Author's note: Thank you for your reviews. We appreciate that you are enjoying the story. Here is chapter 4.
Chapter 5 "First Impressions."
**
Shinji is in the entry plug of his Eva. He seems a little more relaxed than he was during his previous jaunts inside the chamber. He was still trying to get accustomed to the feel of the machine, and he still appeared unsure. Then a voice was heard over the Comm. System.
"How are you doing in there?" Asked Ritsuko.
"Pretty good." Responded Shinji.
Ritsuko continued. "That's good, because today we're going to introduce you the controls of the Eva. You'll be put through a simulation that will represent a full-scale model of Tokyo 3. In there, you will learn how to pilot the Eva in an effective manner. We won't go into anything complicated, we're just going to focus on moving. Ok?"
"Yes." Responded the boy.
Another voice was then heard. "While we're at it, we'll introduce you to you armaments."
Shinji recognized the voice as Adams's. "Ok, will I use them in the simulation?"
"Not today." Answered the captain. "But I will introduce them."
The young Ikari had another question. "Where's Misato?"
Ritsuko answered the question. "She took the day off in order to prepare for your arrival. You do realize that you're moving in with her for this week, don't you?"
Shinji nodded. "Yeah, I know."
**
Misato stood in the middle of her apartment, looking over that tremendous mess that surrounded her.
'Man, I got to get this place cleaned up. If I don't, Shinji will think I'm a slob, and will probably not like me as much. I need to make sure that I seem like the perfect parent so that I can beat out that jerk Adams."
She continued to look around, having no idea as to where to start. 'I better think about it while I get a beer.'
**
Shinji was now undergoing the simulation. He was practicing walking, which was getting easier. He no longer had to support himself on a building in order to maintain balance. He walked around the city a few laps, each lap feeling more natural than the last. Ritsuko then spoke. "Why not attempt to run? You will need to know how to do that, too."
"Um…ok." Responded the boy
Unit 01 began to speed up its pace, making it harder for Shinji to keep his balance, but he was holding out. Eventually he managed to get up to speed, running at full force. "Wow! I can't believe the speed that I'm going."
"That's not all that's unbelievable about the Eva. Why don't you try to lift something?" Asked Ritsuko.
"Ok…um I can't stop!" Said the boy as he realized that the speed was too much for him to handle, he ended up crashing head first into a building. After pausing for a brief moment, the Eva then fell backwards, revealing a large imprint into the side of the building.
The blond scientist sweat-dropped. "Um…as you can see, the Eva also can take a great beating."
Shinji rubbed his head. "That really hurt. This maybe virtual, but it certainly feels real enough."
"Well." Said Dr. Akagi. "Now that you've stopped, let's test those muscles."
"Right." Said the young Ikari sarcastically. "I just crashed into a wall, and so the first thing I want to do is lift stuff."
Adams responded. "No need for smart-ass remarks. Just do it."
Shinji did not reply to the tactical advisor, but instead looks around for something to pick up. "Um, there isn't much around here that isn't bolted down to the ground."
"Not to worry." Said Ritsuko. "Just pick up that building to your right."
Shinji looks towards a building to his right. It was about five times bigger that the Eva was. "Yeah right! There's no way I could lift that!"
"Don't argue. Do it." Responded the head supervisor.
"Alright…." Unit zero then went up to the building and began to dig its fingers into the sides of it. With one tremendous jerk upward, the building split from its foundation and was lifted into the air. "Oh my god! I can't believe that I'm doing it!"
"Told you. The Eva's raw strength isn't something to be reckoned with. On it's own, it's a formidable opponent against anything that threatens humanity…theoretically speaking. Especially with its AT Field."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "AT Field?"
"That is the force field like barrier that naturally surrounds the Eva. You can increase its power with your own will power."
"Wow!" Said the pilot, but he then thought of another question. "If that's the case, than why could the angel attack me?"
Ritsuko answered that question as well. "Well, the Angels also have their own AT Fields, and when two AT Fields meet, they neutralize each other."
"Oh…" Responded the boy in a disappointed fashion. "So what's the point of having one if it doesn't work?"
"Well, without one, you'd never be able to hurt an angel. You could say that the AT Field has more offensive purpose against them. It leaves the Eva open as well, but it's a risk that has to be taken."
"This is a lot to take in." Said the boy.
"And there's more unfortunately." Said Adams. "Yes, the Eva is powerful on it's own, but it's still doesn't really hold its own against an angel. That's when we introduce your arsenal."
"Another tour of your weapons collection?" Asked Shinji jokingly.
"Very funny, but in a sense…yes. But the weapons are much bigger." Said Adams
Ritsuko gives a questioning look. "What weapons collection?"
The weapons developer gives a nervous look. "Uh…I meant the prototypes that I was currently building."
The scientist decided to drop the subject. "Just tell him about his armaments."
Steven calms down and begins to explain the boy about his weapons. "Ok, first I want to introduce to you the G2-EX."
Ritsuko pressed a few button on the panel. Moments later, and large assault weapon appears in the simulation, popping out of the ground in a storage container.
"As we have already mentioned, the simulation is a recreation of Tokyo 3. The container that just appeared from the ground is at that same exact point in the real Tokyo 3. There are several location points that contain the same weapon throughout the city. You will be required to memorize them eventually. Pick up the weapon now."
"Right." Shinji then picks up the weapon from the location and holds it in his arms.
Adams continues. "We'd have you target practice, but the program for target practice hasn't been uploaded yet. I just want you to hold the weapon and become comfortable with it. It may save your life someday."
Shinji held the weapon in either hand, trying to find what was comfortable for him. After about a minute of this, the tour continued as the older man spoke. "I want to introduce to you another weapon. You've heard about this one before."
"What one is that?" Asked Shinji.
"Open the storage area on your right shoulder and remove the object that is there."
The boy gave a confused look.
Adams became slightly annoyed. "Just think about it."
"Um…ok." Suddenly, a compartment opened up in the plate on the Eva's right shoulder, and the handle of something popped out. "Whoa. Neat." He then pulled it out, revealing a large knife. "Is this the Progressive Knife?"
The American nodded with pride. "Yep, that is the Progressive Knife. It is equipped with the Progressive technology that was developed by yours truly."
"Awfully small weapon for close combat. Is that why you wanted to create a sword?"
Adams sighed. "You're full of questions today aren't you? Anyway, yes that is why I want to create a sword, but with a larger blade, there is a greater chance of breaking, especially with all the vibration that the weapon makes. It's going to cost a fortune to develop the materials that can withstand those vibrations."
"Well, are there any other weapons?" Asked the boy.
"Not for now." Said Ritsuko. "The other weapons haven't been loaded up yet. Besides, we've got all week to get you used to the controls. Your progress has been remarkable as it is."
"Thanks." Said Shinji.
"The simulation will now end." Continued the doctor. "We won't need to see you until Tuesday. On that day, we'll finish what we started today."
The American then spoke. "We need you to finish packing when we get back, ok?"
Shinji nodded. "Ok…"
**
Shinji was now in the guest bedroom at Adams's house. He was packing his belongings, and he was almost finished. Adams entered the room to check up on him. "How are you doing?"
"Fine I guess. I'm a little nervous about going to Misato's place. If she is really as bad as you've said she is, then I'm in trouble."
The older man smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure that you'll be fine. I mean, you survived your week with me."
"You're not so bad." Responded the young Ikari. "Once you get over the illegal collection of guns, your disregard for the law, and your habit of eating like a slob."
Adams gave him a scowl. "Gee thanks."
Shinji chuckled. "I had a lot of fun, though. And you've taught me a lot. I'm not sure how to repay you."
The American waves a hand in front of him. "No need. Just give Misato hell and that will be payment enough."
Shinji then finishes packing. "Well, I guess that's it. I'm ready. I just have one more thing that I want to ask you."
"Fire away." said the older man.
"Um… Is Misato really that bad of a cook?"
Adams sighed. "Well, this is just a rumor, but I heard that she puts Mayonnaise on her pancakes."
Shinji went bug-eyed. "You've got to be kidding me. You mean those flat things you cooked up two days ago?"
"Yeah. Well, it is just a rumor." Said Steve.
**
Misato is seen lying on her table, completely passed out drunk next to fifteen empty beer cans. A certain flightless bird walked by, looking at his master. He then sees the time, and, being that the bird was abnormally intelligent, realizes that her master had only fifteen minutes to clean up the house. The bird climbs up onto the table and begins to peak feverishly at Misato's head. Unfortunately, she didn't even budge, so the bird hopped off and headed towards a first aid kit. Grabbing some smelling salts from it, he them waves them in front of her nose. In sudden shock of the horrific odor that just hit her, she falls off the table. Angry, she scowls at the bird.
"What the hell was that for?" Asked the purple-haired woman.
The penguin pointed towards the clock. It read 4:48 P.M.
Misato screamed when she realized that she had passed out during the entire time that she was supposed to be cleaning the house. She stands up in a panic. "What am I going to do? There's no way I can clean this place now. It looks like a pig-sty and I look just as bad."
Misato then begins to frantically pick up stuff from the table and the floor.
**
Both Shinji and Adams arrived at the front door of Misato's apartment. Shinji sized up the surrounding area. "It's a little more modest than a warehouse."
Adams nodded. "It's not much, but it's actually pretty big compared to most apartments in this city. If she would actually clean the place, the volume of the inside would double in size."
Shinji decides to knock on the door. "I hope we aren't too late. We did have to fight through a lot of traffic in order to get here."
The older man nodded. "Most of that traffic is heading away from the city. Apparently, nobody wants to stay in a city that gets attacked by giant monsters."
Just then, the door slowly opens, revealing a dressed up Misato. Her outfit was her favorite black one, complete with the white cross that she likes to wear. Her hair seemed hurryingly combed, but other than that she seemed well put together.
"Hi Misato." Greeted Shinji.
"Greetings Shinji. Welcome to my humble abode." Misato then looks to the American. "What are you still doing here?"
"I was in the process of leaving." Said the gentleman as handed the woman all of Shinji's stuff and turned around and walked away. He stopped, though, and turned around and put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "I'll see you later. Stay safe and have fun, Ok?"
The boy nodded. "Yes, Thank you, Steve."
After the man nodded, he then turned around and walked off.
"Shinji." Said Misato.
Shinji turned his head. "Yes, Misato?"
"Could you give me a hand?"
Shinji then noticed that Misato was being weighed down by all of his stuff, and she was about to fall over.
The boy hurried to her aid. "S…Sorry. I didn't realize that it was that heavy. Steve didn't seem to be as burdened with it."
"Well, I'm about half his size, so logically it would be harder for me to hold."
Shinji then took a few boxes into his hands. "Ok, let's go inside."
Misato pushed the door open with her foot, allowing access into the apartment. It was fairly clean. Not nearly as bad as Adams had said it was.
"That's funny." Said the young pilot. "Steve said that your place would be a lot messier."
Misato narrowed her eyes. "Well you shouldn't believe everything he says, you know. He's about as honest as a snake." Shinji didn't answer her, so she continued towards Shinji's new room. "Follow me."
Misato led Shinji to one of her Guest rooms. It was small, and it only had a bedroll in the middle of the floor, but it could easily be redecorated according to Shinji's desires.
Misato put some of his stuff on the floor. "I hope the accommodations are ok. It's not everyday that I have people living in my house besides me."
Shinji smiled. "It's ok. I'm not used to showiness anyway."
"You're so sweet." Said Misato. "Having you as a roommate will be a pleasure."
As Misato walked away towards the kitchen, Shinji began to blush. 'She doesn't seem so bad. Maybe Adams was wrong about her.' He then realized that he needed to use the bathroom. He began to walk around the house, not sure as to wear the bathroom was. He sees a door in the living room. Figuring that there was no harm in looking, he headed towards the door to open it.
"Misato, does the door in the living room lead to the bathroom?"
Misato was in the kitchen drinking a beer when suddenly her eyes bugged out and she spit out her beer. She then ran into the living room just as Shinji was opening the door.
"NO SHINJI!! DON'T OPEN…"
But it was too late. The door flew open, and a gigantic pile of garbage enveloped the young Ikari. After it was over, all that could be seen of the boy was one of his legs, which was twitching in the air. Misato had a sheepish look on her face. "Um…that's not the bathroom."
The boy's head suddenly emerged from the pile. "I noticed…."
Misato smiled. "Well, you might as well take a shower too now that you're filthy…I'll clean this up while you do that." She then pointed towards the bathroom.
Shinji rose from the pile of garbage and headed towards the actual bathroom.
The shower was fairly relaxing, and it easily washed away the filth that had covered itself on him. He began to wonder if perhaps some of the things that Steven had told him about her were true. 'Seemed pretty lazy of her to put the garbage in the closet. Now I don't think I'll ever put my coat in there.'
