MARCH 22nd, 2015

COMBAT SIMULATION ROOM, NERV HQ

1:21pm:

Sprinting through the debris-riddled streets, Shinji could hear the crunching of what felt like gravel under his combat boots. The enemy was near, he knew that much. But exactly where they were was the real challenge he was currently facing. Holding his rifle tightly in his hands, he took a quick rest behind a fallen pillar of concrete, laying on his back so that his head wasn't exposed to any danger that was potentially around him.

As he unfolded a map he had carried on in his cargo pocket, he looked around at all the checkpoints that were written out for him.

'Funny, I thought I'd be more scared than I actually am.' He thought. 'I guess the fact that none of this is real helps calm me down, though...'

There was something slightly unsettling about how realistic this all felt to him. Shinji knew that in reality, he was safe. He was still in NERV HQ, standing on a high-tech treadmill that synced with his every movement, and was wearing a helmet that projected a virtual reality setting that he currently found himself in.

To him, it was like the most advanced video game he had ever seen.

'I know this is all supposed to be fake. But the sounds, the sensations, the smell, even physical touch... it's all so lifelike.'

*KRR-POOF*

Shinji was snapped back into the simulation once he heard the distant blast. He knew he had to get moving again. He carefully stood back up and began to run again

Outside the simulation, Ritsuko sat patiently observing Shinji's actions in the virtual reality onscreen as they were happening. She had set him up on a classic 'point A to point B' mission in a war-torn city setting. This was something he'd likely encounter during real missions, so she figured a good warmup would help him deal with it better. But the more he passed these missions, the tougher they had become. If they were to test his skills, they'd need to test them to the limit.

This was just his second day testing the abilities the memory implants were supposed to hive him, and all seemed to have worked perfectly so far.

'Let's hope he can do the same when in the real thing...' Thought Ritsuko.

Back inside the realistic simulation, Shinji slowed his running once more, having reached a point in his route that his map had warned was potentially an area of activity. He found himself heading below an underpass, greatly impeding the light that reached the ground. A paranoia creeped into his head as he looked all around, afraid of having a computer player pop up from behind a wall in a surprise attack.

"Where are you..." He quietly whispered to himself. "God damn it, where are-?"

*PNK*

Shinji turned to his left immediately, almost having unloaded his rounds onto whatever made that noise. But what he found out that noise to be was just a metallic door that had lightly hit a chunk of wall that blocked it. He guessed that the wind just blew the door open by chance, though he had a funny feeling Ritsuko was just testing his impulsiveness.

'Did she really have to go and do that?'

Then suddenly-

*RR-ATATATATA*

Shinji ducked at once, rolling behind the closest piece of cover he could find. Now he was absolutely sure Ritsuko was testing him.

*K-PEW* *PAP*

Chunks of rock flew towards his face as the bullets struck the ground. It was as if the pavement evaporated into fine dust, some of which was beginning to get into his eye. Shinji needed to find where exactly the enemy was firing from, and fast. But with how he had gotten distracted by the door, he didn't get to see any movement around him at all. He'd have to judge solely by where the sound was coming from.

"Shit shit shit-" He said in a panic, grabbing a smoke bomb in an attempt to provide himself a little more cover.

Shinji removed the pin from it and chucked it towards where he thought the enemy was firing from. There was distinct 'poof' noise he knew to be his smoke bomb and he waited a few seconds. Once a white cloud surrounded the area, he reared his head from behind his cover and tried to investigate the situation.

But what he now realized was that he had just made his situation even worse. Shinji couldn't see a thing through the smoke which was supposed to help him.

'Shit...'

When the simulated enemy had stopped firing at him, he saw a brief window of opportunity to make his escape and continue his trek over to the end of the map. But as soon as Shinji hopped back into action, he realized the only way to move was forward, which was exactly where the enemy likely was positioned in. As a result, he stalled for a second. Shinji was now very much vulnerable to the enemy.

Ritsuko noticed this as she watched him through her screen, knowing that he had just made a really bad move.

"Come on, Ikari." She said to herself. "You mess up like this in the real thing, you're done..."

Continuing to watch and study his actions in combat, Ritsuko saw Shinji fire rounds towards where he thought the enemy was in a panic. Unfortunately, it cleared up the smoke in front of him, and he finally ran off in a direction to try and make it out of there.

