CHAPTER 3
Misato breathed in the fresh smell of Yakitori as she walked into the apartment.
"I am home" she called out dropping her keys on the bar-table and taking off her coat. She smiled a Shinji who began to serve the meals, but this time he served them in four bowls for the first time.
Mia walked out of Asuka's room before Asuka, for the first time Shinji noticed how pretty Mia's hair was, it was a golden brown colour and waved down to her hips in small waves. Her green eyes glimmered in the lights from the living room and he almost felt hypnotized by them.
"Hurry up will you I am starving" Asuka snapped and he finished quickly handing the bowls out as everyone sat down. Mia looked down as if saying a silent grace to herself before starting.
"Misato," Asuka started and Misato glanced across at her as she guzzled the beer down. "Will Mia be coming to the tests tomorrow?"
"If she is not to jet-lagged" Misato said and Mia smiled.
"I will be fine, the quicker I get started the better off I am if an angel attacks" Mia stated and Misato smiled.
"If only Asuka had your attitude towards school work" Misato smirked maliciously and Asuka blushed slurping the noodles. The fur of them ate in silence until Misato had finished.
"Well I have a lot of work to do, Asuka you can clean up and I will re-do the chores in the morning" Misato said.
"Awe! But I need to take a bath!" Asuka winged.
"I will clean up" Mia said and Misato shook her head.
"It is Asuka's turn" Misato said and Asuka looked pained.
"No I insist" Mia said taking their plates to the sink, somehow Shinji found himself feeling intimidated by Mia and got up walking straight to his room. Misato watched him as he left and as Asuka went into the bathroom.
Mia didn't look one bit displeased as she cleaned up washing all of the plates before drying them. Misato knocked on Shinji's door and let herself in.
"Shinji," she started and he looked up at her.
"What is it Misato?" he asked politely.
"Are you OK with Mia staying here?" she asked and Shinji nodded puzzled.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.
"You just seem uneasy around her," Misato said and Shinji sighed.
"She has a strange personality, she isn't forward and bitchy like Asuka, she isn't submissive and emotionless like Rei so I just don't know how to act around her" Shinji thought aloud.
"You just need to get used to her, you need to get to know her and once you know what she likes and just a little more about her then you wont feel uneasy around her" Misato smiled leaving the room. Shinji flopped back onto his bed and turned the music back on.
"Yeah I suppose," he whispered to no one.
* * * * *
The next morning Mia was up first eating some cereal while reading an Italian-Japanese dictionary. Shinji walked out of his room doing up his over shirt, he jumped when he saw her there and she smiled while chewing.
"Morning" he said walking into the kitchen and pressing down toast in the toaster. "Are you Italian?"
"Yep" she said taking off her glasses and putting them on the table and closing her book. "Are you Commander Ikari's son?" she asked however she already assumed that he was.
"Yeah" he answered quietly.
"Must feel weird having a father so high up in such an organization as NERV" she said and he nodded sitting across the table from her.
"Actually I don't really know my father that much as you probably do," he said taking a bite into his toast.
"You would be surprised," she said and he looked up raising an eyebrow at her.
"What do you mean?" he asked drinking some coffee.
"I don't have a father at all, so not knowing a father is better than not having one," she said and he shook his head.
"Not my father, he abandoned me" Shinji said and felt like punching himself for saying that, why did he say that to someone he didn't know?
"Oh sorry to hear that, it must be hard" Mia said fervently and she surprised him yet again. One moment she was quiet and submissive, the next she was agreeing, the next she was educating him and after that she was passionate, what is her personality?
"Hmm" he nodded and she finished her cereal.
"You pilot 01 am I right?" she asked and he nodded.
"Yeah" he said in a monotone.
"Why are you some glum about the Evangelions?" she asked, he thought that she must want to pilot them like Asuka.
"I just don't know, I don't know why I pilot them" he said and was about to hit himself again, he doesn't know her!
"I was hesitant at first as well, can you imagine having so much power? Having a god like thing in your control? Putting so many people at risk let alone yourself?" she said taking her bowl to the sink and rinsing it.
Shinji's eyes widened. Does she want to pilot them or not? She just seemed as if she did, then she sounded like it was too much supremacy for her to handle.
"Shinji did you make my breakfast?" Asuka grinned and Shinji frowned.
"No" he said simply and she frowned.
"Hmph" she popped some toast and Mia took her book and glasses from the table walking into her room.
