Man Alone - Chapter 2 - For Richer or Poorer

Shinji Ikari was sitting at the dinner table in the kitchen diligently working out the accounting and budgeting sheets for their new endeavour. He paused momentarily to acknowledge Pen-Pen as he walked past by patting him on the head. He finished his work and looked at his watch. In five minutes the girls would be arriving so they can finish the rest of the paper work which required multiple signatures after receiving the necessary ones from their parents. He put his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together in a fashion very similar to his father. Made more obvious by the fact that Pen-Pen had climbed onto the Kitchen Counter was behind Shinji to the right, mimicking the sub-commander. Shinji smirked to himself. He left out a few details when it came to the paper work that he gave the girls, and he could only wish that he could see their faces after handing the documents over to their parents. He was going to get it for what he did, but in his mind it was totally worth it.

Shinji Ikari was a happy man.

Rei Ayanami had gotten off the train and was headed to the apartment block where Shinji and Pilot Sohryu Lived with Major Katsuragi, in the apartment block that would soon be her own home for the next month. Internally she felt conflicted; she did not know how to feel in this matter. At least she shouldn't have any feelings over the matter. It was a class assignment, and it required her full attention as Commander Ikari had instructed her. However the prosect of living with others was somewhat unsettling for reasons she could not comprehend. Then there was Shinji Ikari himself. The documents that were handed to her, and every other member of their group was divided by Shinji, into a small separate pile for their signatures, and another that would require their guardians signature. There were significantly less for their guardians, but they were apparently vital. The commander had signed them without much concern after being told the nature of their assignment and the manner it would be carried out. However, it is unlikely that the others in the group would have had such a simple time in doing so given the nature of those particular forms.

Shinji Ikari was a cunning man.

Hikari Horaki walked the well-known route towards the apartment block where Shinji and Asuka lived. She had been there many times before for different occasions, but this time her approach was somewhat subdued. How could he have done that? He must have known about it, it could not have been an accident. Her father nearly had a fit! Nozomi and Kodama began endless teasing after learning why, and her own mortification was through the roof! She was stunned for nearly a full minute before being able to explain very shakily that the documentation was for an assignment, which she needed to prove to her father. Who almost didn't until he read the task sheet a few times over. She understood why those forms were there, but he didn't even mention them! He couldn't have done it on purpose, could he?

Shinji Ikari was a mean man.

Mana Kirishima double checked the map she had as she continued onwards, the marked point with the address underneath, the home of Shinji Ikari, the same apartment block she would be moving into. Her guardians were shocked to say the least. Those forms were out of the blue, and they almost didn't believe her about the assignment. Of course, when she told them who her partners were they couldn't sign the forms fast enough. This made her feel guilty about the whole situation. She was to report on Shinji and his activities to the JSSDF, and learn as much as she could about Eva and NERV. However the thought of betraying the trust of such a sweet-hearted young man made her feel entirely uncomfortable. Of course the fact that he had failed to mention what those forms that her guardians had to sign were, and when she herself saw them she nearly died of embarrassment, it certainly showed he had a mean streak. Or was it playful? She didn't know nearly enough about him.

Shinji Ikari was a confusing man.

Asuka Langley Sohryu was placidly watching TV, sprawled on the couch, listening to Shinji type away at his laptops keyboard for their assignment. She was glad she didn't need to do much work, in fact, Shinji told her she was free to do as she liked until everyone else got there. Shinji was nice to her, she admitted quietly to herself. She made a small agreement with herself to try and return the favour when she could. As the question Mana asked her earlier, 'What did he do to deserve it?' was stuck in her mind. Someone rang the doorbell, and Asuka got up quickly to let Hikari in. To her surprise she found all three girls waiting to be let in, Hikari, Mana, and Rei. Hikari appeared to be a little flushed as she was let in and Mana was apprehensive as well, Rei of course, was as placid as ever. She led them to the kitchen where Shinji was sitting, his hands before him his fingers inter-laced. Asuka unconsciously shuddered a little at the creepy resemblance to commander Ikari, she was startled when Shinji handed her a small pile of forms.
"Could you get Misato to fill these out?" He asked.
Asuka nodded and left to get Misato from her room, who was currently napping. Some gentle prodding awoke the sleeping guardian who immediately groaned at the sight of more paper work "It's for our assignment." Asuka stated.
Misato took the forms and began to look over them signing them in turn before she read over one of them, and again, and then checked another form, and immediately began laughing her arse off. Asuka was confused and wrenched the Papers from Misatos' grasp to see what was so amusing. She read the forms and was floored, shocked and infuriated.
"WHAT?" She screamed.

Shinji Ikari was a dead man.

The girls had taken seats around the table, and eerie silence lay over them all. Hikari and Mana were wondering how best to approach Shinji with questions or demands, for his reasoning, of his actions. Rei herself was intently watching the Third Child as in his current position mirrored the Commander eerily, this was unsettling in a few ways, but also very intriguing. Mana and Hikari both opened their mouths to get some answers but they were cut off when he made a simple gesture with his finger to ask silence.
The silence was then broken by fits of laughter coming from Misatos' room, and a very loud," WHAT!" that was clearly Asukas' voice. Shinji laced his fingers once more and smirked from behind them.

