Differences
By Kale
Proofreading by The Master Chief
Chapter 03
Misato's habitual morning beer yell yanked Shinji cruelly from his sleep. Some things never change, he thought with a smile. Not wanting to get up quite yet, he lay there and stared up at the ceiling. The ceiling is all that's familiar to me here. There is way too much stuff in this room. He took another survey of the room, still in disbelief of how many things 'he' possessed.
Turning his attention to the sounds outside the room, he caught Misato and Asuka's voices. He couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but caught a couple of words – Though certainly not enough to make out the topic of conversation. After a while, Shinji managed to hear Asuka and Misato say their goodbyes before the former went off to school. He then returned to silent contemplation. I can't stay in bed all day, Shinji thought, Misato said she wanted to talk to me today. Shinji threw his blanket aside and got up, then walked over to his closest. He opened the door, once again finding clothes in his closet that he wasn't used to seeing, and grabbed his school uniform, feeling more comfortable with his regular white dress shirt and black pants than in anything else that he saw.
Shinji quickly got dressed, and then exited his room, sliding the door shut once again behind him as he made his way to the living room area. I guess it's time to find out what Misato wanted to talk to me about. He couldn't imagine anything good could come out of it.
Misato sat the table eating her "traditional" Japanese breakfast, shoving her food down her throat and taking deep swigs of her beer to wash it all down. Putting her beer can down, she saw Shinji standing in front of her and the table.
"Good morning Shinji," she said cheerfully.
"Good morning Misato," Shinji replied in a soft, hesitant voice.
Misato made a motion for Shinji to sit down. "I made breakfast, but it may a little cold since you decided to sleep so late," she said with a wink.
"Thanks Misato," Shinji said as he pulled a chair out so he could sit down, "but I'm not really hungry." He then sat down in the chair, directly across from Misato at the table. "You said you wanted to talk to me about something, Misato?"
Misato took one last swig of her morning beer before setting it down on the table and looking at Shinji, her eyes betraying the serious nature of what was on her mind. "The first thing I want to talk to you about is about your going back to school. I'll need to check with the commander before you can do that."
Shinji blinked in confusion for a moment and then responded. "Why would you have to check with the commander?"
Misato couldn't help but notice how resentful her charge seemed, but continued anyway, her voice slightly hesitant. "Most of the school attended your funeral, Shinji. She might have concerns about you going back, all that considering."
"I suppose that would be a good reason to check with the commander" Shinji answered, looking more than slightly confused by Misato's words. What does she mean she will have to check with "her"? Shinji sighed softly, wondering what, if anything, had happened to his father, but not really able to bring it up.
"But that's not the only reason why I wanted to talk to you today," Misato continued. "I want to ask you some questions if it's ok with you."
Questions? About what? Shinji thought before shrugging. "Ok, go ahead."
Misato cleared her throat. "Do you remember how you met Asuka?"
"Of course, how could I forget? We picked her up on Over The Rainbow." Shinji blushed softly at the memory. To this day, he wondered what was worse; Asuka's attitude or the joking remarks his friends made about him in her plug suit.
Misato opened her mouth to reply when the phone rang. She pushed her chair back from the table and stood up. "I'll be right back."
Shinji nodded, "alright".
She then walked out of sight behind a door. Shinji listened closely as Misato spoke on the phone.
"Hello, Katsuragi residence."
Silence for a few moments. Not long, but as anxious as Shinji was, it seemed like an eternity.
"Alright, I'll be down in a few minutes." After that, she walked back over to the table, looking somewhat disappointed.
"I was just called into work, so we have to talk later. I'll let you know later tonight if the commander says it's all right for you to go back to school. So now if you will excuse me, I need to get ready for work."
"Ok Misato, have a good day at work." After Misato left the dinning room to go change, Shinji stood up and made his way over to the couch. He flipped on the TV to see what was on early in the morning, looking more for anything to distract him than anything else.
Asuka, dressed in a girls' sailor-style school uniform, was making way across the schoolyard when she heard a familiar voice cry out for her to wait up. Asuka turned and waited for her best friend, as Hikari ran towards Asuka. Hikari slowed down to a stop, right next to Asuka, then bent over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. After a few moments, she straightened up and turned to face Asuka. "So how are you today Asuka?"
Asuka smiled slightly. "Better than I've been in a long time," she chirped.
Hikari noticed a hint of sadness in Asuka's eyes, but also saw that she wore a small smile and that she wasn't dressed in the boys' school uniform like she had been doing ever since Shinji died. She smiled, "That's great. Can I ask why?"
Asuka was beside herself. As much as she wanted to tell her best friend that Shinji was alive, she didn't know if she would believe her. "I can't say right now."
Hikari put on a mock-disappointed face. "Aw come on. You can tell me. I'm your best friend! If you can't tell me then who can you tell?"