"She is a bit strange" Asuka whispered.
"Mm" Shinji nodded. "But in a good way" he added and Asuka rolled her eyes.
"All I meant was that she wasn't a boring pilot like you or wonder girl, she actually has a personality like me" Asuka smiled while eating her toast.
"She sure does" Shinji said.
Half an hour later the three of them left out the apartment walking towards NERV HQ. The caught up with Rei who glanced at Mia before acting as if she had not seen her.
"Just ignore wonder girl, she is a bit koo koo like Shinji" Asuka whispered and Mia looked at her.
"Rei Ayanami" Mia said and Rei turned to face her.
"How do you." Rei asked and they all kept walking.
"You are the first child am I correct?" Mia asked as they reached the gates to the NERV base. Mia swiped her card and nothing happened.
"Maybe I am not in the system yet," she said stepping back as Shinji tried and nothing happened.
"Strange" he whispered and Rei had a go.
"What are you doing? Here let me do it" Asuka pushed Rei out of the way swiping her card numerous times ineffectively. "Huh? Stupid thing must be broken, damn it" she snapped and they made their way over to the fingerplates all pressing their thumbs up to the plates unsuccessfully.
"What is going on?" Shinji pondered aloud.
"Something must be wrong, all of these don't work" Rei whispered.
"Do you think something happened in the geofront?" Mia asked.
"That is a natural assumption," Rei said.
"We could try to contact NERV HQ" Shinji suggested and Mia shook her head hanging up her mobile.
"The lines are down I already tried," she said.
"So what now? Shinji wondered aloud as Rei fished through her bag taking out her emergency manual, she flicked through a few of the pages whilst Asuka searched for hers.
"What are you looking for?" Shinji asked Asuka.
"Looking for my emergency manual you idiot," she snapped and Mia looked around to find that all ways in were electronic which wouldn't help them at all as the power seemed to be out.
"We should try to go to NERV HQ ourselves," Rei said quietly and they all agreed.
"Right but before we do that we should decide which of us will be this groups leader, naturally I have the best qualifications, Any objections" Asuka snapped advancing into their faces and they all exchanged glances shaking their heads.
"We can use the access port through route 7" Mia suggested looking at Rei's emergency manual. After being led by Asuka for what seemed like half an hour they came across a manual door.
"But the doors don't work" Shinji said stating the obvious. "Oh we can open it manually"
"Well there you go Shinji this is your department" she smirked maliciously and Shinji cursed heading to the door and beginning to turn the axle.
"Ugh you're the one who always wants to be in charge but whenever the going gets tuff you always refer to me" Shinji complained as the three girls waited at the door entrance.
"Quit you whining" Asuka snapped as she squeezed through the door. The rest of them followed her.
"This usually only takes 2 minutes, do you know where you are going?" Shinji asked.
"Of course I do, we should be coming up to the geofront any minute now" Asuka said.
"Have you said that four times already?" Shinji asked.
"Oh gees why do you always have to nit pick everything!" Asuka snapped.
"Silence please" Rei said and Mia looked over at her as Shinji and Asuka shushed each other.
"What do you think it is?" Mia asked her.
"Listen" Rei, said looking up.
"A car?" Mia suggested.
"There is an angel approaching" a voice over a P.A system repeated.
"What another angel?" Asuka and Shinji said in sync.
We cant waste anymore time" Mia warned.
"There is a shortcut," Rei said.
"Hey wonder girl don't forget that I am the leader here," Asuka snapped viciously at Rei. "So where is this shortcut?" she said with a sudden changed attitude which made Shinji and Mia scrunch up their noses.
"The air vent" Rei said looking up. Shinji broke into the vent giving Rei Ayanami a leg up. He helped Mia up next and Asuka after.
"This is only because I am not tall enough, not because I am weak!" she snapped and Shinji rolled his eyes climbing up after them.
"This way may be really quick but we look stupid!" Asuka whined.
"Hey what are angels anyway? Aren't they messengers from god?" Shinji asked.
"What are you stupid? They attacked us!" Asuka snapped.
"And so as a defence man fought back" Mia said a little more nicely.
They shimmied their way through the vent for at least 10 more meters before Rei found a grate that she could open. They all jumped out and found themselves in a barely lit corridor. Two paths faced them in a fork like situation and Asuka contemplated for a moment.
"Let's see, to the right!" Asuka decided.
"I believe the correct path is left" Rei suggested and Asuka shook her head.