Asuka emerged from Misato's room and hurled the papers at Shinji, which he caught calmly.
"What do you have to say for yourself Third Child!" Asuka demanded.
"It is all within the scope of my scenario." Shinji said calmly.

In the geo-front Gendo Ikari immediately felt a swell of pride for his son. He did not know why.

The response was so completely from left field that hurricane Asuka was stopped dead in her tracks. Mana and Hikari were impressed, and Rei was shocked at how much like his father Shinji could be. Shinji then laughed a little and used his opportunity to explain."Sorry for not telling you guys, but it was my little karmic balance, and a little more paid in advance."
"Karmic balance?" Mana asked, her voice laced with curiosity.
"Paid in Advance?" Rei asked; She was a little confused.
"Well, I had to call Misato, and she had it on speaker phone, needless to say she wasn't alone. Five others were there at the time." Shinji said simply, shifting his hands to behind his head and leaning back in his chair.
"Who?" Hikari asked.
"Ritsuko, Kaji, and our three favourite Bridge Bunnies. They found the situation... amusing..." Shinji said a tad bitterly.
"Kaji heard you?" Asuka demanded petulantly.
"He said I was being over-eager with four women." Shinji said with a slight blush on his face.
Mana and Hikari Blushed, Asukas' face turned a little red too, for different reasons.
"You better keep your mind out of the gutter Third!" She warned severely.
"Anyway, come Monday when we report what we've decided on and what we're doing, Touji and Kensuke are going to have a field day. Not to mention the other guys in class. So I needed to give myself a little to laugh at. Sorry if I got any of you into trouble."
"It was no trouble Shinji." Rei said with a small smile.
Hikaris' face was still a little flushed, "Kodama and Nozomi wouldn't let me hear the end of it. God, I'm glad I'll be moving out of there for a month to get away from it at least." Hikari said.
Mana laughed, her blush fading fast, "Yeah, it wasn't well met, but when I mentioned that-" she coughed as soon as she realised what she was about to say and changed quickly, "Uh... that is, when I told them it would get me an 'A' grade they were all for it."

Shinji nodded a little, "To make it up to you all, I'll help you move your stuff into the new apartment."
Hikari smiled, "Thanks Shinji. So, when do we move in"
Shinji held up the lease agreement, "Saturday, all Misato has to do is file this with the super intendant, and we can move right in. And it's a three bedroom place, like this, two girls to a room, and one for me."
Mana was a little surprised, "Today is Thursday, only two days to pack Shinji?"
He smiled weakly, "No point in wasting time. Misato will also help arrange some rental furniture to be put in. all that really needs to be moved in is some clothes, maybe a few other personal belongings. But like I said, I'll give you a hand."
Mana laughed a little, "No, its okay Shinji, most of my stuff is still packed, since I only got here not long ago."
Shinji smiled at her laughter and nodded.
Hikari smirked too, "Well you'll need that balance sooner than expected Shinji. If you're coming to my house to help my get my things my sisters are going to have a contest to see who can break you first. Not to mention my father."
Shinji cringed a little and nodded, "I guess I deserve it a little..."
Hikari laughed, "Don't be so serious all the time. I expect my husband to be light hearted Shinji-kun." With that she winked at him.
With that Shinji turned the most brilliant shade of red, but he still wore a smirk as Mana and Hikari laughed together.
Asuka felt a stab of... something, and she rolled her eyes at Hikari, "Well baka, don't think you're getting out of this easily, I should make you haul all of my stuff over. But my clothes and furniture should be enough, I like My mattress enough as it is and don't need another."
Shinji bowed his head a little, "Yes Asuka."
Rei then spoke up, "I would also be grateful for the help Shinji."
Shinji nodded and smiled at the blue haired girl, "Sure thing Rei."