It wasn't long before his shower was complete, and he headed out into his room for a change of cloths.
After changing, he went back into the living room. It was once again clean, but Shinji had a strange curiosity. He once again walked up to the closet and gingerly opened the door. Once again, a flood of garbage hit him, almost killing him. This time the boy was a little annoyed. "MISATO!! WHAT IS THIS GARBAGE STILL DOING IN THE CLOSET?!"
Appearing from the kitchen with a beer in hand, Misato assess the situation. "Well how was I to know that you'd be dumb enough to open the closet again?"
A nasty scowl came from the young man's face, but quickly dissipated after he felt something wiggle under his leg.
"AHH! There's something in here!" Screamed Shinji.
Misato was scratching her head. "I was sure that I didn't throw anything alive in that closet…"
Suddenly, a penguin emerged from the pile, right in front of Shinji's face. "AAAAAHHHH!!!!"
Shinji quickly jumps out of the pile and runs behind Misato. "What is that thing?"
Upon closer examination, Misato suddenly gives a look of horror. "Oh no! PenPen!! Did I throw you into the closet?"
The penguin was too busy gasping for air to answer. Misato then ran up to it and picked it up from the garbage. "I'm sorry. I'll never do that again."
The pilot of unit 01 had observe the creature from a safe distance, and when he was sure that it wasn't going to kill him, he came closer to get a good look at the bird. "Is that a penguin?"
Misato nodded. "Yep. This is PenPen. He's my pet. Want to hold him?"
Shinji seemed reluctant. "Maybe later. That's the second time I've ever been scared by an exotic pet."
After giving a firm hug, Misato put the bird down. It waddled away towards the bathroom. Moments later, running water could be heard. Shinji gave a strange look. "Is it taking a bath?"
Misato nodded. "He sure is. He's pretty smart for a penguin." Misato then looks Shinji over. "You could use another shower yourself, huh?"
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Said Shinji coldly.
Miss Katsuragi narrowed her eyes. "Alright, so I should have thrown it all out. I just wanted to rush so I could start dinner."
The boy picked up a banana peel and chucked it at his new temporary guardian. "That's no excuse."
The banana peel landed right on top of Misato's head. "Hey, what was that for?"
"If you live in your filth, you should wear it, too." Replied the boy.
Misato picked up an old slice of pizza and threw it at Shinji. "It looks much more fashionable on you."
After being hit in the shirt, completely staining it, Shinji then picked up a couple handfuls of garbage and chucked it at the Director of Operations. She, of course, returned fire, and a full-fledged garbage fight had begun. After a while, PenPen walked into the living room and was pegged with a beer can, knocking him out cold.
After fifteen minute of trashing the house, the two off them are on the ground laughing. They apparently forgot about the whole closet issue, and were having a good time.
"Did you enjoy yourself?" Asked the temporary Guardian.
After he stopped laughing, Shinji answered the question. "Yeah! Who'd thought that I would have so much fun with…Garbage?"
They both sat up and looked around. They both realized that it would take a while to clean up the mess. Shinji made an offer. "Misato, maybe I should clean the house. At least I'll know that it'll not go into a closet."
Misato seemed disappointed. "OK. I was hoping I could make it up to you."
The brown-haired boy shook his head. "There's no need, I'll take care of it."
The woman then had an idea. "I know! I'll make it up to you by cooking dinner. I'll make a feast."
Shinji went about his business cleaning the stuff off the floor, but suddenly, he remembered what he heard about her bad cooking and became afraid. "Um…Maybe I should cook and you can clean."
Misato returned to the living room. "What makes you say that?"
"Um…no reason. I just want to show my gratitude for you taking me in by...cooking 'you' a feast."
Misato waved her hand in front of her. "Oh, it's ok. I'm not very adept at cleaning, as you can see. I think that I'll do the cooking. Thanks for the offer."
Shinji hung his head. 'If she's as bad at cooking as she is at cleaning, I'm done for.'
It took Shinji about an hour to clean the apartment, including all of the scrubbing he had to do on the walls. When he was finally done, Misato was too. "Shinji! It's dinner time."
As the boy arrived at the table, he saw nothing but instant noodles and curry. Shinji sweat dropped. "It took you nearly an hour to cook instant food?"
Misato had a sheepish look. "Well, first I had trouble lighting the stove. Then I tried to decide between what flavors I wanted to make. Then I drank a beer. I then ruined one package of instant soup. Drank two more beers, and finally finished dinner."
Shinji then looked down at the food in front of him and decided that maybe he wasn't hungry after all. "Um… I think that I'll just go and wash up again and go to bed."
Shinji then got up and started to walk away, but a hand grabbing his arm stopped him. "Wait. If you're not going to eat…" The purple-hair woman gave a lonely look. "Can you at least keep me company?" She then hung her head to the ground. "It's not often that I have guests at my house, and it gets pretty lonely here." She then looked up at him. "Please…"
The look she gave sent a rush of guilt down his spine. He may not have been the nicest guy around, but he was by no means cold-hearted. He gave her a smile. "Ok Misato. I'll keep you company."
Katsuragi cheered right up. "Great! So, how do you like it here?"
The young Ikari sat down and answered the question. "Well, I started learning how to use the Eva today. That was pretty cool I guess, except when I crashed into a building while running."
Misato giggled. "Forgot to use the brakes?"
Shinji scowled. "Very funny."
"It's no big deal." Said the Director of Operations. "It's probably something that happens to all pilots when they start learning to pilot an Eva. In time, I sure you'll be able to prevent that. So what else happened today?"
"Well, Steven displayed a few of the weapons that the Eva uses, including that Progressive knife."
Misato became annoyed. "He always blabs about those stupid weapons. I've seen what he's created and I'm not impressed."
Shinji had come up with a question to ask the woman. "Why do you hate him so much?"
Misato place her beer down and stood up. "What's not to hate about him? He is an annoying, self-righteous, over-paid, over-confident, perverted American asshole." She then leans forward on the table. "Did you know that he gets paid 12 million yen a year? I only get paid 3.6 million yen a year."
Shinji's eyes bug out. "He gets paid that much more than you?"
Misato continued. "Yes. And I'm supposed to be his boss. I should get paid more than him, but nnnooo. You see people with degrees in ballistic science are hard to come by, and therefore better paid."
"So you're saying that he's less expendable than you are." Added the young pilot.
A vein popped on to Misato's forehead. "I'll be dead and rotting in my grave before I lose my job before him." Misato then gets up and grabs another beer from the fridge. "Let me tell you a story about something that happened approximately two years ago…"
**
The scene flashes back to Misato's house. Misato was quickly trying to prepare dinner, obviously expecting company.
**
"Ritsuko told me that she wanted to introduce a friend of hers to me, so she suggested that we have dinner at my place. I wanted to make a good impression, so I agreed. Even though he was a stranger to me, I still think that Ritsuko was trying to hook us up."
Shinji suddenly interrupts. "Adams told me this story before."
Misato pounded her fist on the table. "Ha! I bet you that he lied about the whole thing. This is what really happened."
**
The doorbell rings, leaving Misato in excitement. She quickly runs to the door, to meet her long time friend, and her guest.
"Good Evening!" Said Misato. "Welcome to my home. Sorry if it's a little messy. I just moved in and I had no time to clean it."
**
"The moment he entered the room, he sneered. He obviously felt superior to me."
**
Adams spoke. "This place doesn't need to be cleaned, it needs to be torched."
Ritsuko became a little nervous. "Heh heh, he's so funny. Let's get settled in."
**
"I tried to be a good host, but he was too big of a jerk."
**
"Hi! I'm Misato Katsuragi. I'm the new Director of Operations at NERV."
**
"He then has the nerve to insult me right in front of my face."
**
"How did someone like you become Director of Operations? You can't even clean your house, and you're going to help run our organization? Give me a break."
Misato seemed hurt. "Well, that's not nice. If you keep that up, I may just have to pull rank on you."
Adams narrows his eyes. "You can't do that!"
Misato smirks. "Yes I can. I am a Captain after all."
The American becomes surprised. "You're a Captain?"
Misato nodded. "That's right. And I want an apology."
The man grudgingly apologizes. "…Sorry…"
**
"Like he really meant it. I should have kicked him out right then and there, but I had to try and be nice."
**
The Lieutenant sat down at the table and began to complain. "With all the stuff all over the floor, how can I enjoy my meal?"
Misato answered. "Sorry. I said I was busy."
Adams then had an idea. "Well since I refuse to eat in a pig sty, why don't you clean up the place before you cook dinner?"
**
"The nerve of that guy. I ought to have decked him in the face…."
**
"Fine…." Misato then begins to pick up the place.
**
"I was two hours late on cooking dinner because of him. I had to clean the whole house, and it took me forever, and did I get any help from him? No!"
**
"An exhausted Misato started to wipe her brow, when the Weapons Developer started yelling. "I'm starving over here. Are you going to cook dinner or not?!"
"Ok…."
**
"I decided to listen to the conversation between Ritsuko and Adams. He was talking about me behind my back."
**
"For all that waiting, this better be a five-star meal." Said Adams
Ritsuko smiled and nodded. "Misato was a great cook back in college. I used to come over to her place all the time to get something to eat."
The man then said something else. "How did she manage to become a Captain, anyway? I should be a Captain."
**
"That arrogant S.O.B. thinks he's so hot. I wanted to kick him out so bad for that, but I didn't want to ruin it for Ritsuko."
**
"Dinner is served!" Called out Misato.
On the table, there were huge portion of all sorts of delicious food, ranging from burgers to crab legs. It was an unbelievable site.
**
"Never in my whole life had I worked so hard on a meal. I was convince that I would receive praise for my hard work, but…."
**
The weapons developer took a bite into a piece of crab leg meat, and immediately spit it out. "Yuck! I've had army C Rations that tasted better that that!!!"
**
"It took me a week to recover from that blow."
**
Misato seemed shocked. "What did you say?"
Adams replied in anger. "I said that the food sucks. Do yourself a favor and never cook again!"
Ritsuko seemed embarrassed. "M…maybe the crab leg were bad. How was Misato to know that the food wouldn't come out good? Try something else."
The American ate some pasta, and although he didn't say anything, his expression wasn't one a pleasure.
**
"It was at that point that I figured a beer would help calm by nerves since I was obviously hurt. Unfortunately, it gave him the idea to drink, too."
**
"I'm gonna get a beer. Do you want one Ritsuko?" Asked the captain.
Ritsuko shook her head. "I'm the designated driver. But I would like something else to drink."
Misato turned her head towards the Lieutenant. "Do you want something to drink?"
Steve pulled out a liter of whiskey. "I'll have some of this instead. I'll help kill my taste buds."
Miss Katsuragi felt her nerves boil. "I think I'll get that beer."
**
"I figured that maybe if he had a few drinks in him that he would calm down and maybe behave like a gentleman, but I was way off. By the time I polished of two beers, he had drunk that whole liter. I'm not too familiar with the drinking habits of Americans, but if they all drink like that, then I'm surprised that I country still exists."
**
An empty bottle of whiskey was all that was left of what Adams brought to the dinner. Misato had just finished her second beer. The tactical advisor was barely able to sit still, his body moving back and forth from a lack of equilibrium. He then looks at one of the cans of beer. "You actually drink that stuff? That's gotta be the cheapest beer ever."
The purple-haired woman responded. "It just so happens that I like this beer."
The intoxicated man smirked. "You've got problems." He then looks towards Ritsuko. "When we leave, can I drive home?"
The blond scientist looks at him as if he had two heads. "Of course not! Especially in the state you're in."
"I could drive just fine. I'm the best driver here."
Misato smirked. "I doubt it. I'm a pretty good driver myself."
The American sneered. "Ha! I've never met a woman who could out drive me."
**
"I figured that his car was probably an average four-banger, but then I got the surprise of a lifetime."
**
"What kind of car do you have?" Asked the young captain.
Adams beamed with pride. "I built my car from the ground up. It's the fastest everrr."
Misato seemed intrigued. "How many horsepower?"
"435..."
Misato's jaw dropped. "No way! And you built the car from the ground up. That would cost a fortune."
"Well duhhh. I am one of the highest paid people at NERV."
Misato's eyes bug-out. "How the hell do you get paid that much?"
"Um…By working." Said the Lieutenant sarcastically
The Director of Operations continued. "But I outrank you, and I'm your boss. How does that work out?"
"You know, you're right." Said the weapons developer. "I should be the boss."
Misato became angered. "Oh, so you think you're better than me, huh? You don't have a clue as to what've I've done or been through."
