Chapter 18

I don't own any of the Eva characters. They belong to GAINAX

The following morning found Shinji feeling rested and fully refreshed. He was also feeling much better about himself. Misato had informed him over breakfast that he had not gone wolf while he slept. With this lighter mood settled about them, Shinji decided that he would try to finish working on his car.

After the couple had finished their breakfast, Shinji and Misato went upstairs and changed into their day clothes. Misato dressed in a pair of short jean shorts and a white tank top, while Shinji put on his grease clothing. While it was permanently stained from all of the auto grease, Shinji had made sure to wash it before putting it back on.

Out in the garage, Shinji felt confined. So, with Misato's help, he put the car into neutral and pushed it out onto the driveway. Once there, he rolled out the hydraulic jack and lifted the front end of his car off of the asphalt. Then, using a four-way tire iron, he removed the front two tires and put the axles up on blocks. The rear tires were removed in a similar fashion.

"There," Shinji sighed once the fourth and final tire had been removed, "Now I can put the new ones on."

"You know, you'll probably need to take them to a real auto shop to have them aligned," Misato pointed out.

"I know," Shinji acknowledged, "I knew that before I even started to take the old ones off. I worked in a shop before, remember? Does your shop do alignments?"

"Yep," said Misato cheerfully, "They do just about everything."

"Including drool over you," Shinji said in a low voice.

Ten minutes later, Shinji's car had all new tires on it. He still had more parts to replace before the car would be finished. The fuel system was still in pieces, needing the new pump and filter installed. Shinji was not looking forward to this process because as it stood now, he had the lines clamped off to prevent spillage. In order for him to reattach the pump and filter, the clamps would have to be removed. This would mean that things would get very messy. Shinji gritted his teeth and removed the clamps. Almost immediately, his arms were drenched in fuel from the severed lines.

Great, Shinji thought sarcastically, now my arms are gonna reek of gasoline for the rest of the day.

The gasoline pouring everywhere started to make Shinji's job very slippery as his hands became more and more covered in it. As he tried to plug the new filter into the gap in the line, it slipped and fell out of his fingers several times. Once the filter was in place, most of the leakage was stopped, but it still dripped, and Shinji knew why. There was still a gap in the line where it was supposed to connect to the fuel pump. It was a relatively simple matter for Shinji to insert the end of the pump into the open end of the fuel line. More difficult was getting the pump to fit successfully into the engine block where Shinji knew it belonged.

"Come on, you dirty bitch!" he muttered angrily, "Give it up!"

Misato shook her head in disbelief. She had no idea why Shinji was getting so worked up over as simple a matter as this. After another two minutes of grunting and swearing, Shinji finally managed to get the fuel pump into the correct place and tighten the bolts that would hold it there. Next, he reassembled all of the remaining lines, cables, and hoses. Once that was done, Shinji stood up with a satisfied smile.

"I think that'll about do it," Shinji sighed, "Let's go get the tires aligned."

"It'll need an inspection, too," said Misato, "Otherwise, it'll be illegal for you to put that thing out on the road."

Shinji nodded. An inspection; how could he have forgotten that simple, yet essential part of the mechanic's process? Shinji cursed himself for having been out of the shop for so long as to have ignored that question. With a shrug, Shinji walked over to the utility sink that Misato had in her garage and did his best to wash off the gasoline that was still flooding the pores of his skin. After nearly five minutes of scrubbing with every hand cleaner he could find, Shinji was satisfied that the worst of the smell was gone.

"Are you clean yet?" Misato asked sarcastically.

"I think so," Shinji replied, "Shall we?"

Shinji indicated the passenger seat of the Corvette. Misato chuckled nervously.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"What?" Shinji asked, feigning a hurt look, "Don't you trust me?"

"I do," Misato protested, also looking hurt (except hers was real) at Shinji's question, "It's just that I've never driven with you before, and you just put the car back together again."

"So you don't trust my work?"

"That's not it either!" Misato protested.

"Then what's the matter?" Shinji asked.

"I don't know," Misato said, opening the door and sitting down in the passenger seat.

"It's because you've never ridden with me before, right?" Shinji guessed as he climbed into the driver's seat holding the ignition key.

"Am I that transparent?" Misato asked, defeated.

"Only a little," Shinji said reassuringly. Then, he put the key into the ignition switch and prepared to turn it. He looked over at Misato.

"Let's see if I still know how to fix a car," Shinji murmured, "Here goes nothing…"

Shinji turned the key and gently pumped the gas pedal. The engine sputtered a few times, trying to turn over, finally sputtering out. Shinji tried again, praying as hard as he knew how that he actually managed to fix the car enough to get it the three blocks to Misato's garage. The engine sputtered and revved as it tried again to turn over.

With a rumble and a loud roar, the six-cylinder engine jumped to life. Shinji thumped on the steering wheel in triumph.

"Yes!" Shinji shouted excitedly as he slapped the wheel.

"I guess you've still got it," Misato said, grinning, "That's good to know. Maybe I can convince you to do all of my repairs from now on, unless it's something major."

"I guess that wouldn't be too bad," Shinji remarked, putting the car into gear, "I couldn't possibly accept any money for the work, though."

