Way of the warrior
Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of it's characters. Nor do I intend to. This right goes to other genial people and I will merely borrow their incredible works to expand upon as to provide further entertainment for fans.
No money is made of this, nor do I have any.
So, please don't sue me, the four cent I have aren't worth it anyway.
Chapter 3 - A new home
Tokyo 3 NERV hospital - 1 day after the battle
Shinji awoke to a splitting headache that was threatening to burst his skull open. Everything was shrouded into a heavy mist and his brain felt frazzled.
'What happened this time? Did Mitsune-sensei hit me in the head again?'
Then he managed to pry his eyes open and frowned.
Something wasn't right. This wasn't the ceiling of his room, or that of the hospital. In fact, Shinji was sure, he had never seen that ceiling in his whole life.
Then it hit him like a freight-train: He wasn't on the compound anymore. He had travelled to Tokyo 3 to meet his father, and then he had to fight some abomination from hell.
His frown deepened even more. He was lying in a hospital bed, that meant the fight hadn't gone satisfactory.
He tried to recall the last seconds of the fight.
'Ok lets see, I rammed my knife into it's core and then it self-destructed and I didn't manage to get away.'
Not one to easily accept defeat or even a tie Shinji analysed the fight and came to a horrible realization: he made a grave mistake.
'God if I don't kill myself for my stupidity Mitsune-sensei probably will'
Right now Shinji wanted to slam his head into the nearest wall, but opted against it since he hurt too much. He could always do that later.
His mistake was rather simple: In all his fights ever since he had discovered his powers he had relied on his inhuman strength and speed to overcome opponents with attacks that would be suicidal for anybody else. He had done the same here, but forgot one thing: His power didn't work on his EVA and he was therefore not stronger than his opponent.
Only now did he realize how much he had come to rely on his superior speed and strength. That wouldn't help him very much in these kind of battles. His frustration over the loss forgotten Shinji decided to get the best teacher his father could get him to up on his training.
It wouldn't do for him to get killed, after all. Although he hoped the teacher wouldn't be as brutal as Mitsune-sensei could be. Shinji still remembered one eye-opening sparring-session with her in particular....
*****************************************
FLASHBACK
2 months had gone by since Shinji started living on the compound up till now and he had enjoyed every minute of it. Heck, in his opinion his life couldn't get much better. He had a friend who was interested in music and fighting just like him, a place to call home and all the food he wanted. There couldn't be that much more, right?
Especially his sparring sessions with Mitsune-sensei were always very exhilarating and Shinji found himself liking the regal woman very much, even though she was rather brutal when somebody didn't perform good enough or disregarded her teachings.
However, that wasn't his concern, because he always wanted to learn more and he had the ability needed to make a good impression.
The small boy was currently walking towards the training hall. Training was to begin in 5 minutes and it wouldn't do to be late. Mitsune-sensei wanted her students to be on time.
He was understandably surprised when there wasn't anybody in the dojo already. Normally 5 others were in his training unit and usually he was the last one to come.
Maybe Mitsune-sensei decided to change the appointed time for training and nobody told him? It was best to search for them.
He was just about to leave again, when a voice stopped him cold.
"Shinji-kun. I want to talk with you."
He didn't like the sound of that, not at all. It was Mitsune-sensei's voice. That he was sure of. The tone she used, however, made him shiver involuntary. It was her 'You will listen to me very good or you won't like the consequences if you don't' tone of voice. Usually it was followed by a thorough beating for the one spoken to, no matter what he did.
Shinji gulped before he turned around.
'This is going to be very unpleasant'
When he turned to face her, the woman's face didn't betray any emotion, but thanks to his sixth sense the child could tell she was determined. There were other emotions like curiosity, if he was right, but determination was dominating, and very much at that. Shinji winced again and added 'very very very unpleasant'.
Her lustrous black hair was bound into a ponytail and she wore her training gi. That could only mean she planned on doing some serious fighting. Shinji's heart was starting to beat faster, but he held it down. It was best to keep cool. Control, always think control. Mitsune-sensei always told him that,
Non-the-less his voice held a slight shiver as he spoke to his teacher.
"What did you want to talk about sensei?"
"I have watched you the last months and to put it simply, I don't know what to make of you. I know you're built very well for someone your age, but you can't be that strong. Tell me what makes you tough enough to win fight you shouldn't be able to win Student!"
Normally Shinji wouldn't have answered a question like that. But he liked his body with all appendages on, so it was a good idea to answer.
"I don't know why I can do what I can do sensei. The first time I noticed that something was different about me was when I started to 'feel' emotions from others. I don't know why or how, but this power has gotten stronger, and now I'm able to boast my body's strength with it."
Minako raised an eyebrow and gave him a penetrating look
"That is all?"
Shinji knew she wanted to hear more, but he didn't know what else to say.
"Yes sensei. I know it sounds like I'm crazy, but it's true."
She nodded in agreement and then she was in his face, their noses only inches away. her voice was only a whisper, but it was still hard as steel and crystal clear for Shinji.
"I will believe you for now, but I will tell you this student: Learn to control this power of yours with all your being. If what you say is true you are going to be very strong, strong enough to kill somebody in only a moment of inattention. Promise me to keep yourself under control always and everywhere. Do you understand?"
Shinji nodded his head in shock. It wasn't so much what she spoke, but how. Up till now his sensei had always been pleasant or strict. But never in his live had he seen her so.... haunted. She looked almost ready to cry. Something must have happened, and it seemed to involve what she said. And judging from her reaction it was very important. Nothing had managed to shake Mitsune-sensei up that badly before, so it had to be important.
That moment he made a promise: He wouldn't lose control, never,
if not for himself, then for Mitsune sensei. Anything hat could shake her up that bad shouldn't happen again, because he was sure he couldn't bear it, whatever it was.
"I hereby swear I will never lose control of myself in any situation!"
A small smile tugged at her lips and Shinji felt her spirits lift slightly.
"Good. I will hold you to that promise. Now that it's out of the way, something else: You have to stop using your power constantly. You can make up a lot of skill that way and so you won't learn new moves very fast. That wouldn't be that much of a problem, but you may find yourself in a situation sometime when you can't access your power, then you have to rely on your skill only. And since I want my students prepared for every possible situation we have to work on your skill without your power. So from now on, you are only to access your powers in a real fight or tournament, nowhere else! Understand?"
Shinji nodded, he could live with that. If his sensei said it was best, it probably was.
Then he suddenly had to roll to the side as his sensei struck out with a foot.
"And remember, don't use your power" She looked like the cat that ate the canary.
Shinji learned to hate that look very soon.
The next half hour is better not to be described. Suffice to say, Shinji stood little chance and ended up in bed for 3 days.
FLASHBACK END
****************************************
Shinji winced again at the memory. That had hurt a lot. Only two years later did he find out why the woman was so insistent on them learning to control themselves, and especially him.
It seemed someone she loved very much died because of an accident involving martial arts. Whom or how, nobody was sure, since she never talked about it.
Finally coming out of his past memories Shinji decided to make a quick check-up on his body.
With slight dismay he noted that nothing was seriously damaged even though he was in the middle of that blast! He only had a few bruises and swellings strewn loosely over his body.
