A note from the Hime no Argh herself-
Okay, well, before we move on to the next section, there's something I want to clarify in response to a review. This chapter introduces "the new Shinji" and you should know that yes, he is extremely OOC. This is basically because he's no longer Shinji Ikari. Part of the purpose of this story is to see how the others will react to this new and different Shinji. I'm not going to say where the story will eventually go, but it just might be interesting, so I hope you will bear with me. I will try my very best to keep everyone else in character. Thanks for reading, thanks for the reviews.
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Ritsuko, standing outside the door as though she were on guard duty, stopped Misato before she could enter the room in which Shinji waited. "Stick to the story, Misato," she said quietly. "Keep in mind that he knows nothing of his former life."
"I know that, Dr. Akagi," Misato snapped, then quite suddenly the anger drained out of her. "I can't believe how scared I am," she whispered, feeling herself trembling. "What's he like?"
Ritsuko gripped her shoulder, firm and reassuring. "He's like Shinji." Then she gave Misato a little shove toward the door. "Good luck."
"Thanks." Misato squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. Then she opened the door and walked into the hospital room.
Shinji lay in bed surrounded by humming machines, staring quietly at the ceiling. Nodes were planted on his forehead and connected to one of the machines- Misato knew that Ritsuko was monitoring his brain activity, making sure that there were no irregularities from the procedure that had erased and rewritten his memory. Shinji glanced at her as Misato softly closed the door behind her, and a small smile appeared on his face.
"Mom," he said, and Misato felt a sharp pain stab at her heart.
She smiled shakily at him, so filled with both sorrow and elation that she didn't know what to feel. "Hi, Shinji. How are you feeling?"
"Okay," Shinji replied, watching her as she made her way to his beside and sank into the chair that had been placed there. "What about you?" he asked with sudden, urgent concern. "They told us about the explosion in Matsushiro-"
"I'm fine," Misato replied quickly. "Just got a little banged up, that's all."
For a moment Shinji looked relieved, then concerned again. "What happened? Is the pilot of Unit 03 okay?"
"He'll be fine," Misato said quietly. "He's been through a terrible ordeal, and his left leg was severed, but...he's alive."
"That's good." Shinji leaned back against his pillow, staring at the ceiling again. "I don't remember anything," he sighed. "But I guess the Angel was defeated, right?"
"Right. You were beaten unconscious," Misato replied, reciting the answer Ritsuko had told her to give. "Commander Ikari activated the dummy system in Eva 01, and it took down the Angel."
"Asuka and Rei?"
"Both fine."
"Good." Shinji's voice was cool, detached. Misato watched him intently, slightly chilled by the unruffled tone of his voice. He was Shinji, it seemed- and yet he wasn't.
"So how long do I have to stay here?"
"Ah, just until this evening. They want to make sure you're okay before sending you home. But you sure don't have to hang around in bed all day!" Misato smiled with a cheeriness that she didn't feel. "Want to go get something to eat?"
"Sure, Mom," Shinji said with a smile that pained her. Misato helped him carefully out of bed and gave him her arm to hang on to as they walked across the room.
She half-expected to find Rei and Asuka waiting outside, but the only one in sight was Ritsuko. "How are you feeling, Shinji?" she said with a genuine smile.
"I'm okay," Shinji replied, smiling back. "Mom and I are going to get some lunch. Would you like to come?"
"No thanks, Shinji, I have some things to take care of." Ritsuko glanced at Misato, and in her eyes was the same question she'd just asked Shinji: how are you feeling?
Misato nodded slightly, then put on a smile. "Too bad you can't join us, Ritsuko. See you later." Shinji waved, and they strolled off down the hall, arm in arm.
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In the hospital's cafeteria, Misato loaded Shinji's tray with all his favorite foods for him, wondering if he would even like them anymore with his memory erased. They can't have made him forget everything, she thought stubbornly, and was satisfied to see Shinji devouring everything in sight, though he was probably just ravenous after his efforts in the Eva.
They made small talk, Misato feeling very uncomfortable and Shinji looking at her in a concerned sort of way. Poor Shinji, Misato thought. He could never understand why I'm suddenly a stranger; me, who is supposed to be his mother.
Some time later Rei came to the cafeteria. Spotting them, she grabbed a tray and a single apple and came to join them.
"Hi, Rei," Shinji said, smiling at Rei as if they were very good friends. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Pilot Ikari, and yourself?"
Shinji stared at Rei. "Pilot Ikari?" he said, confused.
Misato mentally kicked herself for forgetting to tell Asuka and Rei that Shinji's surname was Katsuragi now. "Ahh, Rei's just a little fuzzy from the last battle," she said, faltering, while silently pleading with Rei to play along.
She needn't have worried. "That's correct," Rei said calmly. "My apologies, Shinji."
"Oh, that's okay," Shinji said easily. He looked at the apple on Rei's tray. "Aren't you going to eat anything else?"
"No. I am not hungry."
Shinji shook his head. "I'm always hungry after a skirmish," he muttered, and went back to eating.
"Where's Asuka?" Misato inquired of Rei.
"I believe she went back to your apartment."
"What?" Shinji asked with his mouth full. "She didn't even want to see how I'm doing?"
"You know Asuka. She…" Misato hesitated. "She might be a little weird around you for a bit, Shinji. She's, um, she's having her period."
"Oh, God." Shinji laughed good-naturedly. "That's always fun."
"Yeah, so don't take offense at anything she might say or do. It's just hormones, you know?" Misato laughed uneasily.
"Gotcha." Shinji finished eating and laid his chopsticks on his tray. "What now?"
"Well, I guess Ritsuko will want to talk to you, see how you're doing."
Shinji frowned. "I don't get it, Mom. I've been beaten unconscious before in a battle. It was embarrassing, but no one ever made such a big deal out of it."
Misato gulped, not knowing what to say, and Rei took her cue.
"I suspect they are worried about the pilots because of the incident with the fourth child," she explained. "Perhaps they are concerned about the aftereffects of hurting a human being in order to destroy the target."
Shinji shrugged, standing. "I did what I had to do. Or rather, the dummy system did what it had to do. I'll go find Ritsuko now. Mom, Rei, I'll see you later."
Misato and Rei both stared at him as he exited the room, then at each other.
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To be continued.