Here we go again, folks. NERV is in for a ship load trouble with the arrival of the two new pilots and Evas. With the additions of Mari and Asuka to the family, even an angel would get a headache, and that's without the little surprise in this chapter.
9: Shinji's Big Happy Family
When the Over the Rainbow finally reached Tokyo-3, it was a relief to Shinji and Touji, because of the two new additions to their team. For some reason, Mari had taken to shamelessly flirting with Shinji, much to his annoyance, while Asuka berated her for it, catching the unfortunate pilot in the middle. Touji found the whole thing hilarious for the most part, but over the course of two days, it got annoying for both pilots.
Kensuke and Rei were another annoyance, though it was more of a brother-like jealousy for Shinji. Rei was being unusually clingy to Kensuke. She'd taken Shinji's request to watch out for him very seriously, and almost blatantly refuse to leave his side, even after Shinji nearly lost it when he found the two sharing Kensuke's bed.
When this had happened, Misato had nearly laughed herself sick as Kensuke had tried to fend off Shinji's outrage while Touji held him back. Asuka had shared some of that outrage, but Mari had asked for details.
Things calmed down after Rei gave said details, saying that she had simply fallen asleep after Kensuke had, which did wonders for Shinji's temper when he heard from her that nothing happened.
The unloading of the Evas was overseen by Ritsuko, who normally handled such things, but Shinji had hoped that his father would, for once, come to greet him on his return. Though he suspected Abraham had a large part in his change of attitude, Shinji wanted his father to be proud of him, even after all the hell he'd been put through before and after Third Impact.
Asuka, worried that her Eva would be damaged by the unloading crew, stepped off to watch as the red giant was taken from the ship. Kensuke did the same with Unit 04, though he knew that his machine would be very well taken care of. Rei, of course, tailed after him
Mari stayed close to Touji and Shinji, not really sure where else she should be.
Misato went off to speak with Ritsuko, who wanted the specs from Unit 04's performance. Then a black limousine pulled into the view. Shinji nearly fainted from the surprise as the car pulled to a stop and out stepped Gendo Ikari. Touji gripped his friend's shoulder in comfort as the stoic elder Ikari stepped toward them. Mari saw the nervousness of the male pilots, but couldn't for the life of her, understand why.
Gendo stopped mere inches from his son, looking down at him with something akin to pride, something that Shinji had never seen unless he was talking to Rei. "I heard from Kaji how well you took command of the situation when the angels came after the fleet. That was good work, Captain."
"T-thank you, Sir," Shinji said, giving a shaky salute, "But you should really be praising Kensuke, he did great for a first time inside an Eva."
"I am aware of that," Gendo said, nodding, "I'm also aware of being the king of all things dark and gloomy." Shinji blushed, but a small smile creeped across the boy's face. "Regardless, you've all done well. Even without your Eva, you've shown that I was correct in my decision to make you the ranking pilot instead of Miss Shikinami."
"She would make an excellent second," Shinji said, trying to move on to a more comfortable subject, "If something happens and I can't pilot, I can't think of anyone better to lead the others."
"I agree," Gendo said, "Now, I need to attend to something concerning the new units. You and your friends should head home and rest. Miss Makinami and Shikinami's things have already been transported and unloaded into the home."
"Thank you, Sir," Shinji said, "We could all do with some down time."
Gendo nodded once more and moved toward the white Eva, then turned back to his son with a rare smile, "By the way, Shinji? You look good in that suit."
Touji bit at the inside of his cheek to keep his laughter in check as Mari burst into giggles as Shinji gagged.
Hell must have frozen over, Shinji thought.
xXx
The first thing that happened when the pilots and their guardian made it home was that Shinji noticed that the door was left open. Misato saw this, and was immediately on edge, prompting her to draw her pistol.
Shinji was right behind her as she snuck up to the door. Sounds of shuffling and clattering could be heard from inside. Shinji crouched low as Misato hefted the gun. Without warning, Shinji slammed into the door, knocking it open as he hit the floor. There was a startled shriek as Misato barged in, taking aim at the two individuals standing in the foyer.
"Christ almighty!"
"Yeek!"
Shinji looked up. One voice he recognized. Hikari Horaki was standing in front of them, mop and bucket in hand, looking freaked out at having a gun pointed at her. Behind her was a girl Shinji didn't recognize. She wore a white dress, and had short, black hair in a little bob cut and had eyes as blue as sapphires.