Deciding his body was well enough to sit up he promptly did just that.
A wave of nauseousness immediately befell him and he gritted his teeth to fight it. His head was feeling like a herd of elephants ran through it. After waiting a moment he felt good enough to stand. The hard, tiled floor felt cold on his feet, but he ignored it, the draft he felt on his backside was more important. He was probably looking like a fool right now with that hospital-gown. He made his way to the stool that was located in the far corner of the room where a pair of trousers and a shirt were draped over.
After five minutes of struggling he managed to put them on. he was now once again clad in a white shirt that had the name of his dojo printed on it in an artful way. The 'Lee-dojo' was named after Masaru Lee, the administrator and owner of the compound, who also founded it 20 years back.
His trousers were baggy to allow movement and held in simple black.
Not wanting to waste his time standing around Shinji decided to find someone who could tell him where he was and how he could get a hold of Misato or Dr. Akagi. He didn't feel like speaking with his father right now. The bastard was only good for grating on his nerves anyway.
His search lasted exactly 5 seconds, because the moment he reached the door someone opened it from outside. He was greeted by the sight of Misato, who was wearing the same clothing as the day before.
"Why, hello Shinji. I was just about to see how you're doing."
"Hello Misato-san. Thank you for your concern."
"No problem. Now, what were you doing anyway? Not sneaking out, were you?"
"Actually I wanted to find you, but that problem has already been solved. I wanted to know where I'm going to be living. Can you help me there?"
"What do you mean? Aren't you going to live with your father?"
Shinji's face turned sour at the mention of his father.
"No, thank you. I try to spent as little time as possible with him. When coming here I had at least some hope he was an okay person, but after yesterday I'm pretty sure I would kill him if we lived in the same house. So no, I won't be living with him."
Misato winced.
'Note to self: Do not speak about his father'
To Shinji she said :"Okay. I will just make a quick phone call, then we should know what is planned for your living quarters."
********************************
5 minutes later found Misato ranting at somebody at the other end of her cell phone for all she was worth. Shinji standing next to her felt very sorry for the poor sap.
"What do you mean an apartment is ready for him???? You expect a 14 year old to live by himself? Listen here buddy, you can cancel the apartment. The boy is going to live with me. Have a nice day!"
'But mam we can't....' The rest of the poor sap's excuse was cut off as Misato slammed the phone shut.
"So, what do you think Shinji. You wanna live with me or alone?"
Shinji sighed heavily. Sometimes Misato could be quite the hothead. A quality he found to be both interesting and annoying.
"Actually alone would have been nice. But since you already told him I'm going to live with you we might as well do it. Just remember to ask me for my opinion next time. I don't like it when people decide my life for me."
Misato, now a little cooled down, dialed another number on her phone,
leaving Shinji to wonder what that was about now.
'Doctor Akagi here' came the answer from the other end
"Hello Rits.It's me, Misato. I have to tell you something."
Ristuko was obviously annoyed, judging from her tonefall.
'Oh? And what is it? Do you have a new boyfriend again? Or did you already marry your man this time?'
"Rits, come on. Stay serious for a minute okay. I just discovered that you planned for Shinji to live on his own. I have changed that, so now he is going to live with me, just so you know where he is. Okay?"
'Why Misato' Misato hated that new mischievous edge that crept into Ritsuko's voice. It usually meant she was going to be teased by her.
'You don't plan to seduce him, do you? Not that I can't understand you. He is built quite well for his age after all'
As Misato suddenly made a good imitation of a kettle, with smoke coming out of her ears, Shinji wondered if it wasn't better to run for his life. His new self-proclaimed guardian was scary like this!
"Ritsuko!" Misato screamed, clearly indignant "What do you think I am? A little whore? I wouldn't do that. You should know that as well as I!"
'Whatever' said Ritsuko dimissivly 'Just keep your hands off of him and try not to get him drunk with all that beer at your house. I have other thigs to take care of for now. Ciao!' And the line went dead.
'That woman! Sometimes I really want to strangle her. Who does she think she is, a saint?'
"Well. everything is cleared up now. Lets go."
******************************
Sometime later Misato and Shinji were standing in front of an ordinary door in an ordinary apartment building.
After 20 minutes expert driving on Misato's part the duo had arrived at a brand new apartment building. It was made only for NERV-employeers.
Right now it was still empty save for them.
"I just moved in myself so it's still a little messy." Misato said, as she turned the lock around. She opened the door so Shinji was able to move in first. He shrugged, it coudln't be that bad.
As he stepped into the apartment Shinji nearly had a heart-attack.
'Did she just say a LITTLE messy? When this is a little messy in her opinion I don't want to know what it means to be really messy.'
Indeed Shinji didn't exaggerate one bit when thinking along these lines.
Next to the door a bunch of chests and crates was standing, still mostly unopened, he could excuse that. The rest was another story altogether.
beer cans were littered everywhere and clothing, worn judging from its looks, was scattered on the floor, closets, couch and even the TV.
Shinji ventured deeper into this dump to find the kitchen table full of beer as well. various closets where stadning open, revealing.. nothing, no cooking utensils or anything edible.
"Welcome to your new home Shinji" Came Misato's cheerful voice from behind.
'Right'he thought dryly. 'I would call this a dump, not a home. We have to do some serious cleaning here.'
As he turned to Misato, who was already taking a beer out of the fridge he was trying very hard to keep the twitching of his right eyebrow down. Shinji wasn't that much of an orderly freak, but this was a bit over the top, so you have to give him some credit that his next word weren't any harsher.
"Misato-san" he said as calm as possible "You are a total slob, do you know that?"
Hearing his voice, Misato, who was just about to take a swing of her beer gave an intelligible 'huh?', causing Shinji to sweatdrop. Surely nobody could be THAT bad?
'Shinji, you will not strangle her, you're a guest in her 'home' after all. Do not even think about it. It may be satisfying, but you have to keep control, you promised!'
Misato took another gulp.
'Sometims I hate that promise I made back then.....'
"Misato-san, will you leave your beer alone for a moment?"
Another 'huh?' was his response and Shinji had enough.
He walked over to her, and before she could blink her can of beer was gone.
"Will you listen to me for a moment!"
Misato only looked at him suspicious
"What did you do with my beer?"
"I did nothing with your beer, I don't drink after all. I will give it back if you listen for a moment."
"What is it Shinji?"
'Oh my god, she's actually listening!'
"I have said earlier that you are a total slob. We have to do something to get this apartment back into shape. And I won't do that alone."
Misato grinned at him stupidely, totally ignoring his insult.
Out of nowhere she pulled a big houseplan for the week and showed it to him before rolling it out on the table, knocking over a few empty beer in the process.
"I have already thought about that. We will play siccor, paper, stone to decide how to distribute the chores among us. Okay? I will start."
"tsk, tsk, tsk. You're doing it again Misato. I didn't agree to play anything, did I? We both know you're doing this because you are very good at this game. I, for one, am not. We will simply distribute the chores in equal parts. Heck, I'll even do a day more. meaning you do the chores on only 3 days, I on 4."
"Now Shinji, this is my home and I say we play for it."