Asuka looked around, aware of the students in the schoolyard. "I can't say with so many people around. I'll tell you more after school when we are alone."
Hikari jokingly pouted for a minute. "Oh fine! Be that way then." She adopted a tone more fitting to her status as class representative. "We had better be going. I don't want to be late for class. It wouldn't be good for the class representative to be late to class, after all."
Asuka nodded, "alright." The two then made their way towards the school.
Deep in the bowels of the Geo-front, Misato entered the commander's office and walked up to the desk. "Major Katsuragi, reporting as ordered," Misato said as she saluted the commander, then brought her arms down against her sides. She stood before a large, polished oak desk with the chair turned away from her. With only the desk and some electronic equipment, the room seemed somewhat bare, but Misato had gotten used to it, having come here many a time.
"Give your report," The commander ordered.
Misato gulped hard, dreading this very moment. May as well get it over with, Misato thought as she cleared her throat. "Soon after the Evas got into position to commence the operation to defeat the 12th Angel, the ground began to shake violently. Shortly after, the angel's body began to rip open, and a deafening roar filled the air. One gigantic purple hand forced it's way out of the tear, then another, and slowly they began to force the opening wider and wider until the Angel finally exploded, covering anything in the immediate vicinity with blood. Something that looked like Unit 01 emerged from the bloody body. I can tell you for sure it wasn't ours."
The commander turned around to face Misato, her eyes cool and focused. "How can you be so sure?"
Misato nodded, "I had Hyuuga check the status of Unit 01 and he confirmed it to be still in its cage."
The commander turned back away, staring off into nowhere. "Interesting," she breathed. "Was there anyone piloting this Unit 01?"
"Yes."
The commander paused a moment before speaking again. "Do you know who the person is?"
Growing increasingly uncomfortable, Misato responded. "It appears to be Shinji Ikari, commander."
"I'm glad we know who the pilot is…" The commander said. She shook her head, and then paused for a brief second, "I think I may have misheard you. Please repeat what you just said."
"The pilot was Shinji Ikari," Misato repeated, shuffling in place uneasily. "Dr. Akagi checked his DNA to be sure, and it's an exact match."
The commander stood up quickly and faced Misato, her eyes looming down on hers imposingly. "Where is this 'Shinji Ikari' right now?"
"Back in my apartment, but why--" Misato was suddenly cut off as the commander raised her hand.
"Take me to your apartment, I wish to see him for myself."
Misato saluted, "Yes commander, follow me please."
With that said, Misato led Commander Yui Ikari out of the office. A million thoughts were running through her mind at the moment. She thought back to Shinji's resentful voice before. Would he react poorly to seeing her now? They were so close… Misato recalled. I really don't want to see Shinji or Commander Ikari hurt… Misato sighed, trying to think of a positive outcome as she led the commander through the halls of Nerv to the parking area.
The day seemed like it would never be over for Asuka as she listened to the teacher go into his daily rambling about 3rd Impact. It seemed as though an eternity had passed before the bell finally rang, signaling everyone in the class to file out, including the teacher. Soon, only Asuka and Hikari remained in the room, sitting next to each other. Hikari packed her bag and looked over at Asuka, who was doing the same, then tapped her friend's right shoulder. "So what's the big secret Asuka?"
Asuka glanced around the room to make sure no one was in hearing range. Then in a whispered voice she said to Hikari, "Shinji's alive."
Hikari gasped, "No… He can't be…"
Asuka nodded, "I didn't think it was possible, but I saw him with my own two eyes. I touched him with my own two hands…" Asuka began breathing heavy, biting her lower lip, that single touch making her heart race as she remembered it.
Hikari looked at Asuka with a worried gaze. "Are you sure you're ok? I mean we both saw him in the casket at the viewing. We saw him buried… I don't think I'll ever forget how hard you took it, how much you cried..."
At the mention of Shinji's death, Asuka eyes welled up with tears a little. She then narrowed her eyes, her face hardening into a look of determination. I'm not going to cry again… She thought. Aloud, she said, "Fine, if you don't believe me, then you leave me no choice. Come with me, we're going to my apartment and I'll show you."
Asuka just grabbed Hikari's right wrist and almost dragged her out of the classroom, ignoring the class rep's protests. Just you wait, Hikari… Asuka thought, looking ahead. You'll see…
Authors note: I apologize to my readers for not updating sooner. I plan on writing more and trying to update sooner than I have been. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
A message from the proofreader.
I'd like to make an apology to Kale, the author. I had put this off for way too long for way too many subpar reasons. I did him a massive disservice, and for that, I'm sorry. I don't know if he'll have me, but I really do want to continue to proofread this series, and I promise that I'll be faster about it if given the chance. Again, I apologize, and hope to continue my work.
The Master Chief.