"Class rep?" Touji and Kensuke questioned.
"What the hell's going on here?" Misato grumbled, holstering her weapon, "What are you two doing here?" She bent over and hauled Shinji from his position on the floor.
"We - we were just cleaning the place up for you guys!" Hikari stammered, holding up her mop defensively, "I thought you guys might like it if you came home to a clean house a nice meal?"
"Meal?" Touji sniffed, his mouth already watering.
"Y-yeah," Hikari blushed, giving a small smile in his direction.
Shinji sighed, rolling his eyes, "Thanks, Hikari, I appreciate not being the cook for once."
"Oh, so you can cook?" Mari smiled as she and Asuka entered the house after it was deemed safe to do so. "Is there anything you can't do, Captain?"
"Yes," Shinji smirked, looking at Asuka, "I can't dance to save my life."
Asuka smirked at him, "Oh, so the great Third Child has two left feet?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," he said in a dignified manner, "But I'll trade one of my left feet, for one of your right feet, how about it?"
Mari snickered at that, "That'd be great! She can't dance, either!"
"Shut it, Four-eyes!"
"Um, excuse me?" Hikari's friend said, peeking around her, "A-are we in trouble?"
Sighing heavily, Misato said, "No, you're not, at least not now. How did you get in here anyway?"
"Um, Mister Ikari asked me to house sit for you," Hikari said, making Shinji and Misato raise an eyebrow, "He knew about your pet, and thought it would be a good idea to have someone look after him."
"Okay," Shinji said, "Freaky as that sounds, that makes sense, but who's this?"
The girl stepped forward, "Mana Kirishima, I'm a pilot for an alternative combat unit to fight angels. I'm also a candidate for an Eva pilot," she said.
"Another one?" Misato asked.
"We're running a pilot bunker," Kensuke said, scratching his head, "How many do we need?"
Shinji sighed, "Unit 13 is nearing completion, so we'll need another pilot for Unit 01 soon."
"Hang on a minute," Mari said, "How many people actually live here?"
"Well," Shinji grinned, "There's nine of us altogether, now, and that includes a pet."
"Sounds crowded," Asuka said, eyeing Mana with suspicion. Mari was eyeing her as well, but more along the lines of a jealous female marking her territory.
"If she's cleared by the commander," Misato said, "Then she's more than welcomed here."
"Thank you, Miss Katsuragi," Mana smiled.
"Misato is fine," she said, "Now, about that meal that you mentioned?"
The meal turned into a grand success for the makeshift family. Touji praised Hikari's cooking as being better than Shinji's, which said pilot would have normally taken in offense, but in this case he was proven to be in second place. It wasn't until later that evening that chaos started to raise it's head.
As Shinji helped Hikari with the dishes, and the others were still seated at the table chatting, he noticed that one member of the family was missing just as Asuka was getting ready for a bath. "Hikari, where's Penpen?" Shinji asked.
"I think I saw him in the bath -"
"WARK!"
"EIYAH!"
"-room." Hikari sighed.
"Oh boy," Shinji sighed, wondering what Asuka would do to the poor bird. It was then that said red-head came streaking into the living room, literally.
"There's...some thing! A creature in there!" She yelled. Shinji, who had his back to her, heard both Touji and Kensuke squawking before two distinct thuds were heard.
"It's just a penguin," Shinji sighed, turning around, "His name is - BYAH! ASUKA, PUT SOME DAMNED CLOTHES ON!"
Asuka looked over at him, as if just noticing he was there, then looked down at her bare body before turning cherry-red, "How dare - "
"Yell all you want later," Shinji said, grabbing a towel and twirling it around, "GET DRESSED!" He snapped the towel out at her.
"Yeek! Watch it!" She turned and ran for the bathroom again just as Penpen passed by her, looking up at her curiously as Shinji followed after, brandishing the towel, and snapping it at her again. "I said watch it!"
"Move it!" Shinji roared.
All the while this was going on, Misato and Mari were cracking up at the display while Mana, Rei and Hikari didn't know what to think of it. Mana, though she didn't show it, was amused by the two pilots.
"Is it always like this?" She asked.
"No," Touji said, picking himself up off the floor, and grabbing a spare rag from the table to apply to his nose. "Normally it's him and Misato arguing over a can of beer that she's supposed to be cutting back on."