"Very well Misato-san, if you see it like that I will live on my own. I'm not here to clean up after a slob all the time. Have a nice day"
Shinji said as he was already walking out the door in a disinterested manner.
"Wait! we will do it your way ok?" Came Misato's slightly desperate cry.
His back still turned to her Shinji allowed a small smile to cross his lips, unseen by his new roommate.
'Hook, line and sinker. Seems like the lovely captain isn't that clever or simply in desperate need of some company' He thought to himself, happy his bait worked.
"Very well, I will stay."
'Thank god!' was the dominating thought in Misato's head. She really didn't want to live alone aigin. It would be nice to have somebody to talk to sometime. The clean up duty simply was a nice, if not fully satisfying, boon. She could live with three days of housework a week.
"Come on, I'll show you to your new room." A quick sniff in his direction."And after that you should take a shower. You're still smelling like hospital."
Shinji shrugged, He wanted to take a shower anyway.
"I will do that, but first my room."
"This way." Misato walked down the small corridor to the left side of the living room until they reached the last of two doors on the other side. She opened it and made a grande gesture
"This is your new room. Hope you like it!"
The room itself was nothing special. With 5 at 4 meters it was nearly twice his old room's size. The bed was in the right corner on the backwall. A drawer and closet on the opposite wall and a desk at the feet of the bed. No plants, no posters, nothing, just a bare room with no individual touches.
It was exactly Shinji's taste. Safe for his throphies everything was as it had to be.
"I know it's still bare, but you can give it your touch quite easily."
"Don't worry, I like it. This is just my taste."
*****************************
5 minutes later
Misato was sitting in the living room to ponder the recent events of her live and of course to drink some beer.
Her new roommate was currently taking a shower. Curiously she seemed to have forgotten something important...
'Nah, if it is, it will come back to me eventually.'
"WAARK" Came pen-pen's loud squawk from the shower, followed by an almost inaudible "What the hell" from Shinji.
Misato sweatdropped.
'Thats what I had forgotten. Pen-Pen is usually taking a shower around this time'
Only seconds later a nearly naked Shinji, who was only covered by a towel, came in and looked at her crossly.
"Misato, there is a fluffy something 'warking' around and taking a shower in your apartment."
"Yeah, right. That would be my other roommate. His name is Pen-Pen and he's a warm water penguin. Sorry, I kinda forgot to tell you."
That moment the bird in question came walking in, a towel over his shoulder. Then the bird came up to Shinji and gave another indignant 'Wark' before it hammered its peak against his shin.
"Owww!!! You stupid bird, will you stop it already! Ow.. ow..Ow...."
All this jumping around wasn't very good for his towel and it fell of, giving Misato quite a view to enjoy.
the bird simply turned around and walked up to the fridge. He opened a small door and jumped in, disappearing from view.
"Ah damn, is he always like that?"
Misato shook her head, trying to contain her laugher and the blush creeping to her face. Damn, He was built very well in every aspect!
"No, he just doesn't like interruptions when bathing or showering."
Then as casual as possible she added.
"Oh, and I think you should cover yourself up Shinji, it ain't right to run around naked before a lady."
"Okay I'll remember that." He said still keeping cool, until the second part Misato said registered. He looked down to see his manhood in plain view, causing him to rattle of a few explicit curses in his head.
On the outside he tried to stay cool, but succeeded only partly. He picked up his towel with slow deliberate motions, not rushing anything. His face, however, still showed his embarrassment quite clearly.
"If you will excuse me." He choked out and left.
When he was in the shower again he banged his head against the wall.
'Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Why do you get all worked up? Nothing happened. She saw you naked, so what?' He berated himself.
Another part of him, even if it was a lot smaller defended himself
'So? You've never been in such a situation before. Everybody can have a slip up every now and then, even you! Next time you'll do better!`
*******************************
As Shinji walked out of the room Misato burst out laughing.
'That was fun!.....but something wasn't right. I would have expected him to storm out of the room. If it wasn't for that healthy red his face was I would have thought it didn't bother him at all. That boy is something special I have to admit. Wonder what his next surprise will be......'
********************************
The next morning....
The habitants of Tokyo 3 were still sleeping as it was early in the morning. The same was true for the Katsuragi household, or at least for one of it's occupants.
While Misato was peaceful slumbering away in her bed, her new roommate was already awake, even though it was only 4 in the morning.
Shinji Ikari simply couldn't sleep anymore. He was used to rising early from the past few years and coupled with sleeping in a new house his body decided it didn't want anymore sleep.
Shinji dragged himself out of bed with bleary eyes and put on his training clothes. They consisted of a white pair of trousers along with a white button up shirt. Both made of cotton.
It wasn't like he had anything better to do, so he decided to scout out his new hometown while doing his usual morning run. That in mind Shinji took the key Misato had given to him last night and started out the door.
As he stepped onto the street he inhaled deeply. The air was still chilly and the sun had yet to make an appearance. Not to mention he hated running alone, but Akira wasn't here.
'Oh well....' he thought resigned, as he jogged into a random direction.
********************************
3 hours later....
Normally Misato wasn't a morning person, but today she made an exception.
Why?
She was in a very good mood. The reason was simple: Today she would be able to get back at her new roommate. She hadn't told him yet, but he had to attend school again. That wouldn't be all that suprising, but his files stated he never was in school and the last four years he had some kind of private tutor.
'Sending him to school is going to be hard on 'Mr. Know it all'' She thought gleefully as she opened the fridge, still in underwear.
She popped it open and drank it in one gulp.
"YEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH! That's the way to start the day!" - In his fridge Pen-pen sweatdropped, as he did everyday at this hour.
Misato didn't bother to put anything on, as she started preparing one of the most dreaded things on earth: A self-made meal. Not that she believed that, of course.
While Misato tried to cook, the door opened and Shinji slipped in. He just finished his long walk and was sweaty as hell.
'Eekks, I really need a shower!'
As he closed the door, he heard somebody working in the kitchen. Knowing it to be Misato, he decided to greet her.
As he saw her, Misato's back turned to him, his greeting died in his throat, for there stood Misato, half naked. The only thing she was wearing was a bra and panties...... lace panties.
Shinji tried, he really did, but his eyes simply wouldn't bend to his will, as they roved up and down his new guardians back. Travelling all the way from her shoulders over her shapely backside down her unbelievable long legs.
As Shinji registered what he thought he snapped out of his trance.
'idiot! Are you crazy? She could be your mother, stop it already'
He gulped as he tried to calm himself and make a silent retreat; maybe she hadn't heard him....
Misato's hearing, however, was very sharp.
"Well, hello there Shinji. Breakfast will be ready soon. I would advise you take shower before eating." She greeted him, without turning around.
"Morning Misato-san" He croaked out, his mind still clouded.
Hearing Shinji speaking like that Misato wondered what was wrong and turned around, only to see a sweaty Shinji whose head was as red as a tomato standing in the doorway.
"Is something wrong Shinji-kun?" She asked concerned.
As Misato turned around, inadvertently giving Shinji an even better view then before, all cohorent thought left his mind.
All he could do was stutter out an incoherent "Your.. You... Bra...Panties..H-Half naked....." While pointing at her.
Misato raised an eyebrow and looked down at herself .