And then, predictably, he was shot down almost as quickly as he tried booking it.

"Damn it!" Shinji exclaimed from his chair, removing his helmet to come back to the real world.

"You know, Ikari, it wasn't all that bad. You made it about halfway through the map. Though I will be honest, that was your worst run yet. This kind of slip-up can be fatal in a real combat situation." Ritsuko said to him. "But it's a common rookie mistake. It's why we're running you through the simulator, after all. Don't worry about it too much."

Shinji nodded at her, but was still frustrated at how this run had turned out. He had been making good progress in the virtual reality setting in the past two days. But as the objectives grew more difficult, failures were becoming more common, much to his chagrin.

"That'll be all for today. Go get changed and head on over to your hospital room. We'll send a nurse over to hand you your belongings. You've already been discharged from the Medical Center."

'Oh yeah, that's happening today. I'm moving into my new 'home'...' He thought dreadfully. "Yes ma'am."

Shinji then made his way out of the simulation room, leaving Ritsuko to notice just how unenthusiastic his tone of voice was. She watched him as he closed the door behind him, and wondered exactly what was up, though again not out of true concern. She was a doctor, after all. And all Eva troops needed to be in a stable enough psychological condition to do their job out there on the field.

'He's never reacted to failing missions on the simulator before. I doubt that's a factor to his bad mood.'

And then she remembered that today was the day he was finally moving in to Tokyo-3. And as she had previously been told by Misato, he wanted to live alone. In the end, Shinji was not granted his wish, as the Commander had made the end decision to have Shinji supervised by a guardian.

'Ah, I guess he's just not very fond of living with others.' Ritsuko assumed. 'I'm sure I can see why that is...'

Based on what Misato had told her, Shinji was not very happy with this decision. So it made sense as to why he was a little gloomy when leaving to get his belongings from the nurse. Ritsuko didn't know exactly who Shinji would be living with, as that task was completely out of her hands. She definitely knew it wasn't Gendo of all people. But there was just a little curiosity as to who it would be running through her mind.

'Well let's hope you're in good hands, Shinji.' She thought.

MAIN LOBBY

1:44pm:

As opposed to the back entrance all NERV personnel and current Eva troops were required to enter for security reasons, the main lobby was usually a lot more full of people throughout the day. That one reason why Shinji was not so happy about having to walk through this section of HQ. Most of the crowd were either foreign associates of NERV visiting to discuss important matters, or high-ranking generals from the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Forces.

Everything down there was strictly professional business. And so Shinji had no real business down there.

The only reason he was even going through there was because he had been instructed to exit through the lobby over at the pick-up and drop-off zone, which is where his transport was said to be waiting for him. As such, Shinji had his earbuds block the sound of all the people around him. Soon enough, he opened the glass doors of the lobby, sporting that ever-so haunting NERV logo, and found his ride cheerfully waving at him from her blue car.

"Hellooo Shinji!"

Shinji was going to be living with Misato.

"H-Hello, Miss Misato..." He said while pausing his music, attempting a sympathetic smile.

"So how's everything? How'd your simulations go today?" She asked, kindly taking his briefcase from him to place it in the backseat of her car.

"Eh, not so good..." Shinji replied lowly.

"Oh, well that sucks to hear. But hey, it's just training, y'know? It isn't about winning or losing. So you don't have to worry about that for now, from what Dr. Akagi told me, you've actually been doing pretty well." She told him enthusiastically. "I'm sure you'll do fine in the real thing!"

Shinji nodded with a light grin, but more in an acknowledging manner.

"Thank you."

Misato could tell he wasn't much in the mood for talking, since she knew he was also not very excited about sharing a home with another. But she kept at it with her peppy attitude. She hoped that by doing so, he'd grow more used to socializing to a roommate and come through in the end.

'His aunt and uncle seemed so cold when saying goodbye to him, like they barely even thought of him as family. He's clearly never really been shown much care in his life.'

As they both entered her vehicle, she thought of possible ways to make him less miserable about his new living situation. Misato didn't know anything about Shinji at all; no interests, no hobbies he liked partaking in, nothing. But she figured a good way to get him settled was to treat him.

"You know, there's a couple of convenience stores on the way home. What do you say we buy a few things? A little snack, maybe a soda?" She asked.