Adams stands up. "You think you've been through some shit. I've been in the military since back when you were still in middle school. I'll let you know that I seem shit that would make you wet your pants."
**
"It was then that our argument escalated."
**
"You think you're so hot just because you seen a few fire fights, but you've never seen what I saw the day second impact happened." Yelled Misato.
"Oh what? Did you lose your little puppy? I'm so sorry." Responded Adams
Misato clenched her fist. "I'll forgive you for your ignorance. But the things I have seen are things that no one has ever saw. And even to this day, I will never forget them."
"Stop your whining." Yelled the intoxicated American.
**
"I should thank Ritsuko for stepping in. If she hadn't said anything, I might have killed him right there."
**
Ritsuko was now pissed. She decided to put an end to their childish arguing. "WILL YOU BOTH FUCKING SHUT UP? GOD, YOU BOTH ARE ACTING LIKE CHILDREN. IF I'D KNOWN THAT THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED, I WOULDN'T HAVE SET THIS NIGHT UP."
Both Misato and Adams shut their mouths, but then Adams spoke. "She started it…"
Ritsuko gave a death glare at him. "Shut up…"
**
"I was hoping that they were getting ready to leave, but unfortunately the asshole had other ideas."
**
Adams moves closer to Misato. "I've been a bad guest haven't I. Why don't I make it up to you?
**
"He started to hit on me!! I wanted to kick his ass for that."
**
The American then places a hand on Misato's breast. "Wow, you've got nice jugs."
**
"By then I'd had enough. I tried to nice and courteous, but he had reached my limit. I kicked him out."
**
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!" Said Misato as she smacked him right across the face.
"FINE!!! I DON'T NEED YOU ANYWAY!!! FUCK OFF!!!" Yelled Adams.
Ritsuko was very embarrassed. "I'm so sorry. If I had know he'd be like this, I wouldn't have brought him here."
**
It was then that they both left, and I'm happy to say that he has not entered my house since then.
Shinji thought about the story. "That's quite a bit different from his side of the story."
"That's probably because he's nothing but a bid fat liar." Said Miss Katsuragi.
Shinji yawned. "I think I'm ready for bed."
Misato seemed disappointed. "Already? I was hoping we would have more time to talk."
Shinji shook his head. "We'll have more time to talk later. I think I just want to relax and sleep."
The older woman sighed. "Alright. I'll save what I made you for later. I hope you're hungry tomorrow."
Shinji nodded. "Thank you Misato. I'll probably eat it tomorrow."
Shinji then went in to his new room and lied on the bedroll. He began to think. 'That story was quite different from Adams's. I wonder what really happened on that day. Ritsuko was also there. I bet that she must know what happened that day.' He then placed the headphones of the SDAT on his head and fell asleep.
**
Gendo returned from his trip, and was greeted by his sub-commander.
"So what happened?" Asked Fuyutsuki.
"The second branch has begun work on the Unit 03. It will be based on the same systems that run Unit 01.
Fuyutsuki raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that Unit 03 will be just like Unit 01?"
Gendo continued. "It will be a back up for Unit 01. Should anything happen to it, we will rely on Unit 03."
"Have we found a pilot for it?" asked Kouzou.
The commander shook his head. "No, but we will not be concerned. It will take several months to complete it, and I'm sure we will find the fourth child by then."
Fuyutsuki continued his questioning. "How is the progress on Unit 02?"
"It should be finished within a month." Said Ikari. "The second child will join our ranks as soon as that happens."
"Very well." Said the older man. "We will have to wait and hope that there will be no more attacks until either Evas arrive."
Gendo nodded in agreement. "I'm unsure as to when the next angel will attack, but it's safe to bet that it will be sooner than we will expect."
The two men said nothing after that as they walked back the Headquarters.
**
Shinji slowly rises from his bed, remembering that he was no longer living in the warehouse. He reestablishes his grip on reality, yawns, and exits the room.
He goes in to the kitchen to get something to eat. To his surprise, he sees Misato finishing breakfast.
She looks up at him and smiles. "Nice to see that you're up. I've just finished making pancakes."
Shinji raises an eyebrow. "I see you don't have a hangover."
Misato scowls at the boy. " I didn't drink that much."
"A twelve pack's not much?" asked Shinji sarcastically.
Misato turns her head away from him and starts placing pancakes on a plate. Shinji looks at the pancakes and asks for a favor. "Can you cut the pancakes up, please?"
Misato gives a questioning look. "Why do you want your pancake cut up?"
Shinji looks down at the ground." I'm not good at eating with a knife and fork. I'm used to you using chopsticks. Steve cut them up for me…."
Misato hid a groan. She complied with his wishes. She slices the pancakes into individual pieces. "Here you go." She said as she hands him the plate.
Shinji then places the plate on the table and grabs some chopsticks and hungrily eats away. He was so hungry that he forgot about Misato's inability to cook. The pancakes weren't all that bad, and they seemed to have an interesting flavor.
The temporary guardian looks at the pilot eating and smiles. "I've never seen anyone eat pancake with chopstick before. You need to get out more."
The young Ikari narrowed his eyes after hearing her. "Well, I'm sorry that I was raised in a home that didn't adapt to the western customs of the knife and fork."
Misato began to walk toward the refrigerator. "Let me get you something to put on those pancakes…."
It was then that Shinji remembered the story about mayonnaise and pancakes. He tries to talk her out of it. "It…it's ok. I like my pancakes plain."
Misato gave him a strange look. "Plain pancakes? You are sheltered." She then opens the refrigerator.
"Please, I really don't need anything." Said Shinji as he began to pile pancakes into his mouth.
Misato then pulled out some pancake syrup and turned towards the boy. She sweat dropped as she saw that he looked like a chipmunk. Shinji also sweat dropped when he realized that she wasn't pulling out mayonnaise. 'Maybe the rumor wasn't true…' Thought the boy.
After handing him the syrup, Shinji poured it on, and it made the pancakes much better, although they still had a strange taste to them. Misato then leaned forward. "So have you guessed what the secret ingredient is?"
The young man stopped eating for a moment. "What?"
"These are my special pancakes, complete with my secret ingredient. Can you guess what it is?" Asked the purple-haired woman.
Shinji shook his head. "I have no clue."
Misato put on a face of pure pride and joy. "It's mayonnaise."
Shinji suddenly stops in mid-bite. 'Oh no!!! The rumor wasn't wrong, it was misleading.' Shinji then gets the urge to stop eating. "I'm full."
The temporary guardian was disappointed. "What? You don't like mayonnaise?"
Deciding that upsetting her was not an option, Shinji decides to lie, just so he wouldn't have to explain as to why certain food products don't mix with others. "Yes…I don't like mayonnaise."
"Sorry, I should have asked." Said Misato. "And it really sucks because I actually cooked them without burning them today."
After throwing away what was left, the Brown-haired boy started heading towards the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower, Ok?"
"You don't have to ask, Shinji, unless you have plans for me in there." Mentioned the older woman in a joking manner.
Her joke did little to increase Shinji's comfort level. He was redder than a lobster. "I…I don't think that's necessary."
Misato popped open another beer. "You're no fun, but at least you're not a pervert. I think you'll do just fine here."
Shinji quickly took his shower. The warm water began to recharge his senses and give him new life. Combined with some of the food that he ate earlier, he almost felt like a new man. "I'm not sure why, but this is the best I've felt in a while. Maybe I'm getting used to living around here."
Shinji got dressed into some clean cloths and entered the living room. He was greeted by Miss Katsuragi and PenPen, both having beers in front of them. Shinji took a good look at the bird and sweat dropped. "Um…isn't it unhealthy for him to be drinking beer?"
"Are you kidding?" Asked Misato. "He could out drink me if he was my size. Besides, theoretically, drinking is unhealthy for anybody."
The young pilot gave a goofy grin. "I guess your right."
The two of them sat down to watch some television. The shows that Misato liked to watch were somewhat different from what his former guardian used to watch, but he found that most of the shows were tasteful enough. During a commercial, Misato remembered an important detail. "I almost forgot. You start school tomorrow morning."
Shinji continued watching TV nonchalantly as if he hadn't heard her. He then processed the information and realized what she said. "SCHOOL!!! I forgot all about that!"
"What's the big deal?" Asked the purple-haired female. "Its just school."
Her words did little to calm the young Ikari down. "I need to admit something to you."
"What's wrong?" questioned Misato with some concern.
Shinji had a look of complete shame and embarrassment. "I've never gone to a school before."
The Director of Operations was in shock. "What do you mean never? You've actually never gone to a class, not even kindergarten?"
He then made eye contact with Misato. "I've always been home schooled."
The older female began to think about how to make things easier for the boy. "Well, there was a time that I was out of school for a while, and I lost a lot of my social skills, I'm just trying to remember how I managed to regain them."
Shinji got up as if he felt like he was a burden. "It's no big deal. I'll learn to get along on my own."
Misato continued to think. It then suddenly hit her. "Oh I remember now. The secret to surviving school is………… to be yourself."
The boy paused after hearing that. The advice seemed ridiculous enough. "Um…thanks Misato."
"No prob. Just remember that advice and you'll be fine. I know how hard Jr. High can be."
Shinji decided to head towards his room for some alone time. "I guess the alcohol is getting to her. I don't think being myself would be enough to get me by school. Not from what I heard about it."
**
Adams was lying on his couch, bored as hell. Apparently, he had no intentions of working today. 'So I'm all alone… What the hell am I gonna do?'
After flipping through some more channels on his TV, an idea hit his head. 'I know, I'll go watch a movie. Not like there's anything else I want to do around here.'
Felix then walks up to his master to see if he could go along with him. The weapons developer shook his head. "You're still being punished for what you did last week to Buster. Besides, I don't think they allow lizards in movie theatres."
Felix sunk his and walked off with a face full of disappointment. Steven then grabbed the phone and dialed a number to find out what was showing.
**
A knock at the door had woken up Shinji. As he groggily opened his eyes and gave permission for the person to enter, the door slid open, revealing his guardian and new roommate.
"I'm sorry to wake you up, but I was wondering if you'd like to go out somewhere tonight. It's up to you."
After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he came up with an answer. "Sure, what do you have in mind?"
"I was thinking about going to the movies." Answered Misato. "There's this movies that I want to watch. Besides, I hear that you've been sleeping way too much anyway."
The boy slowly rose from his bedroll while scratching his back. "I guess you have a point. I'll get ready."
"Good, the movie starts at Six o' Clock. That means we need to leave in ten minutes if we want to get any decent seats."
After that, Misato walked off, leaving Shinji in a sea of despair. 'Sleep is my only escape from this world. It seems like I can't even do that.'
It didn't take long for Shinji to get ready since he was already clothed. His older roommate was not as quick. Despite telling the young man to be ready in ten minutes, she easily took twenty, making him rush out the door like a bat out of hell. "Hurry, Shinji! The movie will start any minute."
Shinji didn't seem so worried. "Well, there should be at least fifteen minutes of trailers. We don't need to see them."
Misato shook her head. "I misread the clock before. The trailers have already started."
The younger boy became exasperated. 'So much for getting good seats….'
If the Director of Operations seemed rushed before, it was nothing in comparison to what her driving showed. Shinji was at the edge of his seat. "I forgot about how aggressively you drive."
Misato was in complete focus on the road. "Sorry, can't talk. Gotta drive!!"
After watching her duck and weave her way through traffic at breakneck speed, they arrived at their destination in record time. Shinji barely had time to remove his seatbelt before Miss Katsuragi yanked him out of his seat. They ran into the theatre in order to pay for their tickets when…they realized that there was a substantial line ahead of them.
"Well, I guess we're not making the six o' clock showing." Said Shinji. "What exactly is it that you want to watch?"
Misato took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "It was some movie about medieval times. You know, the kind that have action, suspense, romance, the whole nine-yards."
"Sounds nice. It's rare to see movies about that theme these days." Said the boy. "I hope the next showing won't be too late."
Misato nodded in agreement. "I know. We both have to get up early tomorrow."
Shinji sunk his head. "Did you have to remind me?"
"Relax. You don't have to worry all the time." Said the Captain.
'Easy for you to say…' Thought the pilot. 'You don't have to launch yourself head first at ugly monsters, deal with a neglectful father, and survive your first day of school.'
After about twenty minutes after arriving, the two of them finally reach the ticket booth. Misato walks up to the older lady, trying to hold back her waning patience. "Hi, Can you tell me what the next showing for 'The Last Horse Rider' will be?"
The lady slowly looked upon a list of times and, after looking over the list five times, finds the next show time. "The next show will be at eight o' clock."
"Eight o' Clock!!!" Screamed Misato. "I don't want to wait that long."
The lady continued. "Sorry, ma'am, but this movie is only being showed on one screen. You have to wait until the current movie is over."