'Seems like I forgot to put something on.'
Looking up again she took note of Shinji's state and started to laugh, which didn't go unnoticed by Shinji, since laughing did wonderous things to her chest.
After a few seconds Misato recovered from her laughing fit enough to think clearly again.
"Sorry Shinji, I just forgot to put something on. I am not used to having a roommate" 'Although I have to remember that one. It's funny to see him like that'
An answer wasn't coming and Misato noticed that Shinji's eyes were unfocused.
"Shinji-kun?" She approached him. Then she passed a hand in front of his face.
Suddenly Shinji blinked, coming out of his dreamworld that involved Misato, him and a lot of icecream.
'What the heck....!' he thought before looking at Misato questionally, trying to avoid looking below her neckline again.
Seeing as she now had his attention Misato spoke again.
"I said I will put something on Shinji-kun. Be right back!"
Before he could say anything she turned around and walked to her room.
Finally Shinji gathered his wits enough to go take a shower, all the while berating himself for losing his wits like that, the second time in as many days.
'What is it with me and women lately?' He wondered to himself.
It wasn't like he didn't know about sex or anything, but it had to be possible to control his hormones, shouldn't it?
'Every time I see one of them half naked or the other way around I freak out. Hopefully that's not the chase when they touch me.'
Shinji shuddered at that thought. That wouldn't do at all. he had to fight the occasional girl in a tournament, after all.
Heck, some of the best fighters he knew were girls!
The new pilot of Unit one let out a contented sigh as he stepped into the shower, remembering his first near defeat at the hands of a girl. Sure, she had been training longer than him, and it was only sparring, so he hadn't used his powers, but that still was no excuse for nearly losing, he knew that.
Shinji couldn't even remember the devils name, but he had learned a lesson from her: Never be to overconfident, especially when it comes to girls, you might be in for a surprise.
However, all that still didn't explain why he wasn't able to keep his hormones under control right now...
So Shinji finished his shower without any new ideas on how to get over his recent problems....
***********************
As Misato walked out of her room, this time fully dressed, she instantly noticed the smoke that was coming from the kitchen.
Her keen mind needed only fraction of a second to figure out what was wrong.
'Oh shit! I forgot the toast!'
The only thing her despaired jump to the toaster resulted in were two very black pieces of toast, not something you want to eat for breakfast.
Misato being Misato padded herself on the back and promptly put them onto the plates.
At her feet Pen-Pen could only feel pity for Shinji Ikari...
It wasn't long before a showered and freshly clothed Shinji walked into the kitchen.
"So, what's for breakfast Misato-san?"
Misato gave him a brilliant smile as she seated herself.
"Toast, of course. Take what you want out of the fridge."
Shinji promptly went to the fridge in search of some jam, or meat.
Somewhere in between all that beer he even found some!
It was only when he was seated, that Shinji noticed the 'toast' on his plate and gagged.
'So thats what is smelling burned! ... Somehow I don't feel like eating anymore'
The 'toast', as Misato referred to the blackened mass on his plate, had more in common with a lump of coal than with something edible.
Shinji briefly wondered if his new roommate was kidding him, only to see her biting into a black mass, just like his, with a satisfied face.
Internally Shinji groaned.
'If she is such a bad cook it's best I take up that chore all week. I don't want to die before turning 15!'
Misato was still chewing contently.
'.....Damn, she must have a stomach that is able to digest toxic waste or something.'
Gently he pushed his plate away and waited for Misato to finish.
When she had finished eating Misato focused her attention on Shinji, only to see his plate untouched.
"What's wrong Shinji-kun? Haven't got any hunger"
Shinji put on a serious face.
"Quite the opposite Misato-san. I just prefer starving to dying because of food poisoning."
"Oh come on, my cooking is not that bad. Just take a bite, it's good."
She pouted.
'Not that bad, my ass! This is toxic waste nothing more.'
Of course, Shinji didn't say that out loud.
"Misato-san, I have a proposition to make. Since your cooking is only edible if your stomach is made of iron, it is best in our best interest if I cook all our meals. You would have to do the laundry in exchange."
Misato, still wondering what was wrong with her cooking, lulled that over. She didn't like cooking very much. Then again, she didn't like doing the laundry as well. Still, it didn't require as much time and therefore was the lesser of two evil, so she agreed readily.
Shinji would have padded himself on his back for saving himself from certain death, but decided against it, since it would probably look silly.
Instead he stood up and started to clean up the table as Misato took another beer from the fridge.
She popped it open and her eyes suddenly lit up, just like she found enlightenment from opening that can of beer.
"..Shinji-kun..." She said in a mischievous tone of voice that made our hero shudder.
'This can't be good' he thought to himself as he turned to face the new bane of his existence.
"I nearly forgot" She continued, now that she had his attention. " You have school today!" That annoying grin she wore was now splitting her face in two.
'So what?' Shinji thought 'That's all? Isn't as bad as I thought'
He voiced his thoughts.
Misato's grin got even wider than before, if such a thing were possible.
"I don't think you understand Shinji-kun. You will go to a public school, not be tutored by a private teacher."
Shinji's confused look turned to one of horror. he had heard all kinds of stories from the students that were visiting their dojo regularly and he believed without a doubt he was going to die from boredom in a real school. Tutoring was fine, but school!
'Very well' Shinji told himself ' Time to pull out all the stops..'
"N-now Misato-san, why can't we simply get a tutor for me? It wouldn't do for a pilot to be seen in public. What if somebody wants to kill me, you can't afford losing me!"
He said with his best faked nervous expression.
Misato waggled a finger at him.
"Don't try that one with me Shinji-kun. You know very well that you can take care of yourself. And if you can't, NERV will always be around. Aside from that, We want you to have some contact with other children your age, to give you at least a semblance of a normal live during your stay here. Now hurry up, we have to get you to school. They should have everything ready by now, according to Ritsuko."
As she dragged him out the door Shinji gave a resigned sigh. This was going to be torture, he just knew it.
Moments later a blue sports car, that still had a lot of dents, was pulling out of its park lot, bringing one Shinji Ikari to the first school day in his live........
**************************
authors notes:
Well, that was a short chapter. I promise to make it longer next time.
Originally I planned to inlclude Shinji's first schoolday in here.
However, I decided to put it into chapter 4 along with the next angel!
Don't know when chapter 4 will be out. Probably a good 6 weeks from now on (exmas suck!).
Anyway, some of you might wonder: Why a whole chapter for this little bit of actual plot.
The answer is simple: I wanted to show that Shinji's relationship to Misato is changed when compared to the original timeline. This time its more a sister-brother relationship then mother-son. Reason for this is Shinji's newly grown backbone and his independend-mindedness. However, since his social-skills (especially with girls) are still rather poor there will be a lot of teasing coming his way. He's just responding differently by shooting back more often.
Again I'm asking you to mail me at master_meister@gmx.de if you're interested in pre-reading or want to contact me in private.
I'm saying this because I could still use a few pre-readers, not out of fun (just so you know).
My rants end here, one more thing: pleeaaaaase review!!!!!!!!! I want as much opinions as possible concerning my fic.
I also want to thank my pre-reader Eva_Fan for his help at correcting my atrocious spelling.
Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of it's characters. Nor do I intend to. This right goes to other genial people and I will merely borrow their incredible works to expand upon as to provide further entertainment for fans.
No money is made of this, nor do I have any.
So, please don't sue me, the four cent I have aren't worth it anyway.
Chapter 3 - A new home
Tokyo 3 NERV hospital - 1 day after the battle
Shinji awoke to a splitting headache that was threatening to burst his skull open. Everything was shrouded into a heavy mist and his brain felt frazzled.
'What happened this time? Did Mitsune-sensei hit me in the head again?'
Then he managed to pry his eyes open and frowned.
Something wasn't right. This wasn't the ceiling of his room, or that of the hospital. In fact, Shinji was sure, he had never seen that ceiling in his whole life.
Then it hit him like a freight-train: He wasn't on the compound anymore. He had travelled to Tokyo 3 to meet his father, and then he had to fight some abomination from hell.
His frown deepened even more. He was lying in a hospital bed, that meant the fight hadn't gone satisfactory.
He tried to recall the last seconds of the fight.
'Ok lets see, I rammed my knife into it's core and then it self-destructed and I didn't manage to get away.'
Not one to easily accept defeat or even a tie Shinji analysed the fight and came to a horrible realization: he made a grave mistake.
'God if I don't kill myself for my stupidity Mitsune-sensei probably will'
Right now Shinji wanted to slam his head into the nearest wall, but opted against it since he hurt too much. He could always do that later.
His mistake was rather simple: In all his fights ever since he had discovered his powers he had relied on his inhuman strength and speed to overcome opponents with attacks that would be suicidal for anybody else. He had done the same here, but forgot one thing: His power didn't work on his EVA and he was therefore not stronger than his opponent.
Only now did he realize how much he had come to rely on his superior speed and strength. That wouldn't help him very much in these kind of battles. His frustration over the loss forgotten Shinji decided to get the best teacher his father could get him to up on his training.
It wouldn't do for him to get killed, after all. Although he hoped the teacher wouldn't be as brutal as Mitsune-sensei could be. Shinji still remembered one eye-opening sparring-session with her in particular....
*****************************************
FLASHBACK
2 months had gone by since Shinji started living on the compound up till now and he had enjoyed every minute of it. Heck, in his opinion his life couldn't get much better. He had a friend who was interested in music and fighting just like him, a place to call home and all the food he wanted. There couldn't be that much more, right?
Especially his sparring sessions with Mitsune-sensei were always very exhilarating and Shinji found himself liking the regal woman very much, even though she was rather brutal when somebody didn't perform good enough or disregarded her teachings.
However, that wasn't his concern, because he always wanted to learn more and he had the ability needed to make a good impression.
The small boy was currently walking towards the training hall. Training was to begin in 5 minutes and it wouldn't do to be late. Mitsune-sensei wanted her students to be on time.
He was understandably surprised when there wasn't anybody in the dojo already. Normally 5 others were in his training unit and usually he was the last one to come.
Maybe Mitsune-sensei decided to change the appointed time for training and nobody told him? It was best to search for them.
He was just about to leave again, when a voice stopped him cold.
"Shinji-kun. I want to talk with you."
He didn't like the sound of that, not at all. It was Mitsune-sensei's voice. That he was sure of. The tone she used, however, made him shiver involuntary. It was her 'You will listen to me very good or you won't like the consequences if you don't' tone of voice. Usually it was followed by a thorough beating for the one spoken to, no matter what he did.
Shinji gulped before he turned around.
'This is going to be very unpleasant'
When he turned to face her, the woman's face didn't betray any emotion, but thanks to his sixth sense the child could tell she was determined. There were other emotions like curiosity, if he was right, but determination was dominating, and very much at that. Shinji winced again and added 'very very very unpleasant'.
Her lustrous black hair was bound into a ponytail and she wore her training gi. That could only mean she planned on doing some serious fighting. Shinji's heart was starting to beat faster, but he held it down. It was best to keep cool. Control, always think control. Mitsune-sensei always told him that,
Non-the-less his voice held a slight shiver as he spoke to his teacher.
"What did you want to talk about sensei?"
"I have watched you the last months and to put it simply, I don't know what to make of you. I know you're built very well for someone your age, but you can't be that strong. Tell me what makes you tough enough to win fight you shouldn't be able to win Student!"
Normally Shinji wouldn't have answered a question like that. But he liked his body with all appendages on, so it was a good idea to answer.
"I don't know why I can do what I can do sensei. The first time I noticed that something was different about me was when I started to 'feel' emotions from others. I don't know why or how, but this power has gotten stronger, and now I'm able to boast my body's strength with it."
Minako raised an eyebrow and gave him a penetrating look
"That is all?"
Shinji knew she wanted to hear more, but he didn't know what else to say.
"Yes sensei. I know it sounds like I'm crazy, but it's true."
She nodded in agreement and then she was in his face, their noses only inches away. her voice was only a whisper, but it was still hard as steel and crystal clear for Shinji.
"I will believe you for now, but I will tell you this student: Learn to control this power of yours with all your being. If what you say is true you are going to be very strong, strong enough to kill somebody in only a moment of inattention. Promise me to keep yourself under control always and everywhere. Do you understand?"
Shinji nodded his head in shock. It wasn't so much what she spoke, but how. Up till now his sensei had always been pleasant or strict. But never in his live had he seen her so.... haunted. She looked almost ready to cry. Something must have happened, and it seemed to involve what she said. And judging from her reaction it was very important. Nothing had managed to shake Mitsune-sensei up that badly before, so it had to be important.
That moment he made a promise: He wouldn't lose control, never,
if not for himself, then for Mitsune sensei. Anything hat could shake her up that bad shouldn't happen again, because he was sure he couldn't bear it, whatever it was.
"I hereby swear I will never lose control of myself in any situation!"
A small smile tugged at her lips and Shinji felt her spirits lift slightly.
"Good. I will hold you to that promise. Now that it's out of the way, something else: You have to stop using your power constantly. You can make up a lot of skill that way and so you won't learn new moves very fast. That wouldn't be that much of a problem, but you may find yourself in a situation sometime when you can't access your power, then you have to rely on your skill only. And since I want my students prepared for every possible situation we have to work on your skill without your power. So from now on, you are only to access your powers in a real fight or tournament, nowhere else! Understand?"
Shinji nodded, he could live with that. If his sensei said it was best, it probably was.
Then he suddenly had to roll to the side as his sensei struck out with a foot.
"And remember, don't use your power" She looked like the cat that ate the canary.
Shinji learned to hate that look very soon.
The next half hour is better not to be described. Suffice to say, Shinji stood little chance and ended up in bed for 3 days.
FLASHBACK END
****************************************
Shinji winced again at the memory. That had hurt a lot. Only two years later did he find out why the woman was so insistent on them learning to control themselves, and especially him.
It seemed someone she loved very much died because of an accident involving martial arts. Whom or how, nobody was sure, since she never talked about it.
Finally coming out of his past memories Shinji decided to make a quick check-up on his body.
With slight dismay he noted that nothing was seriously damaged even though he was in the middle of that blast! He only had a few bruises and swellings strewn loosely over his body.