"Stop contradicting me! Mia what do you think?" Asuka asked her and she shrugged.
"I really am not the person to ask, I have only been here for one day," Mia said and Asuka sighed.
"What do you think Shinji?" she asked him putting her hands on her hips.
"Ah, I am not certain" he said with a mystified look on his face.
"Look I am the leader so you can all just shut up and follow me" she snapped heading right. Mia kept her hand on the wall as they walked up hill.
"I can feel vibrations." she said confused. "Maybe the power is coming back on" she wondered aloud.
"We are going up again. I thought something was odd here," Shinji said as Asuka found a door.
"I give you the geofront" she swung the door open and fell backwards as a large black spike stamped in front of her. "What was that!" she screamed as a truck size black oval with eyes glided past them.
"Shut the door!" Mia said pulling it closed with Shinji's help.
"Another angel" Rei whispered and they all stared at Asuka.
"Yes now that I have visually located the angel we can now proceed to NERV HQ" Asuka said and they all sighed this time walking back down the corridor and this time turning left.
As they walked down the corridor they came to another fork where Rei led the way with an unhappy Asuka behind her.
"Your Commander Ikari's favourite aren't you? I guess that that means you get special attention," Asuka said wanting to stir up trouble.
"Asuka this isn't the time for this" Shinji said quietly and Mia listened on.
"You always look so smug too" she added and stormed in front of Rei when she received no reaction. "Hey just because they like you best doesn't mean that you can act superior" Asuka snapped and Mia and Shinji said nothing awkwardly.
"I don't act superior" Rei answered "And I am not treated any better either"
"Um, there is no way I can clear this away with my hands" Shinji stated the obvious.
"I guess we go back up," Mia suggested looking at the air vent above them said and they all approved reluctantly getting inside the air duct. Rei led again with Mia and Asuka behind them and Shinji with his head down behind Asuka.
"If you dare look up my skirt Shinji I will kill you!" Asuka warned and Shinji looked up.
"What?"
"AH! IDIOTO!" she kicked him twice in the head.
"Well I had to look up to see where I am going!" Shinji shouted back and they fell through the air vent landing on top of one another whilst Rei and Mia landed on their feet beside them.
"The pilots!" Maya exclaimed.
Misato breathed in the fresh smell of Yakitori as she walked into the apartment.
"I am home" she called out dropping her keys on the bar-table and taking off her coat. She smiled a Shinji who began to serve the meals, but this time he served them in four bowls for the first time.
Mia walked out of Asuka's room before Asuka, for the first time Shinji noticed how pretty Mia's hair was, it was a golden brown colour and waved down to her hips in small waves. Her green eyes glimmered in the lights from the living room and he almost felt hypnotized by them.
"Hurry up will you I am starving" Asuka snapped and he finished quickly handing the bowls out as everyone sat down. Mia looked down as if saying a silent grace to herself before starting.
"Misato," Asuka started and Misato glanced across at her as she guzzled the beer down. "Will Mia be coming to the tests tomorrow?"
"If she is not to jet-lagged" Misato said and Mia smiled.
"I will be fine, the quicker I get started the better off I am if an angel attacks" Mia stated and Misato smiled.
"If only Asuka had your attitude towards school work" Misato smirked maliciously and Asuka blushed slurping the noodles. The fur of them ate in silence until Misato had finished.
"Well I have a lot of work to do, Asuka you can clean up and I will re-do the chores in the morning" Misato said.
"Awe! But I need to take a bath!" Asuka winged.
"I will clean up" Mia said and Misato shook her head.
"It is Asuka's turn" Misato said and Asuka looked pained.
"No I insist" Mia said taking their plates to the sink, somehow Shinji found himself feeling intimidated by Mia and got up walking straight to his room. Misato watched him as he left and as Asuka went into the bathroom.
Mia didn't look one bit displeased as she cleaned up washing all of the plates before drying them. Misato knocked on Shinji's door and let herself in.
"Shinji," she started and he looked up at her.
"What is it Misato?" he asked politely.
"Are you OK with Mia staying here?" she asked and Shinji nodded puzzled.
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked.
"You just seem uneasy around her," Misato said and Shinji sighed.
"She has a strange personality, she isn't forward and bitchy like Asuka, she isn't submissive and emotionless like Rei so I just don't know how to act around her" Shinji thought aloud.