The Director of Operations smacked herself in the face in exasperation, but relented. "We'll take two tickets…please…."
The lady took a look at Shinji. "Is your son under the age of twelve?"
Misato went silent as she stared at the lady. "What did you say?"
The ticket seller didn't catch on. "I asked you the age of your son?"
Shinji could feel the radiant heat coming from Misato. He realized that the lady had struck a chord in his roommate's nervous system.
"MY SON?!!!" Screamed Misato. "DOES HE LOOK LIKE MY SON? HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM?!!!"
The older woman looked between the hysterical woman and the teenage boy. "Isn't he a little young for you to be dating?"
At that point, the Director of operations and one of NERV's finest members was trying to yank her hair from her skull. She then began to beat her head against the glass before she finally gave in and attempted to clam down. "…He's fourteen…Two adult tickets, please…"
Now frightened, the ticket lady said nothing more as the exchange of yen and ticket were made. As the two of them walked towards the concession stand, an entire crowd of people stared at them, some wondering as to why a woman of her age would be dating a fourteen year old, others were jealous of the boy and his rotten luck, and others still, were contemplating calling the police for various reasons.
As the two of them reached the line, Misato looked through her supply of cash. Shinji gave a confused look. "Why are we getting our stuff at the concession stand, now? We've still got an hour and a half before the movie starts."
Misato looked up at the menu board and selected the appropriate item in her mind in which she could afford. "The large popcorn and large soda have free refills. I hate to tell you this, but it looks like we'll be having popcorn for dinner tonight."
Shinji shrugged his shoulders. 'I think I'd rather have popcorn than whatever she'd gonna cook up.'
"Is there any kind of soda you particularly like?" Asked Miss Katsuragi.
"Cola's fine." Replied the Brown-haired boy.
Misato then hands Shinji some money. "There's an arcade here, why don't you occupy some time by playing some games?"
Grabbing the money, Shinji seemed reluctant. "I don't know. I'm not really into video games."
The temporary guardian raised an eyebrow. "You don't like video games?"
Shinji shook his head. "I've never gotten into them. Plus the fact that I always lose."
"Well if you never play, you'll never get better." Said Misato as she turned him around and gave him a light push in the direction of the arcade.
As the young Ikari walked towards the arcade, he couldn't help but remember what had happened exactly one week ago. 'Why do I feel a déjà vu coming?'
Shinji then took the money and exchanged it for tokens. The arcade was much smaller and less advanced than the other one, but it made little difference to Shinji. He picked an old-fashioned game that had a space ship blasting other alien ships. Although the game never really ended, it really required great concentration. Concentration was not one of Shinji's greatest assets, though, and so he quickly lost interest. He then tried a shooting game the involved zombies. "I'm gonna have to learn how to shoot anyway, I guess." Thought the boy.
Nearby, a tall dark-haired boy and a smaller blond-haired with glasses were looking about all the games. The larger boy seemed reluctant to be there. "I really don't want to be here. I wish I could be by my sister's side."
The smaller boy patted his friend's shoulder. "Come on, Touji. You and I both know that the hospital won't allow it. Besides, you need to get out and have some fun. You haven't smiled in over a week."
Touji became a little irritated. "Listen Kensuke. I'll smile when I'm good and ready."
Kensuke sighed. "I'm just trying to help…"
It was then that the two of them spotted their favorite game, being occupied by Shinji.
"Hey!" Yelled Touji. "That little punk is playing my game."
"Well." Interrupted Kensuke. "It's technically not your game."
The dark-haired boy started marching toward the stranger. "I'll show him."
Kensuke became worried. 'Oh no. He's gonna clobber that kid.'
Shinji had just lost another life at the game, and he was thinking about giving the game a rest when the other boy walked up to him in an opposing manner. "Listen kid! I gonna give you till the count of three to put the gun down and walk away or I'm gonna kick your ass."
The pilot of Unit 01 was in no mood to start a fight, so he easily gave up the game. "Just take it. I don't care."
Apparently, the tone of Shinji's voice had offended Touji further. "Hey asshole, what's your problem?"
Shinji continued to walk away, but was soon stopped when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder. "Where do you think you're going? You think you're better than me?"
It was then that the young Ikari realized the seriousness of the situation. "N…no. I don't want any trouble."
Touji then grabs him by the collar and raises a fist. "Well, maybe I do."
Before the larger boy could throw the punch, his friend stopped him. "Calm down, man. Get a grip. It's not like he started anything."
Touji turned towards the dorky looking kid. "I need to let out some steam! So let go!"
"Listen!" Said Kensuke. "Our movie will start any minute now. If we cause trouble now, we'll have wasted our money."
It was then that Touji calmed down and let go of Shinji. "Fine!"
As Touji walked away, Kensuke walked up to the stranger. "Sorry about that. He can be a real jerk sometimes, especially since someone important to him got hurt during that strange attack over a week ago."
Shinji was surprised. "Oh, well I'm really sorry."
"Don't worry about it. See ya later." The four-eye boy walked away with his friend, leaving Shinji with some questions.
'I wonder if the person got hurt because of me….' Thought Shinji.
Shinji then took it upon himself to catch up with Misato, who was sitting at a table in the middle of the lobby. Misato gave a questioning look. "Are you out of tokens already?"
The young man shook his head. "I didn't spend all the money. I'm not interested in playing anymore." He then hands her the remainder of the money.
Misato tried to hide her relief. 'Good, I kinda needed that money to make it through the week.' She then lifts the bag of popcorn in Shinji's direction. "Wants some?"
Shinji shook his head. "Not right now…"
The two of them took it upon themselves to just sit there and watch the crowds around them. It wasn't particularly crowded in the theatre, despite the release of some of the biggest movies in years. Misato spoke up. "This theatre used to be jam packed with people, but I guess the attack on the city had caused some people to move out. The only time that it seems that any amount of people show up is when a big-hyped movie is about to start."
The young Ikari became concerned. "Do you think that I caused some of it?"
Misato shook her head. "Of course not. If there was no angel, you wouldn't have gone out."
"I know." Said the boy. "But I wonder if I had accidentally hurt anyone, or something like that."
The older woman put a hand on his hand. It made Shinji blush a little. Misato spoke. "It's not your fault if something like that did happen. It's nobodies fault when accidents happen, but some people want to believe that somebody should be at fault, but all that does is make things worse. In the end, you just need to let it go." Misato then narrows her eyes. "What brought this up anyway?"
"Nothing." Said Shinji.
The two of them continued to relax until it was a quarter to eight. They then took their seats in the theatre. Because they waited until the next showing, they were able to get good seats near the middle of the theatre. The crowd continued to move in, filling about half of the remaining seats. Shortly afterwards, the opening credits began.
Five rows back, Adams had just taken his seat. He seemed a little bummed out. 'I invited some of the guys at NERV to join me, they say yes, and they don't even show up. Because of them, I had to miss the first showing and am now watching the eight o' clock instead. And the worst part about it is that I'm alone. This movie better be worth it.'
As people settled down into the seats, Misato began to look around and then fumble through something in her purse. A cracking sound is then heard, grabbing Shinji's attention. He sees Misato pouring something into her drink. She then dumps the can under her seat. Shinji freaks out. "You can't do that!"
Misato covers his mouth and hushes him. "Quite. Everyone will hear you."
Shinji then removed her hand and whispered. "Is that beer? You know that stuff is illegal in a theatre."
Misato took a sip. "Relax. I do this all the time."
The young pilot gives up, deciding on the "She's not with me" option should the need arise. He sits back and watches the movie start.
The movie had started out well enough, containing a lot of action and suspense. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before he noticed that Misato was getting buzzed, and she began to talk during the movie.
"YEAH! KICK HIS ASS!!!"
Shinji could do little but try not to get embarrassed. The talking continued.
"That is so fake. I thought the special effects were supposed to be good."
Some of the people in the audience began to tell her to hush of be quite. Misato rudeness didn't end though.
"Just kiss the bastard already!!"
People were starting to throw stuff at her. She replied with some obscene gestures of her own. The movie was starting to get boring, though, and it was becoming obvious that the purple-haired woman was becoming the main attraction.
Steven had had enough of the woman's antics. He was actually trying to watch the movie, and he decided to make it obvious. "Listen, bitch! For the last hour you haven't shut your fucking mouth for one minute! If you don't cut it out, I'll see to it that I do!!"
The audience had pissed Misato. The whole evening had gone wrong, and now she had decided to take it out on the idiot who just said what he said. She got up and marched up towards the voice. Shinji followed suit in an attempt to stop her. "Listen Misato. You don't have to do this. Let's just go home."
Misato didn't stop as she marched right up to the man. In the dim light, they didn't recognize each other until they were face to face. At first they were shocked, but the expression of surprise soon faded into even greater anger. Misato spoke first. "It fucking figures that you were here. Why don't you go home and get a life you asshole?"
The American got into her face. "I've should have known it was you. Nobody has a bigger mouth than you. Why don't you take that mouth of yours and kiss my ass?"
The bickering between the two of them had taken precedence over the movie since the film had gotten boring. The audience was now focused on the man and woman, and the unsuspecting boy nearby. Some people became angered and were getting ready to leave; others were picking sides, wondering as to who would win in a fight. Shinji was starting to become pissed. The attention he was getting was unwanted, and the fighting between the two of them was getting old. He began to mumble to himself. "I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away." He then lost his temper.
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP?!! YOU'RE EMBARRASSING YOURSELVES AND ME!!! WHY DON'T YOU TWO JUST GROW UP?!!"
The whole theatre was silent. Misato and Steven had looked at the boy in bewilderment. It wasn't long before the entire audience was applauding Shinji, leaving him red in embarrassment. Misato began to calm down and decided to walk back to her seat. The rest of the room finally went back to normal, minus Misato's ranting and raving.
The movie had become even more boring and confusing after that event, especially since the movie wasn't nearly as exciting as what happened in reality was anyway. Misato had eventually fallen asleep, and Shinji was starting to follow suit. Many of the people in the theatre were leaving, grumbling about something to do with getting a refund. Nearing the end of the film, Shinji started to hear mumbling coming from his temporary guardian. It was the only thing that kept him awake. Most of it was inaudible, but one word he heard was clear enough for him to understand.
"…Kaji…."
The boy wasn't sure if he heard her right, so he leaned over her to listen again.
"…Kaji…come back…."
'Kaji?' Thought Shinji. 'Who the heck is that?'
The movie had just ended, with the lights in the room beginning to brighten. A crowd of people, including Adams, walked out in a hurry. Shinji was reluctant to wake Misato, but knowing that he couldn't leaver her behind, he began to shake her. She slowly awoke and rubbed her eyes. She looked to Shinji questioningly. "So what did I miss?"
Shinji shook his head. "Nothing. The movie was terrible. They just don't make them like they used to."
Misato nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
As the two of them walked out of the theatre, Shinji decided to let out a question he had. "Misato, I heard you talking in your sleep."
Before he could say more, Misato interrupted. "Did I? That's embarrassing."
The young Ikari continued. "Yeah well, I couldn't help but listen, and I heard you say someone's name."
The Director of Operations raised an eyebrow. "A name? Whose name?"
"That's what I was going to ask you." Said Shinji. "Who is Kaji?"
The purple-haired woman stopped in her tracks and blushed. She tried to hide her blush with anger. "Kaji? I didn't say that. Shinji, don't you EVER say that name in my presence ever again!!"
The boy sweat dropped. "Um….ok…."
The two of them made it to the car and took off toward home. As they were going, Shinji couldn't help but notice the fact that Misato seemed even more reckless in her driving. "Are you feeling alright? You're not driving all that well."
"I feel fine. I don't know what you're talking about." Responded Miss Katsuragi.
Shinji then smelt her breath, and remembered the beers she drank at the theatre. "You're drinking and driving!!!"
Misato smiled and waved a hand in front of her. "Relax. I'm just fine."
The words did little to comfort Shinji as he began to pray that she didn't crash and kill both of them.
His prayers were answered as they reached home in one piece. The two of them entered their house and decided to go to bed.
"It's getting late." Said Misato. "You better go to bed. We both have to wake up so you can go to school."
Shinji hung his head. "I don't know if I want to go."
Misato walked in front of Shinji and gave him a hug. "You'll be ok. Remember how you acted when you stopped that jerk and me when we were arguing? You showed just how strong you really were. If you rely on that strength, you'll be just fine at school."
After that, they let go and smiled. Her words had calmed Shinji a little. They both went to bed, leaving Shinji restless. The truth was the he was both afraid and excited. He had no idea as to what to expect, and it took him several hour before he finally fell asleep.
*** End Chapter 5 ***
Chapter 5 "First Impressions."