"Oh!" Misato said happily, getting up and darting to the fridge, "So glad you reminded me!" She opened it up and grabbed out a beer, popping the top and chugging it down before grabbing another just as Shinji came back into the kitchen with the beer half-way to her lips.
"Here we go," Touji smirked, seeing the glare his friend sent toward their guardian.
"What?" Mana asked.
"Oh, no you don't!" Shinji roared, running to grab the beer.
"Oh, yes I do!" Misato laughed before chugging the second beer down, grabbing another before he could stop her, and darted out of the way as he made a grab for it. "Too slow, Li'l Shinji!"
"You drank a whole bottle of whiskey on the ship!" Shinji yelled after her.
"I can drink way more than that!" She laughed, and ran into her room, slamming the door in his face, almost hitting him.
"Dammit!" Shinji yelped, rubbing his nose where the door had barely touched him.
Again, Mari was roaring with laughter, but she was now joined by Mana and Touji as Shinji grudgingly made his way back to the sink. Hikari huffed, "You're all a bunch of animals!" She splashed water in Shinji's direction, which he ignored.
"Welcome to the NERV family," Shinji muttered, "Eight strong and still growing."
"Wark!"
"Sorry, Penpen, I meant nine." Shinji sighed, though small smile tugged at his lips, "And I wouldn't change that even if I could!"
Hikari smiled as she placed the last dish on the drying rack, "Well, I'll say this much for you. At least you take things well, unlike a certain stooge I know."
Not catching the meaning of her jibe, Touji let it go with a huge yawn. "Man, oh man, after a meal like that, I could sure use a good night's sleep!"
"Drag Kensuke along with you when you go," Shinji smiled, seeing his other friend still hadn't recovered from Asuka's little fear induced display. "And Hikari, since it's getting so late, why don't you phone home and ask them to let you spend the night here? Wouldn't want anything to happen to you, would we?"
Mana squealed in delight, "Cool, she can bunk with me!"
Hikari smiled at the girl, then at Shinji, "That's nice of you, thanks. I'll se if Asuka is done so I can take a bath then." As she turned to leave, he caught hold of her arm gently and leaned close to her ear.
"Listen, as a pilot of an Eva, his life is always in danger, morning to night," he whispered, making the girl pale, realizing who he was taking about, "If you have feelings for him, then you should hurry and let him know." He released her then with the girl looking a little stunned that he knew about her crush, but nodded slowly as she continued on her way to the bathroom just as Asuka came out in a tank top and shorts, still drying her hair.
She took one look at Hikari's face and raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," the girl said, shaking her head, "Shinji just gave me something to think about. That's all." Asuka looked after curiously as the brunette stepped into the shower. Then she cast a glare at Shinji.
"Alright, just what the hell did you say to her?" Asuka demanded, striding right up to him, and getting in his face. A familiar situation for the young pilot, though unknown to the girl, Shinji had one too many close quarter encounters with the red-head in the past, and he'd had enough.
"That," Shinji growled, "Is none of your business. If she wants you to know then she'll tell you, but you won't hear it from me."
Asuka looked a little stunned that he hadn't backed down the moment she started toward him. Now here she was face to face with the glaring male pilot. She was also aware that they had the undivided attention of the other four residents, minus Kensuke as he was still passed out on the floor. There was no way that she could back down in front of the others like this.
"What's wrong?" She sneered, "Did wilddle Shinji get rejected?" Hearing this set Touji on edge. He'd seen Shinji speaking with Hikari, and seen the looks on her face when she heard what he had to say, but he hadn't caught any of it.
Shinji caught the look on his friend's face and smirked, "Nope, she's not my type," she raised an eyebrow at him as he looked down at her, "Relieved?"
Asuka scoffed, "In your dreams, Third!"
"The name is Shinji!" The boy bristled, "And don't you forget it!"
Asuka smirked with her eyes narrowed, "Shrimpy Shinji," she sneered, "Kinda has a nice ring to it."
Shinji smirked right back, "Not all of me is shrimpy, Asuka" her eyes widened at that, flitting a little further South than she'd wanted, causing his smirk to widen into a full smile, "Care to see for yourself?"
"No!" Asuka shrieked, spinning around and stomping off.
Mari snickered, "Looks like you lost that one, Red!"
"Shut the hell up, Four-eyes!"
"Touji, what's the score?" Mari asked, ignoring her friend.