"Well, I guess I'll have to pay you some other way," Misato grinned slyly. Shinji glanced sidelong at Misato and grinned. He knew exactly what she meant and it was confirmed when Misato started gently stroking the inside of his right thigh. If it wasn't for his concentration being split between driving a stick-shift, driving an new and unfamiliar car, and paying attention to what was on the road, he would have been reacting in male fashion to Misato's touch. After a short cruise around the block to get a feel for his new car, Shinji drove out of the development. Since Rei had yet to see the finished car and it was on the way to the shop, Shinji headed for Rei's house. Misato looked slightly askance at Shinji when he pulled up to the sidewalk beside the ranch house.

"What are we doing here?" she asked.

Shinji grinned.

"Showing off," he said. Then, he gave the car's horn a couple of honks.

Rei came out the door, a puzzled look adorning her features. This confusion rapidly gave way to shock and gleeful surprise when she saw Shinji sitting in the driver's seat of his black Vette. Shinji grinned at the blue-haired girl as she came running out to the side of the road. Shinji revved the engine a couple of times.

"Oh, my god!" Rei gasped, "You got it to run. That's awesome!"

"I just finished her this morning," Shinji said proudly, "We're taking her down to the shop to get an inspection and the tires aligned. Would you like to come along?"

"Mmm…no thanks," Rei said, "That's a beautiful car, Shinji, but it's more built for two. If it's all right with you, Misato, I'd like to go over and use your pool and practice my diving after a while."

"You know where the key is, Rei," Misato said, leaning over Shinji's lap to look out the window.

"Thanks," said Rei happily, "Well, I'm gonna go change. Have fun at the mechanic's."

"Yeah," Shinji said sarcastically, "right. Depending on how long it takes, I'll probably end up being bored to tears before it's all over."

"Cheer up," Misato said, nudging him in the ribs, "I'll take you shopping after we're done. You need some sunglasses that are equal in coolness to your car. That, and you need some other clothing, too. You kind of destroyed some of it the last time you turned into a werewolf."

"Great," Shinji said blandly.

I despise clothes shopping, Shinji thought with disgust. Still, if it would make Misato happy, he would suffer through it.

A short time later and Shinji could have sworn that he was already suffering horrors too unspeakable to be named. He was sitting next to Misato in the waiting area of the auto shop behind the parts store at Johnson Auto. The only things that the shop had available to read were an assortment of badly out-of-date auto magazines and mail-order catalogues. The music, and Shinji applied the term very loosely, was even worse. It consisted of a very scratchy-sounding rockabilly group doing bad covers of classic rock hits. Shinji swore that he was going insane.

Welcome to the Twilight Zone, Shinji thought, A world where time has no meaning, what-so-freaking-ever.

Just as Shinji was about to start praying for the earth to open up and swallow him whole, a man with long hair and a slightly pointed face walked out of the shop.

"Hi, Aolba," Misato said sweetly.

"Uh…hi," Aolba replied awkwardly. Clearly, this man wasn't completely comfortable around women like Misato. Shinji glanced over at Misato, wondering why she continued to flirt with men, in full view of her boyfriend, knowing how he reacted the last time she did something like that.

"Your, uh…your car's done," Aolba said quietly.

"Cool, thanks," Shinji said with relief, "Let's go."

Shinji and Misato followed Aolba out into the shop area over to where Hyuga and another man were standing around Shinji's baby. Shinji walked up to his car and affectionately caressed the front wheel wells, as though he were petting a beloved dog or other pet. Misato turned to face the mechanics.

"So," she said, "What do I owe you guys for the work?"

"Well," Hyuga said, "you could just let me take you out to dinner and we'll call it even…"

"Hey!" Shinji said angrily, forgetting about his car. He wheeled quickly around to face Hyuga.

"Easy Shinji," Misato said calmly, "Sorry, Hyuga, but I don't think Shinji would like that too much. See, he and I are dating, and he can be a little bit protective."

"You and Shinji are…?" Hyuga asked weakly, "Man…some guys get all the luck!"

"You sound like Kensuke," Shinji remarked.

"Who?"

"A friend of mine," Shinji replied, "He's a computer nerd who has no real life, and he complains that he can't find the right woman. I've tried to tell him that he'll never find anyone unless he goes out and looks for her, but he won't listen to me or Toji."

"Toji Suzuhara?" Aolba asked.

"Yeah," Shinji said, "Why? Do you guys know Toji?"

"He works here part-time, like Aolba," said Hyuga, "He's pretty popular with the lady customers we get here in the repair shop. Seems he likes to work out in his spare time."

"Sounds almost like you're in love with him, Makoto," Aolba joked.

"Shut up!" Hyuga snapped back, "Anyway, Misato, for the inspection and tire alignment you'll owe us about 175."

"Well that's not bad at all," Misato said, a hint of surprise and relief showing in her voice. Clearly, she had been used to much higher repair bills for other things that went wrong with a car.

"Anyway," said Shinji, "Toji tries to give Kensuke lessons on being a so-called 'ladies' man', but I don't think that Toji's ever had a date in his life, either."

All of the men in the shop chuckled heartily. Shinji suspected that he had just set his friend up for a major teasing when he next came in to work. He felt sort of guilty, but he couldn't wait to hear Toji blow up about how much of a hard time the "guys at work" had given him about his dating experience. Misato pulled out her check book and scribbled out the payment.

"Thanks again, guys," she said happily, "Let's go, Shinji."

"Gladly," Shinji said gratefully, climbing into his Stingray.