**
Shinji is in the entry plug of his Eva. He seems a little more relaxed than he was during his previous jaunts inside the chamber. He was still trying to get accustomed to the feel of the machine, and he still appeared unsure. Then a voice was heard over the Comm. System.
"How are you doing in there?" Asked Ritsuko.
"Pretty good." Responded Shinji.
Ritsuko continued. "That's good, because today we're going to introduce you the controls of the Eva. You'll be put through a simulation that will represent a full-scale model of Tokyo 3. In there, you will learn how to pilot the Eva in an effective manner. We won't go into anything complicated, we're just going to focus on moving. Ok?"
"Yes." Responded the boy.
Another voice was then heard. "While we're at it, we'll introduce you to you armaments."
Shinji recognized the voice as Adams's. "Ok, will I use them in the simulation?"
"Not today." Answered the captain. "But I will introduce them."
The young Ikari had another question. "Where's Misato?"
Ritsuko answered the question. "She took the day off in order to prepare for your arrival. You do realize that you're moving in with her for this week, don't you?"
Shinji nodded. "Yeah, I know."
**
Misato stood in the middle of her apartment, looking over that tremendous mess that surrounded her.
'Man, I got to get this place cleaned up. If I don't, Shinji will think I'm a slob, and will probably not like me as much. I need to make sure that I seem like the perfect parent so that I can beat out that jerk Adams."
She continued to look around, having no idea as to where to start. 'I better think about it while I get a beer.'
**
Shinji was now undergoing the simulation. He was practicing walking, which was getting easier. He no longer had to support himself on a building in order to maintain balance. He walked around the city a few laps, each lap feeling more natural than the last. Ritsuko then spoke. "Why not attempt to run? You will need to know how to do that, too."
"Um…ok." Responded the boy
Unit 01 began to speed up its pace, making it harder for Shinji to keep his balance, but he was holding out. Eventually he managed to get up to speed, running at full force. "Wow! I can't believe the speed that I'm going."
"That's not all that's unbelievable about the Eva. Why don't you try to lift something?" Asked Ritsuko.
"Ok…um I can't stop!" Said the boy as he realized that the speed was too much for him to handle, he ended up crashing head first into a building. After pausing for a brief moment, the Eva then fell backwards, revealing a large imprint into the side of the building.
The blond scientist sweat-dropped. "Um…as you can see, the Eva also can take a great beating."
Shinji rubbed his head. "That really hurt. This maybe virtual, but it certainly feels real enough."
"Well." Said Dr. Akagi. "Now that you've stopped, let's test those muscles."
"Right." Said the young Ikari sarcastically. "I just crashed into a wall, and so the first thing I want to do is lift stuff."
Adams responded. "No need for smart-ass remarks. Just do it."
Shinji did not reply to the tactical advisor, but instead looks around for something to pick up. "Um, there isn't much around here that isn't bolted down to the ground."
"Not to worry." Said Ritsuko. "Just pick up that building to your right."
Shinji looks towards a building to his right. It was about five times bigger that the Eva was. "Yeah right! There's no way I could lift that!"
"Don't argue. Do it." Responded the head supervisor.
"Alright…." Unit zero then went up to the building and began to dig its fingers into the sides of it. With one tremendous jerk upward, the building split from its foundation and was lifted into the air. "Oh my god! I can't believe that I'm doing it!"
"Told you. The Eva's raw strength isn't something to be reckoned with. On it's own, it's a formidable opponent against anything that threatens humanity…theoretically speaking. Especially with its AT Field."
The boy raised an eyebrow. "AT Field?"
"That is the force field like barrier that naturally surrounds the Eva. You can increase its power with your own will power."
"Wow!" Said the pilot, but he then thought of another question. "If that's the case, than why could the angel attack me?"
Ritsuko answered that question as well. "Well, the Angels also have their own AT Fields, and when two AT Fields meet, they neutralize each other."
"Oh…" Responded the boy in a disappointed fashion. "So what's the point of having one if it doesn't work?"
"Well, without one, you'd never be able to hurt an angel. You could say that the AT Field has more offensive purpose against them. It leaves the Eva open as well, but it's a risk that has to be taken."
"This is a lot to take in." Said the boy.
"And there's more unfortunately." Said Adams. "Yes, the Eva is powerful on it's own, but it's still doesn't really hold its own against an angel. That's when we introduce your arsenal."
"Another tour of your weapons collection?" Asked Shinji jokingly.
"Very funny, but in a sense…yes. But the weapons are much bigger." Said Adams
Ritsuko gives a questioning look. "What weapons collection?"
The weapons developer gives a nervous look. "Uh…I meant the prototypes that I was currently building."
The scientist decided to drop the subject. "Just tell him about his armaments."
Steven calms down and begins to explain the boy about his weapons. "Ok, first I want to introduce to you the G2-EX."
Ritsuko pressed a few button on the panel. Moments later, and large assault weapon appears in the simulation, popping out of the ground in a storage container.
"As we have already mentioned, the simulation is a recreation of Tokyo 3. The container that just appeared from the ground is at that same exact point in the real Tokyo 3. There are several location points that contain the same weapon throughout the city. You will be required to memorize them eventually. Pick up the weapon now."
"Right." Shinji then picks up the weapon from the location and holds it in his arms.
Adams continues. "We'd have you target practice, but the program for target practice hasn't been uploaded yet. I just want you to hold the weapon and become comfortable with it. It may save your life someday."
Shinji held the weapon in either hand, trying to find what was comfortable for him. After about a minute of this, the tour continued as the older man spoke. "I want to introduce to you another weapon. You've heard about this one before."
"What one is that?" Asked Shinji.
"Open the storage area on your right shoulder and remove the object that is there."
The boy gave a confused look.
Adams became slightly annoyed. "Just think about it."
"Um…ok." Suddenly, a compartment opened up in the plate on the Eva's right shoulder, and the handle of something popped out. "Whoa. Neat." He then pulled it out, revealing a large knife. "Is this the Progressive Knife?"
The American nodded with pride. "Yep, that is the Progressive Knife. It is equipped with the Progressive technology that was developed by yours truly."
"Awfully small weapon for close combat. Is that why you wanted to create a sword?"
Adams sighed. "You're full of questions today aren't you? Anyway, yes that is why I want to create a sword, but with a larger blade, there is a greater chance of breaking, especially with all the vibration that the weapon makes. It's going to cost a fortune to develop the materials that can withstand those vibrations."
"Well, are there any other weapons?" Asked the boy.
"Not for now." Said Ritsuko. "The other weapons haven't been loaded up yet. Besides, we've got all week to get you used to the controls. Your progress has been remarkable as it is."
"Thanks." Said Shinji.
"The simulation will now end." Continued the doctor. "We won't need to see you until Tuesday. On that day, we'll finish what we started today."
The American then spoke. "We need you to finish packing when we get back, ok?"
Shinji nodded. "Ok…"
**
Shinji was now in the guest bedroom at Adams's house. He was packing his belongings, and he was almost finished. Adams entered the room to check up on him. "How are you doing?"
"Fine I guess. I'm a little nervous about going to Misato's place. If she is really as bad as you've said she is, then I'm in trouble."
The older man smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure that you'll be fine. I mean, you survived your week with me."
"You're not so bad." Responded the young Ikari. "Once you get over the illegal collection of guns, your disregard for the law, and your habit of eating like a slob."
Adams gave him a scowl. "Gee thanks."
Shinji chuckled. "I had a lot of fun, though. And you've taught me a lot. I'm not sure how to repay you."
The American waves a hand in front of him. "No need. Just give Misato hell and that will be payment enough."
Shinji then finishes packing. "Well, I guess that's it. I'm ready. I just have one more thing that I want to ask you."
"Fire away." said the older man.
"Um… Is Misato really that bad of a cook?"
Adams sighed. "Well, this is just a rumor, but I heard that she puts Mayonnaise on her pancakes."
Shinji went bug-eyed. "You've got to be kidding me. You mean those flat things you cooked up two days ago?"
"Yeah. Well, it is just a rumor." Said Steve.
**
Misato is seen lying on her table, completely passed out drunk next to fifteen empty beer cans. A certain flightless bird walked by, looking at his master. He then sees the time, and, being that the bird was abnormally intelligent, realizes that her master had only fifteen minutes to clean up the house. The bird climbs up onto the table and begins to peak feverishly at Misato's head. Unfortunately, she didn't even budge, so the bird hopped off and headed towards a first aid kit. Grabbing some smelling salts from it, he them waves them in front of her nose. In sudden shock of the horrific odor that just hit her, she falls off the table. Angry, she scowls at the bird.
"What the hell was that for?" Asked the purple-haired woman.
The penguin pointed towards the clock. It read 4:48 P.M.
Misato screamed when she realized that she had passed out during the entire time that she was supposed to be cleaning the house. She stands up in a panic. "What am I going to do? There's no way I can clean this place now. It looks like a pig-sty and I look just as bad."
Misato then begins to frantically pick up stuff from the table and the floor.
**
Both Shinji and Adams arrived at the front door of Misato's apartment. Shinji sized up the surrounding area. "It's a little more modest than a warehouse."
Adams nodded. "It's not much, but it's actually pretty big compared to most apartments in this city. If she would actually clean the place, the volume of the inside would double in size."
Shinji decides to knock on the door. "I hope we aren't too late. We did have to fight through a lot of traffic in order to get here."
The older man nodded. "Most of that traffic is heading away from the city. Apparently, nobody wants to stay in a city that gets attacked by giant monsters."
Just then, the door slowly opens, revealing a dressed up Misato. Her outfit was her favorite black one, complete with the white cross that she likes to wear. Her hair seemed hurryingly combed, but other than that she seemed well put together.
"Hi Misato." Greeted Shinji.
"Greetings Shinji. Welcome to my humble abode." Misato then looks to the American. "What are you still doing here?"
"I was in the process of leaving." Said the gentleman as handed the woman all of Shinji's stuff and turned around and walked away. He stopped, though, and turned around and put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "I'll see you later. Stay safe and have fun, Ok?"
The boy nodded. "Yes, Thank you, Steve."
After the man nodded, he then turned around and walked off.
"Shinji." Said Misato.
Shinji turned his head. "Yes, Misato?"
"Could you give me a hand?"
Shinji then noticed that Misato was being weighed down by all of his stuff, and she was about to fall over.
The boy hurried to her aid. "S…Sorry. I didn't realize that it was that heavy. Steve didn't seem to be as burdened with it."
"Well, I'm about half his size, so logically it would be harder for me to hold."
Shinji then took a few boxes into his hands. "Ok, let's go inside."
Misato pushed the door open with her foot, allowing access into the apartment. It was fairly clean. Not nearly as bad as Adams had said it was.
"That's funny." Said the young pilot. "Steve said that your place would be a lot messier."
Misato narrowed her eyes. "Well you shouldn't believe everything he says, you know. He's about as honest as a snake." Shinji didn't answer her, so she continued towards Shinji's new room. "Follow me."
Misato led Shinji to one of her Guest rooms. It was small, and it only had a bedroll in the middle of the floor, but it could easily be redecorated according to Shinji's desires.
Misato put some of his stuff on the floor. "I hope the accommodations are ok. It's not everyday that I have people living in my house besides me."
Shinji smiled. "It's ok. I'm not used to showiness anyway."
"You're so sweet." Said Misato. "Having you as a roommate will be a pleasure."
As Misato walked away towards the kitchen, Shinji began to blush. 'She doesn't seem so bad. Maybe Adams was wrong about her.' He then realized that he needed to use the bathroom. He began to walk around the house, not sure as to wear the bathroom was. He sees a door in the living room. Figuring that there was no harm in looking, he headed towards the door to open it.
"Misato, does the door in the living room lead to the bathroom?"
Misato was in the kitchen drinking a beer when suddenly her eyes bugged out and she spit out her beer. She then ran into the living room just as Shinji was opening the door.
"NO SHINJI!! DON'T OPEN…"
But it was too late. The door flew open, and a gigantic pile of garbage enveloped the young Ikari. After it was over, all that could be seen of the boy was one of his legs, which was twitching in the air. Misato had a sheepish look on her face. "Um…that's not the bathroom."
The boy's head suddenly emerged from the pile. "I noticed…."
Misato smiled. "Well, you might as well take a shower too now that you're filthy…I'll clean this up while you do that." She then pointed towards the bathroom.
Shinji rose from the pile of garbage and headed towards the actual bathroom.
The shower was fairly relaxing, and it easily washed away the filth that had covered itself on him. He began to wonder if perhaps some of the things that Steven had told him about her were true. 'Seemed pretty lazy of her to put the garbage in the closet. Now I don't think I'll ever put my coat in there.'