Deciding his body was well enough to sit up he promptly did just that.
A wave of nauseousness immediately befell him and he gritted his teeth to fight it. His head was feeling like a herd of elephants ran through it. After waiting a moment he felt good enough to stand. The hard, tiled floor felt cold on his feet, but he ignored it, the draft he felt on his backside was more important. He was probably looking like a fool right now with that hospital-gown. He made his way to the stool that was located in the far corner of the room where a pair of trousers and a shirt were draped over.
After five minutes of struggling he managed to put them on. he was now once again clad in a white shirt that had the name of his dojo printed on it in an artful way. The 'Lee-dojo' was named after Masaru Lee, the administrator and owner of the compound, who also founded it 20 years back.
His trousers were baggy to allow movement and held in simple black.
Not wanting to waste his time standing around Shinji decided to find someone who could tell him where he was and how he could get a hold of Misato or Dr. Akagi. He didn't feel like speaking with his father right now. The bastard was only good for grating on his nerves anyway.
His search lasted exactly 5 seconds, because the moment he reached the door someone opened it from outside. He was greeted by the sight of Misato, who was wearing the same clothing as the day before.
"Why, hello Shinji. I was just about to see how you're doing."
"Hello Misato-san. Thank you for your concern."
"No problem. Now, what were you doing anyway? Not sneaking out, were you?"
"Actually I wanted to find you, but that problem has already been solved. I wanted to know where I'm going to be living. Can you help me there?"
"What do you mean? Aren't you going to live with your father?"
Shinji's face turned sour at the mention of his father.
"No, thank you. I try to spent as little time as possible with him. When coming here I had at least some hope he was an okay person, but after yesterday I'm pretty sure I would kill him if we lived in the same house. So no, I won't be living with him."
Misato winced.
'Note to self: Do not speak about his father'
To Shinji she said :"Okay. I will just make a quick phone call, then we should know what is planned for your living quarters."
********************************
5 minutes later found Misato ranting at somebody at the other end of her cell phone for all she was worth. Shinji standing next to her felt very sorry for the poor sap.
"What do you mean an apartment is ready for him???? You expect a 14 year old to live by himself? Listen here buddy, you can cancel the apartment. The boy is going to live with me. Have a nice day!"
'But mam we can't....' The rest of the poor sap's excuse was cut off as Misato slammed the phone shut.
"So, what do you think Shinji. You wanna live with me or alone?"
Shinji sighed heavily. Sometimes Misato could be quite the hothead. A quality he found to be both interesting and annoying.
"Actually alone would have been nice. But since you already told him I'm going to live with you we might as well do it. Just remember to ask me for my opinion next time. I don't like it when people decide my life for me."
Misato, now a little cooled down, dialed another number on her phone,
leaving Shinji to wonder what that was about now.
'Doctor Akagi here' came the answer from the other end
"Hello Rits.It's me, Misato. I have to tell you something."
Ristuko was obviously annoyed, judging from her tonefall.
'Oh? And what is it? Do you have a new boyfriend again? Or did you already marry your man this time?'
"Rits, come on. Stay serious for a minute okay. I just discovered that you planned for Shinji to live on his own. I have changed that, so now he is going to live with me, just so you know where he is. Okay?"
'Why Misato' Misato hated that new mischievous edge that crept into Ritsuko's voice. It usually meant she was going to be teased by her.
'You don't plan to seduce him, do you? Not that I can't understand you. He is built quite well for his age after all'
As Misato suddenly made a good imitation of a kettle, with smoke coming out of her ears, Shinji wondered if it wasn't better to run for his life. His new self-proclaimed guardian was scary like this!
"Ritsuko!" Misato screamed, clearly indignant "What do you think I am? A little whore? I wouldn't do that. You should know that as well as I!"
'Whatever' said Ritsuko dimissivly 'Just keep your hands off of him and try not to get him drunk with all that beer at your house. I have other thigs to take care of for now. Ciao!' And the line went dead.
'That woman! Sometimes I really want to strangle her. Who does she think she is, a saint?'
"Well. everything is cleared up now. Lets go."
******************************
Sometime later Misato and Shinji were standing in front of an ordinary door in an ordinary apartment building.
After 20 minutes expert driving on Misato's part the duo had arrived at a brand new apartment building. It was made only for NERV-employeers.
Right now it was still empty save for them.
"I just moved in myself so it's still a little messy." Misato said, as she turned the lock around. She opened the door so Shinji was able to move in first. He shrugged, it coudln't be that bad.
As he stepped into the apartment Shinji nearly had a heart-attack.
'Did she just say a LITTLE messy? When this is a little messy in her opinion I don't want to know what it means to be really messy.'
Indeed Shinji didn't exaggerate one bit when thinking along these lines.
Next to the door a bunch of chests and crates was standing, still mostly unopened, he could excuse that. The rest was another story altogether.
beer cans were littered everywhere and clothing, worn judging from its looks, was scattered on the floor, closets, couch and even the TV.
Shinji ventured deeper into this dump to find the kitchen table full of beer as well. various closets where stadning open, revealing.. nothing, no cooking utensils or anything edible.
"Welcome to your new home Shinji" Came Misato's cheerful voice from behind.
'Right'he thought dryly. 'I would call this a dump, not a home. We have to do some serious cleaning here.'
As he turned to Misato, who was already taking a beer out of the fridge he was trying very hard to keep the twitching of his right eyebrow down. Shinji wasn't that much of an orderly freak, but this was a bit over the top, so you have to give him some credit that his next word weren't any harsher.
"Misato-san" he said as calm as possible "You are a total slob, do you know that?"
Hearing his voice, Misato, who was just about to take a swing of her beer gave an intelligible 'huh?', causing Shinji to sweatdrop. Surely nobody could be THAT bad?
'Shinji, you will not strangle her, you're a guest in her 'home' after all. Do not even think about it. It may be satisfying, but you have to keep control, you promised!'
Misato took another gulp.
'Sometims I hate that promise I made back then.....'
"Misato-san, will you leave your beer alone for a moment?"
Another 'huh?' was his response and Shinji had enough.
He walked over to her, and before she could blink her can of beer was gone.
"Will you listen to me for a moment!"
Misato only looked at him suspicious
"What did you do with my beer?"
"I did nothing with your beer, I don't drink after all. I will give it back if you listen for a moment."
"What is it Shinji?"
'Oh my god, she's actually listening!'
"I have said earlier that you are a total slob. We have to do something to get this apartment back into shape. And I won't do that alone."
Misato grinned at him stupidely, totally ignoring his insult.
Out of nowhere she pulled a big houseplan for the week and showed it to him before rolling it out on the table, knocking over a few empty beer in the process.
"I have already thought about that. We will play siccor, paper, stone to decide how to distribute the chores among us. Okay? I will start."
"tsk, tsk, tsk. You're doing it again Misato. I didn't agree to play anything, did I? We both know you're doing this because you are very good at this game. I, for one, am not. We will simply distribute the chores in equal parts. Heck, I'll even do a day more. meaning you do the chores on only 3 days, I on 4."
"Now Shinji, this is my home and I say we play for it."