Touji shrugged with a grin, "I'd say Shinji's in the lead for now, but no telling what the Red Devil will do in revenge."
"Ah, perhaps she'll sneak into his room to confirm his boasting?" Mari purred, giving her friend her kitty smile, to which Asuka gave her the bird and stomped toward the stairs and up to her room.
"I don't know, Mari," Touji said loudly, "I'm thinkin' she's more the straight forward type. She wouldn't sneak around about anything!"
"Are you two done?" Shinji grinned, rolling his eyes, "If so, Touji, hurry up drag Kensuke up to bed? And Rei, do not try to sneak in there. Use your own room."
"Got it," Touji grinned, taking his friend by the shirt collar and started dragging him out of the kitchen. Rei looked a little disappointed, but rose and started for her room on the ground floor.
"Mana, since you and Hikari are bunking together tonight, make sure that Misato can lend her some sleeping clothes," Shinji said, then raised his voice, "You hear that, Misato?"
"Yeah!" Misato called from her room, followed by a loud belch.
Again Shinji rolled his eyes and started for the door.
"Where are you going?" Mana asked curiously, blinking as the boy grabbed a light jacket. Mari looked after him, too, a gleam in her eyes as she realized what he was up to.
"Oh, big bad Shinji's taking a moonlit ride on his bike!" Mari said in a singsong voice, "Can I come?"
Shinji turned to her with the most charming smile he had, "Nope."
Mari pouted, "Aw! No fair, I bet if Asuka asked to go, you'd take her!"
"NOT ON YOUR LIFE!" Asuka yelled, startling the other pilots.
"How does she do that?" Mana asked.
Shinji chuckled as he reached for the door. "I'll be back in a bit."
"Be careful," Mana called softly.
Shinji smiled over his shoulder and nodded as he slipped his jacket on, then stepped outside. His bike was parked beside Misato's car, just like it was waiting for him. He settled in the seat and kicked it to life.
xXx
Asuka was fuming by the time she slammed the door to her room shut. Not only had she embarrassed herself by getting frightened by a bird, running out stark naked, but she had lost in an argument with someone she considered a rival, and all because of a sexual inuendo! Her cheeks were still red from the thought of him saying he wasn't completely shrimpy...though she noted that he did have slightly broad shoulders, which she like. And he wasn't just skinny. She could see that his arms were slightly muscular, not like a person that liked to lift weights, but a person that worked.
And then there was the fact that he was slightly taller than she was, not by much, but just enough for her to...
"Stop that!" She hissed to herself, shaking her head. "He's nothing but a rival! He's - " Suddenly she heard the sound of a an engine roaring to life. Curious, she stepped over to her window and peeked out. There was Shinji coasting his sleek black motorcycle to the road before stopping to place a pair of orange glasses over his eyes.
He revved the engine, then glanced over his shoulder like he could feel her eyes on him, and looked directly at her window. Asuka cursed in German and quickly pulled out of sight, coming out only when she heard the motorcycle speeding away.
She peeked out again, seeing the tail lights speeding down the road.
"Why?" She whispered, clutching at her pounding heart, "What the hell's wrong with me?"
Her door slid open, "I'd say that you have it bad for the captain," Mari said as she barged in, giving her red-haired roommate a smile, "But you just don't want to admit it." Mari sat on the edge of her bed across from Asuka as the girl glared at her. "Is it really that hard to see him that way?"
"YES!" Asuka snapped angrily, "He's a threat to my authority as a captain, and an Eva pilot!"
Mari groaned, and fell back onto her bed, "That attitude of your's is going to end up getting you killed, you know that, Red?" She sighed and rolled over onto her stomach, "And that's not something I'm looking forward to." She watched as Asuka sat down on her own bed, crossing her legs, and arms. "Look, Asuka, I know you're hung up on Kaji, but be realistic, he's way to old for you!"
"Age is just a number," Asuka said haughtily, turning her nose up, "All that matters is how two people feel."
"And I can see that he doesn't see you that way." Mari pointed out, "Did you see the way he looked at Misato? He was smitten!"
"So?" Asuka snapped, "She didn't seem all that happy to see him!"
"Probably because she still has a thing for him," Mari sighed, "If she was the one that broke up with him, then I wouldn't put it past her to never want to see him again."
"You're insinuating that they were seeing each other before?" Asuka said, raising an eyebrow at her friend. "I found that a little far-fetched."
