Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1.
Chapter 21: Leviticus
When Misato finally managed to get home, she was worn out-- both from the ordeal with Kaworu and from another long shift at NERV. She had tried her best to hide her anger over the injustice and her own powerlessness of the situation, but she apparently hadn't done a good job-- practically everyone working had stopped her at some point and asked her if something was bothering her.
Well, hopefully these guys won't pry too much. I don't want to worry them just yet...
She unlocked the door to gaze upon what could possibly be the most unbelievable thing she would ever see in her life.
Shinji, Rei and Asuka were sitting together on the couch, watching TV. And more than that, Asuka didn't have her hands at Rei's throat, nor was she yelling at Shinji. The sound of the door shutting behind her alerted the children to their guardian's presence. They were about to greet her when Misato beat them to it.
"Okay...Who are you, and where's Asuka?" The redhead rolled her eyes indignantly at Misato's sad attempt at a joke.
"...And 'welcome back' to you too, Misato," she retorted darkly, one of her eyebrows arched. Rei looked at the other girl with a confused expression, having missed the joke, while Shinji ignored Asuka and looked over his shoulder at Misato.
"Hey, Misato, you're back awfully late."
"Hmph. Tell me about it. Actually, don't bother-- I already know." She smiled wryly as she threw her coat onto the floor (eliciting a groan from the obsessively clean Shinji) and headed straight to fridge for her necessary dosage of beer. Grabbing the nearest can, she popped the top and took a swig. She bellowed her trademark beer yell ("YEEHAWW!"), which made Shinji and Asuka sigh, but caused Rei to jump.
"...Well, I think it's officially time for bed," Asuka said, not wanting to be around a drunk Misato at 10:00 in the evening. She got up and headed to her room, waving goodnight to the other residents as she went. Shinji decided that he was thirsty, so he got up and headed for the kitchen.
"Do you want anything?" he asked Rei as he got up.
"...I would like a glass of water," she admitted. He nodded, then went to the fridge to grab a soda (quite a feat, considering the 5/1 beer-to-any other drink in the fridge ratio). As he turned around to grab Rei's glass, he noticed Misato sitting at the table, nursing her beer with a pensive look on her face.
That's the second time in two days I've seen her like that, he observed. Last time she was like that because of Rei...Is that what's still bothering her?
"Misato?" He tried to catch her attention, but she was focused entirely on what appeared to be a soaked-in coffee ring on the table's surface. Her brain eventually snapped back to the present, and she turned her head to Shinji, smiling.
"Hey, Shinji-- how'd you guys do today?"
"Oh, uh... not bad. Asuka actually tried to make friends with Rei."
Misato nearly spit out the whole of her drink into the boy's face at that comment. Only through sheer luck did she manage to contain her shock at all.
"Are you serious? This is OUR Asuka you're talking about, right?"
"Yeah, I was surprised too," Shinji agreed. "...But I guess she decided that, since she couldn't do anything about Rei being here, she'd just grit her teeth and bear it." Misato took another swig as she nodded significantly. She set the now finished beer can back on the table, letting it sit there.
"Hmm...Now THAT sounds more like Asuka," Misato chuckled. "...In that case, it'll just be a matter of time before she goes back to her old ways."
"...Oh, yeah..." To be honest, Shinji had found that Asuka's behavior towards Rei made her seem... well, somewhat tolerable. He didn't like the idea of being around her once she got tired of trying to be nice to his pale companion. "By the way... did you happen to find out anything about...the hospital thing?"
For a moment, Shinji thought he must have said something wrong-- the Major's smile and pleasant demeanor vanished, to be replaced by the worried look he had seen earlier.
"Oh... There wasn't anything on security, so... we have nothing to go on." Shinji stared at her in disbelief.
"Really? And you were there the whole night?" She shrugged her shoulders in response, then sighed as though she was trying to solve a difficult homework problem.
"...That's how these things go. Anyway, I'm glad that Asuka is making an attempt to be civil-- she must have been sicker than I thought."