"Very well Misato-san, if you see it like that I will live on my own. I'm not here to clean up after a slob all the time. Have a nice day"
Shinji said as he was already walking out the door in a disinterested manner.
"Wait! we will do it your way ok?" Came Misato's slightly desperate cry.
His back still turned to her Shinji allowed a small smile to cross his lips, unseen by his new roommate.
'Hook, line and sinker. Seems like the lovely captain isn't that clever or simply in desperate need of some company' He thought to himself, happy his bait worked.
"Very well, I will stay."
'Thank god!' was the dominating thought in Misato's head. She really didn't want to live alone aigin. It would be nice to have somebody to talk to sometime. The clean up duty simply was a nice, if not fully satisfying, boon. She could live with three days of housework a week.
"Come on, I'll show you to your new room." A quick sniff in his direction."And after that you should take a shower. You're still smelling like hospital."
Shinji shrugged, He wanted to take a shower anyway.
"I will do that, but first my room."
"This way." Misato walked down the small corridor to the left side of the living room until they reached the last of two doors on the other side. She opened it and made a grande gesture
"This is your new room. Hope you like it!"
The room itself was nothing special. With 5 at 4 meters it was nearly twice his old room's size. The bed was in the right corner on the backwall. A drawer and closet on the opposite wall and a desk at the feet of the bed. No plants, no posters, nothing, just a bare room with no individual touches.
It was exactly Shinji's taste. Safe for his throphies everything was as it had to be.
"I know it's still bare, but you can give it your touch quite easily."
"Don't worry, I like it. This is just my taste."
*****************************
5 minutes later
Misato was sitting in the living room to ponder the recent events of her live and of course to drink some beer.
Her new roommate was currently taking a shower. Curiously she seemed to have forgotten something important...
'Nah, if it is, it will come back to me eventually.'
"WAARK" Came pen-pen's loud squawk from the shower, followed by an almost inaudible "What the hell" from Shinji.
Misato sweatdropped.
'Thats what I had forgotten. Pen-Pen is usually taking a shower around this time'
Only seconds later a nearly naked Shinji, who was only covered by a towel, came in and looked at her crossly.
"Misato, there is a fluffy something 'warking' around and taking a shower in your apartment."
"Yeah, right. That would be my other roommate. His name is Pen-Pen and he's a warm water penguin. Sorry, I kinda forgot to tell you."
That moment the bird in question came walking in, a towel over his shoulder. Then the bird came up to Shinji and gave another indignant 'Wark' before it hammered its peak against his shin.
"Owww!!! You stupid bird, will you stop it already! Ow.. ow..Ow...."
All this jumping around wasn't very good for his towel and it fell of, giving Misato quite a view to enjoy.
the bird simply turned around and walked up to the fridge. He opened a small door and jumped in, disappearing from view.
"Ah damn, is he always like that?"
Misato shook her head, trying to contain her laugher and the blush creeping to her face. Damn, He was built very well in every aspect!
"No, he just doesn't like interruptions when bathing or showering."
Then as casual as possible she added.
"Oh, and I think you should cover yourself up Shinji, it ain't right to run around naked before a lady."
"Okay I'll remember that." He said still keeping cool, until the second part Misato said registered. He looked down to see his manhood in plain view, causing him to rattle of a few explicit curses in his head.
On the outside he tried to stay cool, but succeeded only partly. He picked up his towel with slow deliberate motions, not rushing anything. His face, however, still showed his embarrassment quite clearly.
"If you will excuse me." He choked out and left.
When he was in the shower again he banged his head against the wall.
'Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Why do you get all worked up? Nothing happened. She saw you naked, so what?' He berated himself.
Another part of him, even if it was a lot smaller defended himself
'So? You've never been in such a situation before. Everybody can have a slip up every now and then, even you! Next time you'll do better!`
*******************************
As Shinji walked out of the room Misato burst out laughing.
'That was fun!.....but something wasn't right. I would have expected him to storm out of the room. If it wasn't for that healthy red his face was I would have thought it didn't bother him at all. That boy is something special I have to admit. Wonder what his next surprise will be......'
********************************
The next morning....
The habitants of Tokyo 3 were still sleeping as it was early in the morning. The same was true for the Katsuragi household, or at least for one of it's occupants.
While Misato was peaceful slumbering away in her bed, her new roommate was already awake, even though it was only 4 in the morning.
Shinji Ikari simply couldn't sleep anymore. He was used to rising early from the past few years and coupled with sleeping in a new house his body decided it didn't want anymore sleep.
Shinji dragged himself out of bed with bleary eyes and put on his training clothes. They consisted of a white pair of trousers along with a white button up shirt. Both made of cotton.
It wasn't like he had anything better to do, so he decided to scout out his new hometown while doing his usual morning run. That in mind Shinji took the key Misato had given to him last night and started out the door.
As he stepped onto the street he inhaled deeply. The air was still chilly and the sun had yet to make an appearance. Not to mention he hated running alone, but Akira wasn't here.
'Oh well....' he thought resigned, as he jogged into a random direction.
********************************
3 hours later....
Normally Misato wasn't a morning person, but today she made an exception.
Why?
She was in a very good mood. The reason was simple: Today she would be able to get back at her new roommate. She hadn't told him yet, but he had to attend school again. That wouldn't be all that suprising, but his files stated he never was in school and the last four years he had some kind of private tutor.
'Sending him to school is going to be hard on 'Mr. Know it all'' She thought gleefully as she opened the fridge, still in underwear.
She popped it open and drank it in one gulp.
"YEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPPPIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH! That's the way to start the day!" - In his fridge Pen-pen sweatdropped, as he did everyday at this hour.
Misato didn't bother to put anything on, as she started preparing one of the most dreaded things on earth: A self-made meal. Not that she believed that, of course.
While Misato tried to cook, the door opened and Shinji slipped in. He just finished his long walk and was sweaty as hell.
'Eekks, I really need a shower!'
As he closed the door, he heard somebody working in the kitchen. Knowing it to be Misato, he decided to greet her.
As he saw her, Misato's back turned to him, his greeting died in his throat, for there stood Misato, half naked. The only thing she was wearing was a bra and panties...... lace panties.
Shinji tried, he really did, but his eyes simply wouldn't bend to his will, as they roved up and down his new guardians back. Travelling all the way from her shoulders over her shapely backside down her unbelievable long legs.
As Shinji registered what he thought he snapped out of his trance.
'idiot! Are you crazy? She could be your mother, stop it already'
He gulped as he tried to calm himself and make a silent retreat; maybe she hadn't heard him....
Misato's hearing, however, was very sharp.
"Well, hello there Shinji. Breakfast will be ready soon. I would advise you take shower before eating." She greeted him, without turning around.
"Morning Misato-san" He croaked out, his mind still clouded.
Hearing Shinji speaking like that Misato wondered what was wrong and turned around, only to see a sweaty Shinji whose head was as red as a tomato standing in the doorway.
"Is something wrong Shinji-kun?" She asked concerned.
As Misato turned around, inadvertently giving Shinji an even better view then before, all cohorent thought left his mind.
All he could do was stutter out an incoherent "Your.. You... Bra...Panties..H-Half naked....." While pointing at her.
Misato raised an eyebrow and looked down at herself .