"I don't see why," Mari smirked, "I mean look at the way he was flirting with her! It's obvious that he has the hots for her, and he has it bad. And Misato is like you. She doesn't wanna admit that she likes him, like you don't wanna admit you like Shinji."
"But I -"
"Asuka, knock it off already!" Mari huffed, sitting up on her knees and planting her hands on her hips, "Even I admit that I like the guy. He's cute, he's funny, and he's crack pilot!"
"Then go after him!" Asuka growled, "It's no concern of mine if you - "
"Now that's a bold-faced lie if I ever heard one," Mari said, giving her a kitty grin, "In my case, Asuka honey, I just want to sleep with him." She laughed as Asuka's eyes grew to the size of dinner plats, "No strings attached."
"B-b-but you just - I mean - "Asuka stammered, "How could you even think like that?!"
"Easy," Mari snapped her fingers, "Think of it this way, we're in a war against monsters, but war is war, and sometimes comforts are needed," she said, gesturing to her body in a provocative way, "and not all comforts are booze and words, Asuka."
Asuka looked like she'd just swallowed an entire pineapple, as red as her face was. Mari, she knew, was gifted in her body. She was tall, and lean with curves in all the places Asuka didn't. Asuka had admitted in a moment of feminine jealously of being envious of Mari's larger bust, seeing as Asuka was barely into the B-cup department. Both girls were well muscled and toned from their training as Eva pilots, but Asuka still had a long way to go if she wanted to catch up to Mari.
Mari noticed her calculating look. "Look Asuka, I know you're in denial about this, but just think about it. Do you honestly want Shinji to end up with me, whether or not it's just a small fling?"
"I - " Asuka started, but found her throat constricting around her words.
Mari smiled in triumph, and laid out on her pillow, "Good night, Red."
Asuka wanted to argue with her, but she couldn't. "Dammit." She huffed and laid down, "Good night!"
xXx
Mana laid out on her bed, smiling to herself as she punched in a number on her cell phone. "Hello, Boss, I'm reporting in just like you asked." She waited for the person on the other end to respond. Smiling when he did, she said, "The pilots seem like a pretty ordinary bunch. As much as I've heard about this Captain Ikari, he doesn't strike me as anything more than a normal person, except that he's just a genius in an Eva."
Again she waited, then frowned, "What do you mean, get to know him? Look, I know I'm working as a spy, but seduction isn't in my job description!" She hissed into the phone, hoping no one could hear her. "Okay, okay, so just talk to him, and find out if there's something weird about him? That I can do. Anything else?"
The person on the other spoke for a long moment, making Mana frown. "Okay, but what about my machine? I can't wait for an Eva the whole time! When is the T*RIDEN*T supposed to get here?"
Again, the person spoke for a while, and Mana didn't like what she heard at all. "What the hell do you mean we have to test Jet Alone first! That thing's nowhere near as advanced as mine!"
"Mana?" Hikari said from the door, "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, Hikari," she said, "My machine's arrival is just taking a little longer to arrive than I thought." She growled and hung up the phone as the girl entered in what Mana thought was the most...revealing thing she'd ever seen the girl wear. It was an over-sized tank top that was obviously designed for a woman who had a larger set of...assets than Hikari did, since the shirt was falling off the girl's shoulders every five minutes as she tried to keep the straps on her shoulder. The shorts were no better, which were drawn up as tight as possible with a draw string.
Mana's lip twitched, "Um, wow, Hikari...that looks..."
"Horrible!" Hikari blushed, "You should have seen the look on Touji's face! He nearly passed out!"
Mana laughed at that, "Oh, come on! It's not that bad!"
Hikari huffed, and sat on the edge of her bed, replacing the shoulder strap again, "Yes it is! I feel like a teen prostitute!"
"Hey, it's always good to have options," Mana grinned.
"Mana!" Hikari cried.
xXx
Shinji sighed in pleasure as he laid out on the grass, looking up at the night sky above him. He'd parked his bike in a small park area around the Geofront that over looked a small lake near NERV HQ. The sky he looked at was only seen through a large window of sorts that showed off the cycle of the day as it moved on. But it was just as good as being out under the real thing.
There was no wind though. It was one of the things he disliked about the Geofront. He loved feeling the cool breezes the night brought about. Down here there was not even a tickle of a breeze.