He began to sort the papers in front of him and said, "Some of these forms need to be signed by everyone else here, so just pass them once to the right and sign where you need to and pass them on, once we're done, we'll go through each form to make sure nothing is missing."
He handed Asukas' pile to her and then passed the form to Mana who was next to him, Mana passed hers to Rei, who passed hers to Hikari, and then Hikari to Asuka, Asuka gave hers to Shinji. This continued onwards for the next few minutes each passing forms along until they each had their originals fully signed in front of them.
"Okay. Let's list them off." He took the first sheet from the pile, "Change of address form?"
All the girls nodded and placed it to the side.
"Next we have the bank account forms for changes of account details." Shinji stated, "And the forms for a Secondary account"
The girls nodded again but Rei posed a question, "Why are we in need of two accounts Shinji"
Shinji nodded, he was expecting this, "I've done a little research and planning, our monthly pay will be deposited into the primary account, the secondary account will store a certain allotment of our pay to cover the monthly budget, along with a little extra for free spending, in case there's anything we might want. At the end of each month whatever is unspent will be put into the primary account which is our nest egg, house fund, whatever we may need it for in the future."
"Well Third Child I'm impressed. You were actually doing work." Asuka said.
Shinji smiled a little, "Thanks Asuka, like I said, I've done something similar before, I aced it then, I'm not failing this time either. Now, next on our List is the Emancipation Forms, which free us from our guardians, and of course, the change of name forms, and finally..." He chuckled a little, "The marriage licence"
This earned him three frosty glares from Asuka, Hikari and Mana, and a small smile from Rei, who was finding the torment of the other three girls somewhat amusing. It was the final two forms that caused such trouble and Shinji didn't go to any trouble to hide his amusement, but he kept on regardless of the chill looks.
"And for Asuka, Rei and I, we have the forms regarding to NERV regarding change in address, status of guardianship, change of relationship, and adjustment to the deposit of our salary to our bank account."
Asuka groaned, "More paper work?"
"A fallacy of bureaucracy Pilot Sohryu." Rei said simply, and began to fill out her forms.
Asuka was on the verge of snapping, but said in a strained voice, "If I need to live with you Rei..." she said very deliberately, "Then call me by my first name or I'll think of a few more colourful things to call you"
Rei regarded Asuka with a disdainful look, "If that is what you wish. Asuka." she said very pointedly.
The glaring contest was on, and neither would back away, Shinji just shook his head and finished collating his forms.
Hikari and Mana looked at each other with a nod and then tuned their attention to one of the other two pilots.
Mana spoke to Rei, "So Rei, looks like you and I are sharing a room. Need to warn you, if you snore I will be tossing pillows at you all night."
Rei looked at Mana, "I am sure that I do not." She replied simply.
Hikari spoke to Asuka, "Yeah Asuka a room for the two of us, it'll be fun"
Asuka turned her attention to Hikari and the girls began to chatter excitedly giving Shinji a chance to collate everyone else's sheets, and pile them neatly for everyone.

After a few hours of general conversation it was time for everyone to leave, goodbyes were made Shinji made sure each of them had their copy of the report, and soon Shinji and Asuka were alone. Shinji took his pile of papers and took the lease agreement from them and handed it to Asuka, "Make sure you get these to Misato so she can file them tomorrow, I'm going to go put these away in a safe place." He said referring to his pile. With that Shinji left, Asuka shrugged and left the papers in her arms on the kitchen table, she wanted to watch TV again before she went to sleep.

In his room, Shinji placed one copy into the top shelf in his cupboard, and the others into his backpack. He decided to Listen to his S-DAT before bed, but as soon as he started to look he found the broken remains on his desk. He didn't really know how to repair it, and in truth he needed to find better music on there anyway. He took the broken device and put it into the trash. Feeling decidedly restless he decided he'd do something else that made him feel at peace, play the Cello.

Asuka turned the TV off and headed for her room, and paused a moment to listen to Shinji play his Cello. It had been a while since he played. The last time was when she offered to kiss him when she was bored.
'But that wasn't the only reason was it?' said a small voice in the back of her mind. Her face turned slightly pink as she remembered looking at Shinji that night and deciding he looked cute when he smiled. She dispatched the thought in her mind and kicked some dirt on it for good measure, then stormed off to her room. She threw herself onto her bed and brooded over her wandering thoughts. She listened to Shinji play a while Longer, she felt at peace and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Hikari had gotten home and changed into her long pyjamas and crawled into bed, she was exhausted. The train trips were always tiring and then there was the emotional exhaustion from the constant teasing from her sisters. Shinji was a nice guy, and the trick was funny. She enjoyed the look Asukas face when she stormed in, and very nearly failed to contain her laughterwhen Shinji managed to trump her like that by staying calm and in that really creepy superior pose he had. He could be quite wilful, but Asuka always seemed to do enough domineering for the both of them. She looked forward to getting to know a little more about the Shy young man.

Mana tossed in her bed a little, dressed in a plain t-shirt and pair of shorts for sleep, she felt entirely restless. Shinji was a good guy, Rei and Asuka had their points too, she considered them her friends, but with the more time she spent with them the more information she was expected to bring in about them. What choice did she have? The JSSDF put her there, they weren't only her guardians, but her employers, and she couldn't just quit for those reasons. For the time being she would continue to report that the pilots were reluctant to discuss the details of the Evangelion Series. She prayed it was enough, as she fell into a fitful sleep.

Rei Ayanami lay in her bed, the sheets covering her nude form. She spent the nights in thought, to process the information for the day. Shinji Ikari displayed many qualities of his father, and from what she had read from the personality profiles, much more of his mothers. She was conflicted, she felt strange things around Ikari, this afternoon especially when at his home, she felt amused at his small plot against the girls.She hadfelt... joy? When he smiled as he agreed to aid her in moving the meagre possessions from her apartment. These feelings confused her, and she felt apprehensive, and expectant as to where these events would lead. She closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

To Be Continued...

- Let me see what spring is like -
- On Jupiter or Mars -