"You just need to get used to her, you need to get to know her and once you know what she likes and just a little more about her then you wont feel uneasy around her" Misato smiled leaving the room. Shinji flopped back onto his bed and turned the music back on.
"Yeah I suppose," he whispered to no one.
* * * * *
The next morning Mia was up first eating some cereal while reading an Italian-Japanese dictionary. Shinji walked out of his room doing up his over shirt, he jumped when he saw her there and she smiled while chewing.
"Morning" he said walking into the kitchen and pressing down toast in the toaster. "Are you Italian?"
"Yep" she said taking off her glasses and putting them on the table and closing her book. "Are you Commander Ikari's son?" she asked however she already assumed that he was.
"Yeah" he answered quietly.
"Must feel weird having a father so high up in such an organization as NERV" she said and he nodded sitting across the table from her.
"Actually I don't really know my father that much as you probably do," he said taking a bite into his toast.
"You would be surprised," she said and he looked up raising an eyebrow at her.
"What do you mean?" he asked drinking some coffee.
"I don't have a father at all, so not knowing a father is better than not having one," she said and he shook his head.
"Not my father, he abandoned me" Shinji said and felt like punching himself for saying that, why did he say that to someone he didn't know?
"Oh sorry to hear that, it must be hard" Mia said fervently and she surprised him yet again. One moment she was quiet and submissive, the next she was agreeing, the next she was educating him and after that she was passionate, what is her personality?
"Hmm" he nodded and she finished her cereal.
"You pilot 01 am I right?" she asked and he nodded.
"Yeah" he said in a monotone.
"Why are you some glum about the Evangelions?" she asked, he thought that she must want to pilot them like Asuka.
"I just don't know, I don't know why I pilot them" he said and was about to hit himself again, he doesn't know her!
"I was hesitant at first as well, can you imagine having so much power? Having a god like thing in your control? Putting so many people at risk let alone yourself?" she said taking her bowl to the sink and rinsing it.
Shinji's eyes widened. Does she want to pilot them or not? She just seemed as if she did, then she sounded like it was too much supremacy for her to handle.
"Shinji did you make my breakfast?" Asuka grinned and Shinji frowned.
"No" he said simply and she frowned.
"Hmph" she popped some toast and Mia took her book and glasses from the table walking into her room.
"She is a bit strange" Asuka whispered.
"Mm" Shinji nodded. "But in a good way" he added and Asuka rolled her eyes.
"All I meant was that she wasn't a boring pilot like you or wonder girl, she actually has a personality like me" Asuka smiled while eating her toast.
"She sure does" Shinji said.
Half an hour later the three of them left out the apartment walking towards NERV HQ. The caught up with Rei who glanced at Mia before acting as if she had not seen her.
"Just ignore wonder girl, she is a bit koo koo like Shinji" Asuka whispered and Mia looked at her.
"Rei Ayanami" Mia said and Rei turned to face her.
"How do you." Rei asked and they all kept walking.
"You are the first child am I correct?" Mia asked as they reached the gates to the NERV base. Mia swiped her card and nothing happened.
"Maybe I am not in the system yet," she said stepping back as Shinji tried and nothing happened.
"Strange" he whispered and Rei had a go.
"What are you doing? Here let me do it" Asuka pushed Rei out of the way swiping her card numerous times ineffectively. "Huh? Stupid thing must be broken, damn it" she snapped and they made their way over to the fingerplates all pressing their thumbs up to the plates unsuccessfully.
"What is going on?" Shinji pondered aloud.
"Something must be wrong, all of these don't work" Rei whispered.
"Do you think something happened in the geofront?" Mia asked.
"That is a natural assumption," Rei said.
"We could try to contact NERV HQ" Shinji suggested and Mia shook her head hanging up her mobile.
"The lines are down I already tried," she said.
"So what now? Shinji wondered aloud as Rei fished through her bag taking out her emergency manual, she flicked through a few of the pages whilst Asuka searched for hers.
"What are you looking for?" Shinji asked Asuka.
"Looking for my emergency manual you idiot," she snapped and Mia looked around to find that all ways in were electronic which wouldn't help them at all as the power seemed to be out.
"We should try to go to NERV HQ ourselves," Rei said quietly and they all agreed.
"Right but before we do that we should decide which of us will be this groups leader, naturally I have the best qualifications, Any objections" Asuka snapped advancing into their faces and they all exchanged glances shaking their heads.
"We can use the access port through route 7" Mia suggested looking at Rei's emergency manual. After being led by Asuka for what seemed like half an hour they came across a manual door.
