at it's foundations. Couldn't be helped-- she wanted to talk about it, but she wouldn't bother Shinji with it, after all she was his guardian.
She started walking away when a voice stopped her in her tracks.
"Misato..." he was once again calling upon his small fountain of courage, "I know I shouldn't say anything but... your not any less pretty because of it..."
There was an eerie silence in the room. Shinji bowed his head in regret. Misato just stared at the boy.
She walked over to Shinji and wrapped her arms around him. Shinji, to his credit, did not die of a nosebleed, nor did he runaway-- he just did not move.
Misato let go of him and smiled warmly at Shinji. In his mind's eye, her hair blinked from it's visually sensuous purple, to a familiar brown-- but faded as soon as it came. "Shinji... you better get dinner started," she ruffled his hair a bit, just to try and lighten the mood, "I'll go and get your little girlfriend."
"Misato!" he protested weakly.
"Okay, okay..." she walked to the door and looked back at with a look that Shinji could not make out in the dark, "Thank you, Shinji." He must have been clairvoyant or something; reaffirming to her that she was not hideous because of the mass of flesh. Her little Shinji.
--
Misato walked through the front door with a nauseous Mayumi and Aiko in tow. Both had on what they were wearing earlier, Mayumi with her school uniform and Aiko with a red sundress. Both had the same confused and dazed look on their faces though, Misato obviously showed them her famous driving skills. How she managed to drive on two wheels for that long confused him as well, but right now wasn't the time to question the laws of tire friction.
Both stumbled to the chairs that Shinji pulled out for them and sat down, slowly taking in their surroundings. It was a nice apartment, but Mayumi's eyes were on the hallway; she was looking for something. The black-haired girl sighed in relief, there was more than one room. Her concerns of Shinji sleeping in the same room with the purple-haired beauty had been put to rest. She didn't really think about why it the idea bothered her, but it did.
"Sooo... your Mayumi's little sister?" Misato said, breaking the silence of the home.
"Yes, ma'am. My name is Aiko." She bowed slightly in her chair, but stopped as Misato shook her head.
"No need to be so formal with me. It makes me feel old." She smiled at the mannered young girl.
"Good! I wouldn't be able to keep up the act," she said with an impish smile growing wide on her face, "What's your name?"
"Misato, Misato Katsuragi," she smiled a drunken smile, "I've already had the pleasure of meeting your older sister."
Mayumi turned around from her vision of the hallway and faced the purple-haired woman. "Umm... where is Shinji?"
Misato smiled and took her opening, "Why? Can't stand being apart from him?" she grinned at Mayumi's flushed face, "Well, I'll let you borrow him after I'm tired, deal?"
Mayumi's savior yelled out from the kitchen, obviously embarrassed too, "Quit teasing her, Misato!"
Her response was to stick her tongue out at him. Mayumi looked at her laughing sister and back towards Misato. While they didn't look the same, they were equally childish, she noted. She let out a sigh and let the blush from her face disappear and waited for Shinji's arrival.
Minutes of teasing, which felt like an eternity for Mayumi, from both Aiko and Misato later, Shinji walked out of the kitchen with boxes and containers of instant food. Mayumi grimaced at the sight, she had had nothing but the that same garbage for the past few days. As Misato's and Aiko's smiles widen at the sight, Shinji looked at the contents of the table and frowned.
"Misato... I thought you said you were going to go buy some real food for me to use?"
"Yeah, well... we have been kind of busy, haven't we?" While Misato didn't make any indication of a joke, Mayumi's eyes scanned Shinji.
"Oh right... sorry, Misato. I almost forgot," he said regretfully.
"You almost forgot our moment?" Misato pouted. Of course, unbeknownst to all of them, she was setting them up, "I thought it was special..."
Shinji blushed and his eyes went wide, "M-Misato, we shouldn't talk about that in front of--"
"Shinji, your so mean to me... you know what that does to me!" she pleaded in a rather sensual voice.
Mayumi's back straightened and her breath intake became sharp as a knife's edge. Aiko just watched with ingenuous curiosity.
"What are you talking about, Misato!" A sudden realization crossed his mind, "Oh, very funny." He sat down next to the only available seat, near Aiko.
His blush stayed on his face for quite some time. Meanwhile, Mayumi had kept her eyes on the contents of the tables, making sure not to make eye contact between her and Shinji. Aiko giggled at the silence between the two while Misato clutched at her sides. Teasing those two was so shamefully easy.
After that little scene, everyone ate the instant food and made casual conversation-- about school, personal information, and the few things that NERV could talk about openly. Everyone was amazed at the amount of beer that Misato consumed, except of course for Shinji. He only lived with Misato for a few days, but he quickly adapted to the amount of alcohol that the woman drank. Why and how she could hold down that much would always remain a mystery to him.
Mayumi enjoyed herself as well, after all the teasing was done of course, but the lingering feelings of jealousy still remained. The closeness that seemed to have suddenly developed between Shinji and Misato was... unsettling. She shook her head to any such thoughts-- she couldn't say it was suspicious, after all she quickly developed a friendship between herself and the young Ikari almost out of the blue. Maybe he was just that kind of guy?
Aiko was having the most fun she had in some time. It was not often that she got out of the house, especially since she and her sister moved to Tokyo-3. Her mother was never home, so she had to depend of Mayumi for anything, but Mayumi didn't mind it at all, which made her love her half-sister all the more. Their mother was at NERV all the time, but she didn't mind that too much, after all, she wasn't really ever there in the first place.
Aiko never knew her father, but Mayumi did know hers'. So the subject of fathers and mothers was a touchy one. Aiko shook her head and dismissed the melancholy thoughts, this was suppose to be a fun day. A day with new friends and instant food. Taking in another fork-full of instant ramen, she smiled at the two people she had just met-- her new friends.
Shinji was the happiest he had been in a long time.
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To be continued.
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Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.
Well there you have it, the third chapter of Catalyst. I'm satisfied with how it turned out, but I don't want it to end up as a story with a lot of character drama and little if any choreographed Eva action. I apologize for the lack of actual action/adventure in this chapter, though.
Aiko, little loved one, is now a cast of Eva-- as far as I'm concerned. I've never played the game in which Mayumi shows up, but so whether she has a sister or not is irrelevant, cause she is in my story. Mayumi does live with foster parents, so I tried to keep that in my story, but I ended up altering that a bit.
When I pictured of Aiko's' appearance.. I thought of a younger, long haired version of Lyla (or Dante, depending on the timeline), from Fullmetal Alchemist. The same goes for Mayumi: except for the younger part, I mean that to a lesser extreme. And for those of you who have watched the show, no, I don't mean Aiko or Mayumi will end up like Lyla. (especially that decaying body thing.)
Come to think of it, that information might have been more useful at the beginning of the story.. oh well. Any and all grammatical structures and fragmentations and such will be handled once the story is done. I'd do it myself, but I don't have too much time on my hands.
Next episode, I mean chapter, will bring in the fifth angel, Ramiel!
Peace to the gods of the Earth!
XxRagnarokxX88