It wasn't long before his shower was complete, and he headed out into his room for a change of cloths.
After changing, he went back into the living room. It was once again clean, but Shinji had a strange curiosity. He once again walked up to the closet and gingerly opened the door. Once again, a flood of garbage hit him, almost killing him. This time the boy was a little annoyed. "MISATO!! WHAT IS THIS GARBAGE STILL DOING IN THE CLOSET?!"
Appearing from the kitchen with a beer in hand, Misato assess the situation. "Well how was I to know that you'd be dumb enough to open the closet again?"
A nasty scowl came from the young man's face, but quickly dissipated after he felt something wiggle under his leg.
"AHH! There's something in here!" Screamed Shinji.
Misato was scratching her head. "I was sure that I didn't throw anything alive in that closet…"
Suddenly, a penguin emerged from the pile, right in front of Shinji's face. "AAAAAHHHH!!!!"
Shinji quickly jumps out of the pile and runs behind Misato. "What is that thing?"
Upon closer examination, Misato suddenly gives a look of horror. "Oh no! PenPen!! Did I throw you into the closet?"
The penguin was too busy gasping for air to answer. Misato then ran up to it and picked it up from the garbage. "I'm sorry. I'll never do that again."
The pilot of unit 01 had observe the creature from a safe distance, and when he was sure that it wasn't going to kill him, he came closer to get a good look at the bird. "Is that a penguin?"
Misato nodded. "Yep. This is PenPen. He's my pet. Want to hold him?"
Shinji seemed reluctant. "Maybe later. That's the second time I've ever been scared by an exotic pet."
After giving a firm hug, Misato put the bird down. It waddled away towards the bathroom. Moments later, running water could be heard. Shinji gave a strange look. "Is it taking a bath?"
Misato nodded. "He sure is. He's pretty smart for a penguin." Misato then looks Shinji over. "You could use another shower yourself, huh?"
"Yeah, no thanks to you." Said Shinji coldly.
Miss Katsuragi narrowed her eyes. "Alright, so I should have thrown it all out. I just wanted to rush so I could start dinner."
The boy picked up a banana peel and chucked it at his new temporary guardian. "That's no excuse."
The banana peel landed right on top of Misato's head. "Hey, what was that for?"
"If you live in your filth, you should wear it, too." Replied the boy.
Misato picked up an old slice of pizza and threw it at Shinji. "It looks much more fashionable on you."
After being hit in the shirt, completely staining it, Shinji then picked up a couple handfuls of garbage and chucked it at the Director of Operations. She, of course, returned fire, and a full-fledged garbage fight had begun. After a while, PenPen walked into the living room and was pegged with a beer can, knocking him out cold.
After fifteen minute of trashing the house, the two off them are on the ground laughing. They apparently forgot about the whole closet issue, and were having a good time.
"Did you enjoy yourself?" Asked the temporary Guardian.
After he stopped laughing, Shinji answered the question. "Yeah! Who'd thought that I would have so much fun with…Garbage?"
They both sat up and looked around. They both realized that it would take a while to clean up the mess. Shinji made an offer. "Misato, maybe I should clean the house. At least I'll know that it'll not go into a closet."
Misato seemed disappointed. "OK. I was hoping I could make it up to you."
The brown-haired boy shook his head. "There's no need, I'll take care of it."
The woman then had an idea. "I know! I'll make it up to you by cooking dinner. I'll make a feast."
Shinji went about his business cleaning the stuff off the floor, but suddenly, he remembered what he heard about her bad cooking and became afraid. "Um…Maybe I should cook and you can clean."
Misato returned to the living room. "What makes you say that?"
"Um…no reason. I just want to show my gratitude for you taking me in by...cooking 'you' a feast."
Misato waved her hand in front of her. "Oh, it's ok. I'm not very adept at cleaning, as you can see. I think that I'll do the cooking. Thanks for the offer."
Shinji hung his head. 'If she's as bad at cooking as she is at cleaning, I'm done for.'
It took Shinji about an hour to clean the apartment, including all of the scrubbing he had to do on the walls. When he was finally done, Misato was too. "Shinji! It's dinner time."
As the boy arrived at the table, he saw nothing but instant noodles and curry. Shinji sweat dropped. "It took you nearly an hour to cook instant food?"
Misato had a sheepish look. "Well, first I had trouble lighting the stove. Then I tried to decide between what flavors I wanted to make. Then I drank a beer. I then ruined one package of instant soup. Drank two more beers, and finally finished dinner."
Shinji then looked down at the food in front of him and decided that maybe he wasn't hungry after all. "Um… I think that I'll just go and wash up again and go to bed."
Shinji then got up and started to walk away, but a hand grabbing his arm stopped him. "Wait. If you're not going to eat…" The purple-hair woman gave a lonely look. "Can you at least keep me company?" She then hung her head to the ground. "It's not often that I have guests at my house, and it gets pretty lonely here." She then looked up at him. "Please…"
The look she gave sent a rush of guilt down his spine. He may not have been the nicest guy around, but he was by no means cold-hearted. He gave her a smile. "Ok Misato. I'll keep you company."
Katsuragi cheered right up. "Great! So, how do you like it here?"
The young Ikari sat down and answered the question. "Well, I started learning how to use the Eva today. That was pretty cool I guess, except when I crashed into a building while running."
Misato giggled. "Forgot to use the brakes?"
Shinji scowled. "Very funny."
"It's no big deal." Said the Director of Operations. "It's probably something that happens to all pilots when they start learning to pilot an Eva. In time, I sure you'll be able to prevent that. So what else happened today?"
"Well, Steven displayed a few of the weapons that the Eva uses, including that Progressive knife."
Misato became annoyed. "He always blabs about those stupid weapons. I've seen what he's created and I'm not impressed."
Shinji had come up with a question to ask the woman. "Why do you hate him so much?"
Misato place her beer down and stood up. "What's not to hate about him? He is an annoying, self-righteous, over-paid, over-confident, perverted American asshole." She then leans forward on the table. "Did you know that he gets paid 12 million yen a year? I only get paid 3.6 million yen a year."
Shinji's eyes bug out. "He gets paid that much more than you?"
Misato continued. "Yes. And I'm supposed to be his boss. I should get paid more than him, but nnnooo. You see people with degrees in ballistic science are hard to come by, and therefore better paid."
"So you're saying that he's less expendable than you are." Added the young pilot.
A vein popped on to Misato's forehead. "I'll be dead and rotting in my grave before I lose my job before him." Misato then gets up and grabs another beer from the fridge. "Let me tell you a story about something that happened approximately two years ago…"
**
The scene flashes back to Misato's house. Misato was quickly trying to prepare dinner, obviously expecting company.
**
"Ritsuko told me that she wanted to introduce a friend of hers to me, so she suggested that we have dinner at my place. I wanted to make a good impression, so I agreed. Even though he was a stranger to me, I still think that Ritsuko was trying to hook us up."
Shinji suddenly interrupts. "Adams told me this story before."
Misato pounded her fist on the table. "Ha! I bet you that he lied about the whole thing. This is what really happened."
**
The doorbell rings, leaving Misato in excitement. She quickly runs to the door, to meet her long time friend, and her guest.
"Good Evening!" Said Misato. "Welcome to my home. Sorry if it's a little messy. I just moved in and I had no time to clean it."
**
"The moment he entered the room, he sneered. He obviously felt superior to me."
**
Adams spoke. "This place doesn't need to be cleaned, it needs to be torched."
Ritsuko became a little nervous. "Heh heh, he's so funny. Let's get settled in."
**
"I tried to be a good host, but he was too big of a jerk."
**
"Hi! I'm Misato Katsuragi. I'm the new Director of Operations at NERV."
**
"He then has the nerve to insult me right in front of my face."
**
"How did someone like you become Director of Operations? You can't even clean your house, and you're going to help run our organization? Give me a break."
Misato seemed hurt. "Well, that's not nice. If you keep that up, I may just have to pull rank on you."
Adams narrows his eyes. "You can't do that!"
Misato smirks. "Yes I can. I am a Captain after all."
The American becomes surprised. "You're a Captain?"
Misato nodded. "That's right. And I want an apology."
The man grudgingly apologizes. "…Sorry…"
**
"Like he really meant it. I should have kicked him out right then and there, but I had to try and be nice."
**
The Lieutenant sat down at the table and began to complain. "With all the stuff all over the floor, how can I enjoy my meal?"
Misato answered. "Sorry. I said I was busy."
Adams then had an idea. "Well since I refuse to eat in a pig sty, why don't you clean up the place before you cook dinner?"
**
"The nerve of that guy. I ought to have decked him in the face…."
**
"Fine…." Misato then begins to pick up the place.
**
"I was two hours late on cooking dinner because of him. I had to clean the whole house, and it took me forever, and did I get any help from him? No!"
**
"An exhausted Misato started to wipe her brow, when the Weapons Developer started yelling. "I'm starving over here. Are you going to cook dinner or not?!"
"Ok…."
**
"I decided to listen to the conversation between Ritsuko and Adams. He was talking about me behind my back."
**
"For all that waiting, this better be a five-star meal." Said Adams
Ritsuko smiled and nodded. "Misato was a great cook back in college. I used to come over to her place all the time to get something to eat."
The man then said something else. "How did she manage to become a Captain, anyway? I should be a Captain."
**
"That arrogant S.O.B. thinks he's so hot. I wanted to kick him out so bad for that, but I didn't want to ruin it for Ritsuko."
**
"Dinner is served!" Called out Misato.
On the table, there were huge portion of all sorts of delicious food, ranging from burgers to crab legs. It was an unbelievable site.
**
"Never in my whole life had I worked so hard on a meal. I was convince that I would receive praise for my hard work, but…."
**
The weapons developer took a bite into a piece of crab leg meat, and immediately spit it out. "Yuck! I've had army C Rations that tasted better that that!!!"
**
"It took me a week to recover from that blow."
**
Misato seemed shocked. "What did you say?"
Adams replied in anger. "I said that the food sucks. Do yourself a favor and never cook again!"
Ritsuko seemed embarrassed. "M…maybe the crab leg were bad. How was Misato to know that the food wouldn't come out good? Try something else."
The American ate some pasta, and although he didn't say anything, his expression wasn't one a pleasure.
**
"It was at that point that I figured a beer would help calm by nerves since I was obviously hurt. Unfortunately, it gave him the idea to drink, too."
**
"I'm gonna get a beer. Do you want one Ritsuko?" Asked the captain.
Ritsuko shook her head. "I'm the designated driver. But I would like something else to drink."
Misato turned her head towards the Lieutenant. "Do you want something to drink?"
Steve pulled out a liter of whiskey. "I'll have some of this instead. I'll help kill my taste buds."
Miss Katsuragi felt her nerves boil. "I think I'll get that beer."
**
"I figured that maybe if he had a few drinks in him that he would calm down and maybe behave like a gentleman, but I was way off. By the time I polished of two beers, he had drunk that whole liter. I'm not too familiar with the drinking habits of Americans, but if they all drink like that, then I'm surprised that I country still exists."
**
An empty bottle of whiskey was all that was left of what Adams brought to the dinner. Misato had just finished her second beer. The tactical advisor was barely able to sit still, his body moving back and forth from a lack of equilibrium. He then looks at one of the cans of beer. "You actually drink that stuff? That's gotta be the cheapest beer ever."
The purple-haired woman responded. "It just so happens that I like this beer."
The intoxicated man smirked. "You've got problems." He then looks towards Ritsuko. "When we leave, can I drive home?"
The blond scientist looks at him as if he had two heads. "Of course not! Especially in the state you're in."
"I could drive just fine. I'm the best driver here."
Misato smirked. "I doubt it. I'm a pretty good driver myself."
The American sneered. "Ha! I've never met a woman who could out drive me."
**
"I figured that his car was probably an average four-banger, but then I got the surprise of a lifetime."
**
"What kind of car do you have?" Asked the young captain.
Adams beamed with pride. "I built my car from the ground up. It's the fastest everrr."
Misato seemed intrigued. "How many horsepower?"
"435..."
Misato's jaw dropped. "No way! And you built the car from the ground up. That would cost a fortune."
"Well duhhh. I am one of the highest paid people at NERV."
Misato's eyes bug-out. "How the hell do you get paid that much?"
"Um…By working." Said the Lieutenant sarcastically
The Director of Operations continued. "But I outrank you, and I'm your boss. How does that work out?"
"You know, you're right." Said the weapons developer. "I should be the boss."
Misato became angered. "Oh, so you think you're better than me, huh? You don't have a clue as to what've I've done or been through."
Adams stands up. "You think you've been through some shit. I've been in the military since back when you were still in middle school. I'll let you know that I seem shit that would make you wet your pants."