"But the doors don't work" Shinji said stating the obvious. "Oh we can open it manually"
"Well there you go Shinji this is your department" she smirked maliciously and Shinji cursed heading to the door and beginning to turn the axle.
"Ugh you're the one who always wants to be in charge but whenever the going gets tuff you always refer to me" Shinji complained as the three girls waited at the door entrance.
"Quit you whining" Asuka snapped as she squeezed through the door. The rest of them followed her.
"This usually only takes 2 minutes, do you know where you are going?" Shinji asked.
"Of course I do, we should be coming up to the geofront any minute now" Asuka said.
"Have you said that four times already?" Shinji asked.
"Oh gees why do you always have to nit pick everything!" Asuka snapped.
"Silence please" Rei said and Mia looked over at her as Shinji and Asuka shushed each other.
"What do you think it is?" Mia asked her.
"Listen" Rei, said looking up.
"A car?" Mia suggested.
"There is an angel approaching" a voice over a P.A system repeated.
"What another angel?" Asuka and Shinji said in sync.
We cant waste anymore time" Mia warned.
"There is a shortcut," Rei said.
"Hey wonder girl don't forget that I am the leader here," Asuka snapped viciously at Rei. "So where is this shortcut?" she said with a sudden changed attitude which made Shinji and Mia scrunch up their noses.
"The air vent" Rei said looking up. Shinji broke into the vent giving Rei Ayanami a leg up. He helped Mia up next and Asuka after.
"This is only because I am not tall enough, not because I am weak!" she snapped and Shinji rolled his eyes climbing up after them.
"This way may be really quick but we look stupid!" Asuka whined.
"Hey what are angels anyway? Aren't they messengers from god?" Shinji asked.
"What are you stupid? They attacked us!" Asuka snapped.
"And so as a defence man fought back" Mia said a little more nicely.
They shimmied their way through the vent for at least 10 more meters before Rei found a grate that she could open. They all jumped out and found themselves in a barely lit corridor. Two paths faced them in a fork like situation and Asuka contemplated for a moment.
"Let's see, to the right!" Asuka decided.
"I believe the correct path is left" Rei suggested and Asuka shook her head.
"Stop contradicting me! Mia what do you think?" Asuka asked her and she shrugged.
"I really am not the person to ask, I have only been here for one day," Mia said and Asuka sighed.
"What do you think Shinji?" she asked him putting her hands on her hips.
"Ah, I am not certain" he said with a mystified look on his face.
"Look I am the leader so you can all just shut up and follow me" she snapped heading right. Mia kept her hand on the wall as they walked up hill.
"I can feel vibrations." she said confused. "Maybe the power is coming back on" she wondered aloud.
"We are going up again. I thought something was odd here," Shinji said as Asuka found a door.
"I give you the geofront" she swung the door open and fell backwards as a large black spike stamped in front of her. "What was that!" she screamed as a truck size black oval with eyes glided past them.
"Shut the door!" Mia said pulling it closed with Shinji's help.
"Another angel" Rei whispered and they all stared at Asuka.
"Yes now that I have visually located the angel we can now proceed to NERV HQ" Asuka said and they all sighed this time walking back down the corridor and this time turning left.
As they walked down the corridor they came to another fork where Rei led the way with an unhappy Asuka behind her.
"Your Commander Ikari's favourite aren't you? I guess that that means you get special attention," Asuka said wanting to stir up trouble.
"Asuka this isn't the time for this" Shinji said quietly and Mia listened on.
"You always look so smug too" she added and stormed in front of Rei when she received no reaction. "Hey just because they like you best doesn't mean that you can act superior" Asuka snapped and Mia and Shinji said nothing awkwardly.
"I don't act superior" Rei answered "And I am not treated any better either"
"Um, there is no way I can clear this away with my hands" Shinji stated the obvious.
"I guess we go back up," Mia suggested looking at the air vent above them said and they all approved reluctantly getting inside the air duct. Rei led again with Mia and Asuka behind them and Shinji with his head down behind Asuka.
"If you dare look up my skirt Shinji I will kill you!" Asuka warned and Shinji looked up.
"What?"
"AH! IDIOTO!" she kicked him twice in the head.
"Well I had to look up to see where I am going!" Shinji shouted back and they fell through the air vent landing on top of one another whilst Rei and Mia landed on their feet beside them.
"The pilots!" Maya exclaimed.