Shinji sat up for a moment, thinking that this was the perfect time to play with his small gift, seeing as there was no one around. Small stones littered the ground, it was just a matter of picking one.
Seeing one that looked just about right, Shinji stretched out his hand. Rise. The rock didn't move. Shinji grimaced. Float. Again the rock remained where it was. "Damn," Shinji sighed, "How did I do it with the Soy sauce? I just wanted to make it float off the ground."
"You have to want it to be able to do it." Said a familiar female voice. Even though he should have been used to the angel's sudden appearances, Shinji still jumped clear to his feet with a shout as Abraham, posing as Tokiko appeared beside him.
"Do you have to keep doing that?!" Shinji gasped, his heart pounding. "You're gonna give me a heart attack!"
"I'd just send you back," she said, grinning.
"Ugh," Shinji sighed, drifting back to the ground, "I haven't seen you in a while. What have you been up to?"
"Nothing in particular," Tokiko sighed, sitting beside him, "It didn't seem like you needed me anymore for the time being, so I decided to let you be on your own for a while." She giggled, "A good thing, too, seeing as you have quite a handful with a house full of females!"
"Don't remind me," Shinji groaned, falling onto his back, "I don't remember Mari or Mana as pilots the last time. Where the hell did they come from?"
Tokiko shrugged, "I can only guess that by coming back in time, there were a few changes as the consequences. It's like the ripple effect. Dropping a stone into the water will create ripples, and those ripples will only get larger until they come up against something to halt them. Time is like that, only it takes a supreme being to stop the ripple effect in a timeline. I'm not strong enough to even consider that. It also would explain these new angels that keep popping up."
"Yeah, that would explain it," Shinji sighed, "What about me then? Aren't I an angel still?"
"No, at the moment you're only half-angel like your sister." Tokiko explained, "Thanks to you not using your powers, the process has sped up just a little."
"I don't even know how to use the powers of an angel, Tokiko," Shinji pointed out, "Not that I want to, but why would I?"
"Why, indeed," she said, "It's true, we angels are powerful, but not all powerful like Adam and Lilith." She sighed, "That reminds me, I should tell you that something else has changed a bit. You remember Jet Alone, don't you?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah the robot that I had to sto- Hey! That was supposed to happen weeks ago!" Shinji leapt to his feet.
"Precisely," she said, "You new pilot, Miss Kirishima, is a pilot for one such robot, but it's activation test won't go through until the original is tested, meaning you still need to take care of that walking Nuke."
"Why can't I ever catch a break?" Shinji asked.
"Well," she giggled, "look at it this way. You got to spend a few relaxing days at sea, didn't you?"
"With a perverted girl, and a red demon." Shinji sighed.
"Also having a crush on said red demon," Tokiko pointed out, smiling at the frown he threw her way, "Admit it, Brother, you've missed her dearly."
Sighing in defeat because there was no way to deny it, he nodded, "Yeah, I have. But that temper of her's, gah!" He groaned, "It's a wonder I never stood up to her before!"
"Like I've told you before, you both had feeling for each other, but were either too shy, or stubborn, in her case, to admit it." Tokiko said, "That disaster of a kiss was her way of confirming her feelings, and she was scared and somewhat angry that she loved you, of all people."
Shinji nodded, "She doesn't seem the type to go for a guy like me, I'll give you that, but then again, I never thought I could like a girl like her either."
"So what are you going to do?" The angel asked.
"Well, first I need to get her out of that holier than thou attitude," Shinji said, "That's only going to get in the way of her life, and her piloting. Then I guess I need to get her to open up."
"Easier said than done," Tokiko said, "But a sound plan, nonetheless. Needless to say, I will not be helping you with that!"
"I wouldn't ask that of you," he grinned, "It's going to be bad enough for me. I can just see the fights we're going to get into!"
"What is you Lilin say?" Tokiko said, tapping her chin with her finger, "Oh yes! Ding: round one!"
"That's not even remotely funny," Shinji said, though he found himself talking to air. "I'm really starting to hate when that angel does that."
Well, this chapter took a little longer than I'd have like to get out, but I finally got it! Sorry I took so long, but hey, with this many colorful characters, you need a little time to get everyone in line :p Now, as you've read, Mana Kirishima is a prospect for an Eva pilot, but she also pilots a machine none as the T*RIDEN*T. Who was the person she was talking to? And where does her loyalty lye? Keep reading to find out!
Don't forget to review!