**
"It was then that our argument escalated."
**
"You think you're so hot just because you seen a few fire fights, but you've never seen what I saw the day second impact happened." Yelled Misato.
"Oh what? Did you lose your little puppy? I'm so sorry." Responded Adams
Misato clenched her fist. "I'll forgive you for your ignorance. But the things I have seen are things that no one has ever saw. And even to this day, I will never forget them."
"Stop your whining." Yelled the intoxicated American.
**
"I should thank Ritsuko for stepping in. If she hadn't said anything, I might have killed him right there."
**
Ritsuko was now pissed. She decided to put an end to their childish arguing. "WILL YOU BOTH FUCKING SHUT UP? GOD, YOU BOTH ARE ACTING LIKE CHILDREN. IF I'D KNOWN THAT THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED, I WOULDN'T HAVE SET THIS NIGHT UP."
Both Misato and Adams shut their mouths, but then Adams spoke. "She started it…"
Ritsuko gave a death glare at him. "Shut up…"
**
"I was hoping that they were getting ready to leave, but unfortunately the asshole had other ideas."
**
Adams moves closer to Misato. "I've been a bad guest haven't I. Why don't I make it up to you?
**
"He started to hit on me!! I wanted to kick his ass for that."
**
The American then places a hand on Misato's breast. "Wow, you've got nice jugs."
**
"By then I'd had enough. I tried to nice and courteous, but he had reached my limit. I kicked him out."
**
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!!!" Said Misato as she smacked him right across the face.
"FINE!!! I DON'T NEED YOU ANYWAY!!! FUCK OFF!!!" Yelled Adams.
Ritsuko was very embarrassed. "I'm so sorry. If I had know he'd be like this, I wouldn't have brought him here."
**
It was then that they both left, and I'm happy to say that he has not entered my house since then.
Shinji thought about the story. "That's quite a bit different from his side of the story."
"That's probably because he's nothing but a bid fat liar." Said Miss Katsuragi.
Shinji yawned. "I think I'm ready for bed."
Misato seemed disappointed. "Already? I was hoping we would have more time to talk."
Shinji shook his head. "We'll have more time to talk later. I think I just want to relax and sleep."
The older woman sighed. "Alright. I'll save what I made you for later. I hope you're hungry tomorrow."
Shinji nodded. "Thank you Misato. I'll probably eat it tomorrow."
Shinji then went in to his new room and lied on the bedroll. He began to think. 'That story was quite different from Adams's. I wonder what really happened on that day. Ritsuko was also there. I bet that she must know what happened that day.' He then placed the headphones of the SDAT on his head and fell asleep.
**
Gendo returned from his trip, and was greeted by his sub-commander.
"So what happened?" Asked Fuyutsuki.
"The second branch has begun work on the Unit 03. It will be based on the same systems that run Unit 01.
Fuyutsuki raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying that Unit 03 will be just like Unit 01?"
Gendo continued. "It will be a back up for Unit 01. Should anything happen to it, we will rely on Unit 03."
"Have we found a pilot for it?" asked Kouzou.
The commander shook his head. "No, but we will not be concerned. It will take several months to complete it, and I'm sure we will find the fourth child by then."
Fuyutsuki continued his questioning. "How is the progress on Unit 02?"
"It should be finished within a month." Said Ikari. "The second child will join our ranks as soon as that happens."
"Very well." Said the older man. "We will have to wait and hope that there will be no more attacks until either Evas arrive."
Gendo nodded in agreement. "I'm unsure as to when the next angel will attack, but it's safe to bet that it will be sooner than we will expect."
The two men said nothing after that as they walked back the Headquarters.
**
Shinji slowly rises from his bed, remembering that he was no longer living in the warehouse. He reestablishes his grip on reality, yawns, and exits the room.
He goes in to the kitchen to get something to eat. To his surprise, he sees Misato finishing breakfast.
She looks up at him and smiles. "Nice to see that you're up. I've just finished making pancakes."
Shinji raises an eyebrow. "I see you don't have a hangover."
Misato scowls at the boy. " I didn't drink that much."
"A twelve pack's not much?" asked Shinji sarcastically.
Misato turns her head away from him and starts placing pancakes on a plate. Shinji looks at the pancakes and asks for a favor. "Can you cut the pancakes up, please?"
Misato gives a questioning look. "Why do you want your pancake cut up?"
Shinji looks down at the ground." I'm not good at eating with a knife and fork. I'm used to you using chopsticks. Steve cut them up for me…."
Misato hid a groan. She complied with his wishes. She slices the pancakes into individual pieces. "Here you go." She said as she hands him the plate.
Shinji then places the plate on the table and grabs some chopsticks and hungrily eats away. He was so hungry that he forgot about Misato's inability to cook. The pancakes weren't all that bad, and they seemed to have an interesting flavor.
The temporary guardian looks at the pilot eating and smiles. "I've never seen anyone eat pancake with chopstick before. You need to get out more."
The young Ikari narrowed his eyes after hearing her. "Well, I'm sorry that I was raised in a home that didn't adapt to the western customs of the knife and fork."
Misato began to walk toward the refrigerator. "Let me get you something to put on those pancakes…."
It was then that Shinji remembered the story about mayonnaise and pancakes. He tries to talk her out of it. "It…it's ok. I like my pancakes plain."
Misato gave him a strange look. "Plain pancakes? You are sheltered." She then opens the refrigerator.
"Please, I really don't need anything." Said Shinji as he began to pile pancakes into his mouth.
Misato then pulled out some pancake syrup and turned towards the boy. She sweat dropped as she saw that he looked like a chipmunk. Shinji also sweat dropped when he realized that she wasn't pulling out mayonnaise. 'Maybe the rumor wasn't true…' Thought the boy.
After handing him the syrup, Shinji poured it on, and it made the pancakes much better, although they still had a strange taste to them. Misato then leaned forward. "So have you guessed what the secret ingredient is?"
The young man stopped eating for a moment. "What?"
"These are my special pancakes, complete with my secret ingredient. Can you guess what it is?" Asked the purple-haired woman.
Shinji shook his head. "I have no clue."
Misato put on a face of pure pride and joy. "It's mayonnaise."
Shinji suddenly stops in mid-bite. 'Oh no!!! The rumor wasn't wrong, it was misleading.' Shinji then gets the urge to stop eating. "I'm full."
The temporary guardian was disappointed. "What? You don't like mayonnaise?"
Deciding that upsetting her was not an option, Shinji decides to lie, just so he wouldn't have to explain as to why certain food products don't mix with others. "Yes…I don't like mayonnaise."
"Sorry, I should have asked." Said Misato. "And it really sucks because I actually cooked them without burning them today."
After throwing away what was left, the Brown-haired boy started heading towards the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower, Ok?"
"You don't have to ask, Shinji, unless you have plans for me in there." Mentioned the older woman in a joking manner.
Her joke did little to increase Shinji's comfort level. He was redder than a lobster. "I…I don't think that's necessary."
Misato popped open another beer. "You're no fun, but at least you're not a pervert. I think you'll do just fine here."
Shinji quickly took his shower. The warm water began to recharge his senses and give him new life. Combined with some of the food that he ate earlier, he almost felt like a new man. "I'm not sure why, but this is the best I've felt in a while. Maybe I'm getting used to living around here."
Shinji got dressed into some clean cloths and entered the living room. He was greeted by Miss Katsuragi and PenPen, both having beers in front of them. Shinji took a good look at the bird and sweat dropped. "Um…isn't it unhealthy for him to be drinking beer?"
"Are you kidding?" Asked Misato. "He could out drink me if he was my size. Besides, theoretically, drinking is unhealthy for anybody."
The young pilot gave a goofy grin. "I guess your right."
The two of them sat down to watch some television. The shows that Misato liked to watch were somewhat different from what his former guardian used to watch, but he found that most of the shows were tasteful enough. During a commercial, Misato remembered an important detail. "I almost forgot. You start school tomorrow morning."
Shinji continued watching TV nonchalantly as if he hadn't heard her. He then processed the information and realized what she said. "SCHOOL!!! I forgot all about that!"
"What's the big deal?" Asked the purple-haired female. "Its just school."
Her words did little to calm the young Ikari down. "I need to admit something to you."
"What's wrong?" questioned Misato with some concern.
Shinji had a look of complete shame and embarrassment. "I've never gone to a school before."
The Director of Operations was in shock. "What do you mean never? You've actually never gone to a class, not even kindergarten?"
He then made eye contact with Misato. "I've always been home schooled."
The older female began to think about how to make things easier for the boy. "Well, there was a time that I was out of school for a while, and I lost a lot of my social skills, I'm just trying to remember how I managed to regain them."
Shinji got up as if he felt like he was a burden. "It's no big deal. I'll learn to get along on my own."
Misato continued to think. It then suddenly hit her. "Oh I remember now. The secret to surviving school is………… to be yourself."
The boy paused after hearing that. The advice seemed ridiculous enough. "Um…thanks Misato."
"No prob. Just remember that advice and you'll be fine. I know how hard Jr. High can be."
Shinji decided to head towards his room for some alone time. "I guess the alcohol is getting to her. I don't think being myself would be enough to get me by school. Not from what I heard about it."
**
Adams was lying on his couch, bored as hell. Apparently, he had no intentions of working today. 'So I'm all alone… What the hell am I gonna do?'
After flipping through some more channels on his TV, an idea hit his head. 'I know, I'll go watch a movie. Not like there's anything else I want to do around here.'
Felix then walks up to his master to see if he could go along with him. The weapons developer shook his head. "You're still being punished for what you did last week to Buster. Besides, I don't think they allow lizards in movie theatres."
Felix sunk his and walked off with a face full of disappointment. Steven then grabbed the phone and dialed a number to find out what was showing.
**
A knock at the door had woken up Shinji. As he groggily opened his eyes and gave permission for the person to enter, the door slid open, revealing his guardian and new roommate.
"I'm sorry to wake you up, but I was wondering if you'd like to go out somewhere tonight. It's up to you."
After rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he came up with an answer. "Sure, what do you have in mind?"
"I was thinking about going to the movies." Answered Misato. "There's this movies that I want to watch. Besides, I hear that you've been sleeping way too much anyway."
The boy slowly rose from his bedroll while scratching his back. "I guess you have a point. I'll get ready."
"Good, the movie starts at Six o' Clock. That means we need to leave in ten minutes if we want to get any decent seats."
After that, Misato walked off, leaving Shinji in a sea of despair. 'Sleep is my only escape from this world. It seems like I can't even do that.'
It didn't take long for Shinji to get ready since he was already clothed. His older roommate was not as quick. Despite telling the young man to be ready in ten minutes, she easily took twenty, making him rush out the door like a bat out of hell. "Hurry, Shinji! The movie will start any minute."
Shinji didn't seem so worried. "Well, there should be at least fifteen minutes of trailers. We don't need to see them."
Misato shook her head. "I misread the clock before. The trailers have already started."
The younger boy became exasperated. 'So much for getting good seats….'
If the Director of Operations seemed rushed before, it was nothing in comparison to what her driving showed. Shinji was at the edge of his seat. "I forgot about how aggressively you drive."
Misato was in complete focus on the road. "Sorry, can't talk. Gotta drive!!"
After watching her duck and weave her way through traffic at breakneck speed, they arrived at their destination in record time. Shinji barely had time to remove his seatbelt before Miss Katsuragi yanked him out of his seat. They ran into the theatre in order to pay for their tickets when…they realized that there was a substantial line ahead of them.
"Well, I guess we're not making the six o' clock showing." Said Shinji. "What exactly is it that you want to watch?"
Misato took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "It was some movie about medieval times. You know, the kind that have action, suspense, romance, the whole nine-yards."
"Sounds nice. It's rare to see movies about that theme these days." Said the boy. "I hope the next showing won't be too late."
Misato nodded in agreement. "I know. We both have to get up early tomorrow."
Shinji sunk his head. "Did you have to remind me?"
"Relax. You don't have to worry all the time." Said the Captain.
'Easy for you to say…' Thought the pilot. 'You don't have to launch yourself head first at ugly monsters, deal with a neglectful father, and survive your first day of school.'
After about twenty minutes after arriving, the two of them finally reach the ticket booth. Misato walks up to the older lady, trying to hold back her waning patience. "Hi, Can you tell me what the next showing for 'The Last Horse Rider' will be?"
The lady slowly looked upon a list of times and, after looking over the list five times, finds the next show time. "The next show will be at eight o' clock."
"Eight o' Clock!!!" Screamed Misato. "I don't want to wait that long."
The lady continued. "Sorry, ma'am, but this movie is only being showed on one screen. You have to wait until the current movie is over."