Shinji smiled at his guardian's joke, then went to the sink to fill up the glass he had promised Rei. As the liquid sprayed from the tap, he thought about how quickly Misato had changed the subject, and got a sick feeling in his stomach. He ignored it and went back into the living room.
Later that night, Misato was staring at the ceiling from her futon. Whether it was her thoughts keeping her awake or simply being too worn out to sleep, she wasn't sure. But as long as she was suffering from insomnia anyway, she decided to try and put her fears to rest.
Just what IS the Fifth Child, anyway? Maybe I just imagined seeing him there...
She shook the thought out of her head.
No. I wasn't imagining anything-- he WAS there. But how did he manage to doctor the tape like that? Could that be why Section 2 was took so long to find him? Or maybe...
"...Or maybe I've been suspicious of the wrong kid," she uttered aloud into the darkness as an image of the First Child came to mind. After a while, she was finally able to nod off, but not quite soundly.
"Good morning, Rei."
The girl in question had just opened the door to Shinji's room and walked out to find him standing over the stove in the kitchen, turning around at the waist to smile at her. She merely smiled in return, but to the boy it was more than enough of a greeting. She walked in and stood near him. He didn't flinch when she moved close; he was gradually getting used to nonverbal, subtle displays of affection like this. Since Shinji still wasn't comfortable with the idea of holding hands, kissing and everything that seemed to go with a relationship, this worked just as well for him.
"...What are you making?" she asked as she looked over his shoulder.
"Oh, I thought I'd try this recipe for chocolate chip pancakes." He indicated a list of instructions that were sitting on the counter nearby. "I went to the store this morning and bought some more fruit, so we can make a salad out of that."
"...That would be nice," the pale girl affirmed. The truth was that since she'd been staying in this house, she had begun to find that eating could be a pleasant experience--she had lived on the bare minimum of nutrition for so long that she had never realized that there was such a variety of flavor and color available to her. But even that wasn't entirely the reason she looked forward to meals now, breakfast in particular.
"...Is there something I can do to help you, Shinji?"
"Oh, yeah...If you want to get some of the fruit cut up, that'd be good." She wordlessly moved over to the refrigerator, and finding a bag wedged in between a gap in Misato's beer wall, pulled it out, placed it on the counter, grabbed a knife and began to slice into a cantelope with great care and precision.
It was for moments like this that she now felt a strange spark, something that made her happy...actually happy... to greet the day. Somehow just being in this small kitchen with Shinji, idly preparing a meal, felt more real to her than anything she had ever felt in her life. She wasn't sure how to put this feeling into words properly though, so she simply remained quiet, the only sounds in the apartment being the hiss of batter on hot metal and the steady sound of a blade cutting smoothly through fruit.
A loud yawn shattered the children's temporary Eden, and both raised their heads as Asuka stumbled into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Shinji sighed before greeting their other roommate, whose presence he was almost ashamed to admit he had somehow forgotten all about at the moment.
"Morning, Asuka." The redhead's half-asleep expression quickly turned into a cold glare.
"What was THAT, Shinji? Do I detect a hint of resentment in that voice of yours?"
"Uh, sorry..." he uttered reflexively, before he could stop himself. Sure enough...
"GOD! You're ALWAYS apologizing! I swear, if I had a dime for every time I heard you say that, I'd be a freakin' millionaire!" As she continued to rant, she walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. "...At least you had the sense to use the good stuff today," she muttered as she drank the coffee black, ignoring the sugar on the counter nearby.
"...I did not find yesterday's coffee to be unpleasant," Rei uttered quietly, finally acknowledging her female companion.
"Hmph. Well, you obviously haven't been drinking coffee for as long as I have, Rei." The girl stuck her chest out, as though the fact was something to be in awe of. Shinji snickered and she defensively turned in his direction again, regarding the boy with a look of contempt. "...Just finish making breakfast, you idiot!" As Shinji turned his attention back to his skillet, Rei noticed a strange look on Asuka's face as she continued to look in his direction. She turned back to her task, but felt a strange sort of anxiety as she thought about the half-German girl's face when Shinji was looking the other way.