'Seems like I forgot to put something on.'
Looking up again she took note of Shinji's state and started to laugh, which didn't go unnoticed by Shinji, since laughing did wonderous things to her chest.
After a few seconds Misato recovered from her laughing fit enough to think clearly again.
"Sorry Shinji, I just forgot to put something on. I am not used to having a roommate" 'Although I have to remember that one. It's funny to see him like that'
An answer wasn't coming and Misato noticed that Shinji's eyes were unfocused.
"Shinji-kun?" She approached him. Then she passed a hand in front of his face.
Suddenly Shinji blinked, coming out of his dreamworld that involved Misato, him and a lot of icecream.
'What the heck....!' he thought before looking at Misato questionally, trying to avoid looking below her neckline again.
Seeing as she now had his attention Misato spoke again.
"I said I will put something on Shinji-kun. Be right back!"
Before he could say anything she turned around and walked to her room.
Finally Shinji gathered his wits enough to go take a shower, all the while berating himself for losing his wits like that, the second time in as many days.
'What is it with me and women lately?' He wondered to himself.
It wasn't like he didn't know about sex or anything, but it had to be possible to control his hormones, shouldn't it?
'Every time I see one of them half naked or the other way around I freak out. Hopefully that's not the chase when they touch me.'
Shinji shuddered at that thought. That wouldn't do at all. he had to fight the occasional girl in a tournament, after all.
Heck, some of the best fighters he knew were girls!
The new pilot of Unit one let out a contented sigh as he stepped into the shower, remembering his first near defeat at the hands of a girl. Sure, she had been training longer than him, and it was only sparring, so he hadn't used his powers, but that still was no excuse for nearly losing, he knew that.
Shinji couldn't even remember the devils name, but he had learned a lesson from her: Never be to overconfident, especially when it comes to girls, you might be in for a surprise.
However, all that still didn't explain why he wasn't able to keep his hormones under control right now...
So Shinji finished his shower without any new ideas on how to get over his recent problems....
***********************
As Misato walked out of her room, this time fully dressed, she instantly noticed the smoke that was coming from the kitchen.
Her keen mind needed only fraction of a second to figure out what was wrong.
'Oh shit! I forgot the toast!'
The only thing her despaired jump to the toaster resulted in were two very black pieces of toast, not something you want to eat for breakfast.
Misato being Misato padded herself on the back and promptly put them onto the plates.
At her feet Pen-Pen could only feel pity for Shinji Ikari...
It wasn't long before a showered and freshly clothed Shinji walked into the kitchen.
"So, what's for breakfast Misato-san?"
Misato gave him a brilliant smile as she seated herself.
"Toast, of course. Take what you want out of the fridge."
Shinji promptly went to the fridge in search of some jam, or meat.
Somewhere in between all that beer he even found some!
It was only when he was seated, that Shinji noticed the 'toast' on his plate and gagged.
'So thats what is smelling burned! ... Somehow I don't feel like eating anymore'
The 'toast', as Misato referred to the blackened mass on his plate, had more in common with a lump of coal than with something edible.
Shinji briefly wondered if his new roommate was kidding him, only to see her biting into a black mass, just like his, with a satisfied face.
Internally Shinji groaned.
'If she is such a bad cook it's best I take up that chore all week. I don't want to die before turning 15!'
Misato was still chewing contently.
'.....Damn, she must have a stomach that is able to digest toxic waste or something.'
Gently he pushed his plate away and waited for Misato to finish.
When she had finished eating Misato focused her attention on Shinji, only to see his plate untouched.
"What's wrong Shinji-kun? Haven't got any hunger"
Shinji put on a serious face.
"Quite the opposite Misato-san. I just prefer starving to dying because of food poisoning."
"Oh come on, my cooking is not that bad. Just take a bite, it's good."
She pouted.
'Not that bad, my ass! This is toxic waste nothing more.'
Of course, Shinji didn't say that out loud.
"Misato-san, I have a proposition to make. Since your cooking is only edible if your stomach is made of iron, it is best in our best interest if I cook all our meals. You would have to do the laundry in exchange."
Misato, still wondering what was wrong with her cooking, lulled that over. She didn't like cooking very much. Then again, she didn't like doing the laundry as well. Still, it didn't require as much time and therefore was the lesser of two evil, so she agreed readily.
Shinji would have padded himself on his back for saving himself from certain death, but decided against it, since it would probably look silly.
Instead he stood up and started to clean up the table as Misato took another beer from the fridge.
She popped it open and her eyes suddenly lit up, just like she found enlightenment from opening that can of beer.
"..Shinji-kun..." She said in a mischievous tone of voice that made our hero shudder.
'This can't be good' he thought to himself as he turned to face the new bane of his existence.
"I nearly forgot" She continued, now that she had his attention. " You have school today!" That annoying grin she wore was now splitting her face in two.
'So what?' Shinji thought 'That's all? Isn't as bad as I thought'
He voiced his thoughts.
Misato's grin got even wider than before, if such a thing were possible.
"I don't think you understand Shinji-kun. You will go to a public school, not be tutored by a private teacher."
Shinji's confused look turned to one of horror. he had heard all kinds of stories from the students that were visiting their dojo regularly and he believed without a doubt he was going to die from boredom in a real school. Tutoring was fine, but school!
'Very well' Shinji told himself ' Time to pull out all the stops..'
"N-now Misato-san, why can't we simply get a tutor for me? It wouldn't do for a pilot to be seen in public. What if somebody wants to kill me, you can't afford losing me!"
He said with his best faked nervous expression.
Misato waggled a finger at him.
"Don't try that one with me Shinji-kun. You know very well that you can take care of yourself. And if you can't, NERV will always be around. Aside from that, We want you to have some contact with other children your age, to give you at least a semblance of a normal live during your stay here. Now hurry up, we have to get you to school. They should have everything ready by now, according to Ritsuko."
As she dragged him out the door Shinji gave a resigned sigh. This was going to be torture, he just knew it.
Moments later a blue sports car, that still had a lot of dents, was pulling out of its park lot, bringing one Shinji Ikari to the first school day in his live........
**************************
authors notes:
Well, that was a short chapter. I promise to make it longer next time.
Originally I planned to inlclude Shinji's first schoolday in here.
However, I decided to put it into chapter 4 along with the next angel!
Don't know when chapter 4 will be out. Probably a good 6 weeks from now on (exmas suck!).
Anyway, some of you might wonder: Why a whole chapter for this little bit of actual plot.
The answer is simple: I wanted to show that Shinji's relationship to Misato is changed when compared to the original timeline. This time its more a sister-brother relationship then mother-son. Reason for this is Shinji's newly grown backbone and his independend-mindedness. However, since his social-skills (especially with girls) are still rather poor there will be a lot of teasing coming his way. He's just responding differently by shooting back more often.
Again I'm asking you to mail me at master_meister@gmx.de if you're interested in pre-reading or want to contact me in private.
I'm saying this because I could still use a few pre-readers, not out of fun (just so you know).
My rants end here, one more thing: pleeaaaaase review!!!!!!!!! I want as much opinions as possible concerning my fic.
I also want to thank my pre-reader Eva_Fan for his help at correcting my atrocious spelling.