The Director of Operations smacked herself in the face in exasperation, but relented. "We'll take two tickets…please…."
The lady took a look at Shinji. "Is your son under the age of twelve?"
Misato went silent as she stared at the lady. "What did you say?"
The ticket seller didn't catch on. "I asked you the age of your son?"
Shinji could feel the radiant heat coming from Misato. He realized that the lady had struck a chord in his roommate's nervous system.
"MY SON?!!!" Screamed Misato. "DOES HE LOOK LIKE MY SON? HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM?!!!"
The older woman looked between the hysterical woman and the teenage boy. "Isn't he a little young for you to be dating?"
At that point, the Director of operations and one of NERV's finest members was trying to yank her hair from her skull. She then began to beat her head against the glass before she finally gave in and attempted to clam down. "…He's fourteen…Two adult tickets, please…"
Now frightened, the ticket lady said nothing more as the exchange of yen and ticket were made. As the two of them walked towards the concession stand, an entire crowd of people stared at them, some wondering as to why a woman of her age would be dating a fourteen year old, others were jealous of the boy and his rotten luck, and others still, were contemplating calling the police for various reasons.
As the two of them reached the line, Misato looked through her supply of cash. Shinji gave a confused look. "Why are we getting our stuff at the concession stand, now? We've still got an hour and a half before the movie starts."
Misato looked up at the menu board and selected the appropriate item in her mind in which she could afford. "The large popcorn and large soda have free refills. I hate to tell you this, but it looks like we'll be having popcorn for dinner tonight."
Shinji shrugged his shoulders. 'I think I'd rather have popcorn than whatever she'd gonna cook up.'
"Is there any kind of soda you particularly like?" Asked Miss Katsuragi.
"Cola's fine." Replied the Brown-haired boy.
Misato then hands Shinji some money. "There's an arcade here, why don't you occupy some time by playing some games?"
Grabbing the money, Shinji seemed reluctant. "I don't know. I'm not really into video games."
The temporary guardian raised an eyebrow. "You don't like video games?"
Shinji shook his head. "I've never gotten into them. Plus the fact that I always lose."
"Well if you never play, you'll never get better." Said Misato as she turned him around and gave him a light push in the direction of the arcade.
As the young Ikari walked towards the arcade, he couldn't help but remember what had happened exactly one week ago. 'Why do I feel a déjà vu coming?'
Shinji then took the money and exchanged it for tokens. The arcade was much smaller and less advanced than the other one, but it made little difference to Shinji. He picked an old-fashioned game that had a space ship blasting other alien ships. Although the game never really ended, it really required great concentration. Concentration was not one of Shinji's greatest assets, though, and so he quickly lost interest. He then tried a shooting game the involved zombies. "I'm gonna have to learn how to shoot anyway, I guess." Thought the boy.
Nearby, a tall dark-haired boy and a smaller blond-haired with glasses were looking about all the games. The larger boy seemed reluctant to be there. "I really don't want to be here. I wish I could be by my sister's side."
The smaller boy patted his friend's shoulder. "Come on, Touji. You and I both know that the hospital won't allow it. Besides, you need to get out and have some fun. You haven't smiled in over a week."
Touji became a little irritated. "Listen Kensuke. I'll smile when I'm good and ready."
Kensuke sighed. "I'm just trying to help…"
It was then that the two of them spotted their favorite game, being occupied by Shinji.
"Hey!" Yelled Touji. "That little punk is playing my game."
"Well." Interrupted Kensuke. "It's technically not your game."
The dark-haired boy started marching toward the stranger. "I'll show him."
Kensuke became worried. 'Oh no. He's gonna clobber that kid.'
Shinji had just lost another life at the game, and he was thinking about giving the game a rest when the other boy walked up to him in an opposing manner. "Listen kid! I gonna give you till the count of three to put the gun down and walk away or I'm gonna kick your ass."
The pilot of Unit 01 was in no mood to start a fight, so he easily gave up the game. "Just take it. I don't care."
Apparently, the tone of Shinji's voice had offended Touji further. "Hey asshole, what's your problem?"
Shinji continued to walk away, but was soon stopped when a hand grabbed him by the shoulder. "Where do you think you're going? You think you're better than me?"
It was then that the young Ikari realized the seriousness of the situation. "N…no. I don't want any trouble."
Touji then grabs him by the collar and raises a fist. "Well, maybe I do."
Before the larger boy could throw the punch, his friend stopped him. "Calm down, man. Get a grip. It's not like he started anything."
Touji turned towards the dorky looking kid. "I need to let out some steam! So let go!"
"Listen!" Said Kensuke. "Our movie will start any minute now. If we cause trouble now, we'll have wasted our money."
It was then that Touji calmed down and let go of Shinji. "Fine!"
As Touji walked away, Kensuke walked up to the stranger. "Sorry about that. He can be a real jerk sometimes, especially since someone important to him got hurt during that strange attack over a week ago."
Shinji was surprised. "Oh, well I'm really sorry."
"Don't worry about it. See ya later." The four-eye boy walked away with his friend, leaving Shinji with some questions.
'I wonder if the person got hurt because of me….' Thought Shinji.
Shinji then took it upon himself to catch up with Misato, who was sitting at a table in the middle of the lobby. Misato gave a questioning look. "Are you out of tokens already?"
The young man shook his head. "I didn't spend all the money. I'm not interested in playing anymore." He then hands her the remainder of the money.
Misato tried to hide her relief. 'Good, I kinda needed that money to make it through the week.' She then lifts the bag of popcorn in Shinji's direction. "Wants some?"
Shinji shook his head. "Not right now…"
The two of them took it upon themselves to just sit there and watch the crowds around them. It wasn't particularly crowded in the theatre, despite the release of some of the biggest movies in years. Misato spoke up. "This theatre used to be jam packed with people, but I guess the attack on the city had caused some people to move out. The only time that it seems that any amount of people show up is when a big-hyped movie is about to start."
The young Ikari became concerned. "Do you think that I caused some of it?"
Misato shook her head. "Of course not. If there was no angel, you wouldn't have gone out."
"I know." Said the boy. "But I wonder if I had accidentally hurt anyone, or something like that."
The older woman put a hand on his hand. It made Shinji blush a little. Misato spoke. "It's not your fault if something like that did happen. It's nobodies fault when accidents happen, but some people want to believe that somebody should be at fault, but all that does is make things worse. In the end, you just need to let it go." Misato then narrows her eyes. "What brought this up anyway?"
"Nothing." Said Shinji.
The two of them continued to relax until it was a quarter to eight. They then took their seats in the theatre. Because they waited until the next showing, they were able to get good seats near the middle of the theatre. The crowd continued to move in, filling about half of the remaining seats. Shortly afterwards, the opening credits began.
Five rows back, Adams had just taken his seat. He seemed a little bummed out. 'I invited some of the guys at NERV to join me, they say yes, and they don't even show up. Because of them, I had to miss the first showing and am now watching the eight o' clock instead. And the worst part about it is that I'm alone. This movie better be worth it.'
As people settled down into the seats, Misato began to look around and then fumble through something in her purse. A cracking sound is then heard, grabbing Shinji's attention. He sees Misato pouring something into her drink. She then dumps the can under her seat. Shinji freaks out. "You can't do that!"
Misato covers his mouth and hushes him. "Quite. Everyone will hear you."
Shinji then removed her hand and whispered. "Is that beer? You know that stuff is illegal in a theatre."
Misato took a sip. "Relax. I do this all the time."
The young pilot gives up, deciding on the "She's not with me" option should the need arise. He sits back and watches the movie start.
The movie had started out well enough, containing a lot of action and suspense. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before he noticed that Misato was getting buzzed, and she began to talk during the movie.
"YEAH! KICK HIS ASS!!!"
Shinji could do little but try not to get embarrassed. The talking continued.
"That is so fake. I thought the special effects were supposed to be good."
Some of the people in the audience began to tell her to hush of be quite. Misato rudeness didn't end though.
"Just kiss the bastard already!!"
People were starting to throw stuff at her. She replied with some obscene gestures of her own. The movie was starting to get boring, though, and it was becoming obvious that the purple-haired woman was becoming the main attraction.
Steven had had enough of the woman's antics. He was actually trying to watch the movie, and he decided to make it obvious. "Listen, bitch! For the last hour you haven't shut your fucking mouth for one minute! If you don't cut it out, I'll see to it that I do!!"
The audience had pissed Misato. The whole evening had gone wrong, and now she had decided to take it out on the idiot who just said what he said. She got up and marched up towards the voice. Shinji followed suit in an attempt to stop her. "Listen Misato. You don't have to do this. Let's just go home."
Misato didn't stop as she marched right up to the man. In the dim light, they didn't recognize each other until they were face to face. At first they were shocked, but the expression of surprise soon faded into even greater anger. Misato spoke first. "It fucking figures that you were here. Why don't you go home and get a life you asshole?"
The American got into her face. "I've should have known it was you. Nobody has a bigger mouth than you. Why don't you take that mouth of yours and kiss my ass?"
The bickering between the two of them had taken precedence over the movie since the film had gotten boring. The audience was now focused on the man and woman, and the unsuspecting boy nearby. Some people became angered and were getting ready to leave; others were picking sides, wondering as to who would win in a fight. Shinji was starting to become pissed. The attention he was getting was unwanted, and the fighting between the two of them was getting old. He began to mumble to himself. "I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away. I mustn't run away." He then lost his temper.
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP?!! YOU'RE EMBARRASSING YOURSELVES AND ME!!! WHY DON'T YOU TWO JUST GROW UP?!!"
The whole theatre was silent. Misato and Steven had looked at the boy in bewilderment. It wasn't long before the entire audience was applauding Shinji, leaving him red in embarrassment. Misato began to calm down and decided to walk back to her seat. The rest of the room finally went back to normal, minus Misato's ranting and raving.
The movie had become even more boring and confusing after that event, especially since the movie wasn't nearly as exciting as what happened in reality was anyway. Misato had eventually fallen asleep, and Shinji was starting to follow suit. Many of the people in the theatre were leaving, grumbling about something to do with getting a refund. Nearing the end of the film, Shinji started to hear mumbling coming from his temporary guardian. It was the only thing that kept him awake. Most of it was inaudible, but one word he heard was clear enough for him to understand.
"…Kaji…."
The boy wasn't sure if he heard her right, so he leaned over her to listen again.
"…Kaji…come back…."
'Kaji?' Thought Shinji. 'Who the heck is that?'
The movie had just ended, with the lights in the room beginning to brighten. A crowd of people, including Adams, walked out in a hurry. Shinji was reluctant to wake Misato, but knowing that he couldn't leaver her behind, he began to shake her. She slowly awoke and rubbed her eyes. She looked to Shinji questioningly. "So what did I miss?"
Shinji shook his head. "Nothing. The movie was terrible. They just don't make them like they used to."
Misato nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you mean."
As the two of them walked out of the theatre, Shinji decided to let out a question he had. "Misato, I heard you talking in your sleep."
Before he could say more, Misato interrupted. "Did I? That's embarrassing."
The young Ikari continued. "Yeah well, I couldn't help but listen, and I heard you say someone's name."
The Director of Operations raised an eyebrow. "A name? Whose name?"
"That's what I was going to ask you." Said Shinji. "Who is Kaji?"
The purple-haired woman stopped in her tracks and blushed. She tried to hide her blush with anger. "Kaji? I didn't say that. Shinji, don't you EVER say that name in my presence ever again!!"
The boy sweat dropped. "Um….ok…."
The two of them made it to the car and took off toward home. As they were going, Shinji couldn't help but notice the fact that Misato seemed even more reckless in her driving. "Are you feeling alright? You're not driving all that well."
"I feel fine. I don't know what you're talking about." Responded Miss Katsuragi.
Shinji then smelt her breath, and remembered the beers she drank at the theatre. "You're drinking and driving!!!"
Misato smiled and waved a hand in front of her. "Relax. I'm just fine."
The words did little to comfort Shinji as he began to pray that she didn't crash and kill both of them.
His prayers were answered as they reached home in one piece. The two of them entered their house and decided to go to bed.
"It's getting late." Said Misato. "You better go to bed. We both have to wake up so you can go to school."
Shinji hung his head. "I don't know if I want to go."
Misato walked in front of Shinji and gave him a hug. "You'll be ok. Remember how you acted when you stopped that jerk and me when we were arguing? You showed just how strong you really were. If you rely on that strength, you'll be just fine at school."
After that, they let go and smiled. Her words had calmed Shinji a little. They both went to bed, leaving Shinji restless. The truth was the he was both afraid and excited. He had no idea as to what to expect, and it took him several hour before he finally fell asleep.
*** End Chapter 5 ***