Shinji could tell what this was all about. Misato was just trying to be nice to him, and figured it was probably because he made it too obvious that he wasn't all that thrilled about having to live with someone. By now he could tell that this was just the kind of person that Misato was. And although he wasn't really all that big on junk food, not even the occasional treat, he did find her gesture to be a kind one, just like in their Spinner ride to Tokyo-3 together.

'Hell, why not. Might as well.' He thought. "Um, yeah sure. That would be nice."

And with that, Misato gave him yet another one of her big smiles.

"Alriiight! I know just the place, they sell their stuff a lot cheaper there so I'm a sucker for that spot specifically." She excitedly said as she started her car. "What a way to start living somewhere new, huh? Party at my place!"

Shinji chuckled a little at that. She really just kept at it with this optimism, which in truth he found to be a little forced at times. But he knew she was just doing it because she seemed to actually be concerned about how he felt. Shinji hadn't quite gotten that same feeling from Dr. Akagi, the medical team, or really anyone else at NERV he had interacted with so far.

'And of course, not father. Never in a million years.'

But Misato was genuinely kind to him. And even though he still found this whole scenario of moving in with a person he barely met some days ago a little strange, he was beginning to see her as someone he could trust.

'Miss Misato is really weird at times, but at least she's nice.'

GEO FRONT

2:01pm:

With Misato on driving duty, Shinji was inevitably the one who was responsible for carrying their bag of purchases. He imagined it would have been a somewhat small plastic bag with a few goodies in them. But this being Misato, he wasn't at all surprised that what they got instead was a large paper bag with about a week's worth of snacks, alcoholic beverages and microwavable dinners.

'I guess I should've expected this after seeing her chow down on that giant load in the cafeteria.' Shinji thought to himself.

He only got himself a bag of chips and a soda. Getting more than that was overdoing it in his mind. Not for Misato, however. And though he found her love for the unhealthy types of food weird, he would be okay with it as long as there was actual food items of substance at home.

'Home...'

Shinji began to think about what that term even meant to him. What was home supposed to mean, exactly? Shelter? A place of comfort and safety? Looking back at his time with his aunt and uncle, he couldn't ever consider that a place he felt at home in, despite living there for most of his life. Maybe to him, his old room was home, despite the actual house it was in never feeling like a home in it of itself.

It was where he would never be perturbed by anyone from school or even his own guardians.

'My S-DAT makes me feel at home.' He thought.

Shinji then looked out his window, taking in the sights of the Geo Front's massive and futuristic neon skyscrapers. It was even more impressive up-close, almost intimidating, even. And though he was sure living in a place like this might've presented nights of pure amazement and joy to its tenants, he found it all a bit too much for his own taste.

He liked the smaller town of Yusuhara he lived in previously a lot more. It was a lot more calm, less populated, and most importantly-

'This isn't my home.'

-alone.

"Alright, we're coming up to the car elevator now." Misato told him.

Shinji turned his head back towards the front windshield to see what she was talking about. He saw a paying toll, where every driver that passed by would roll down their window and pay for the lift to the surface. Yet again, he was impressed with the amounts of technology they had in the Tokyo-3 and Geo Front region, and how they applied it to this civilization.

Misato payed up, and the toll gate rose upwards, allowing them to enter the vehicle into the elevator and stop inside.

The wait for the elevator took a few minutes since the ride to the surface was a shared one. All types of cars stopped in the lift with them, and Shinji took a look at each driver and passenger just to see what kind of people lived in this part of Japan.

The gates shut behind them and the car elevator started rising upwards. For a few minutes, Shinji could still see the Geo Front's skyline from the car's rear window. But as they reached the top of the massive cave, they eventually entered a tunnel. It was only lit by red and yellow hazard lights, and the interior was surrounded by industrial-looking pipes full or rust. It was already much different from the sophistication the Geo Front presented.

"These tunnels look so grimy." Shinji said to Misato.

"Ha,-" She let out. "-just wait 'till you see Tokyo-3 itself."

Shinji was a little put off by her statement, and was now aware to not expect anything pretty from the surface city. He had already been told about the never-ending rain the city faced, and he did briefly see the silhouette of the city's skyline. But he had never gotten an up-close look at it. Now he was about to see the real thing, and already he knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

The entire elevator ride lasted something like 10 minutes. After all that waiting and anticipation, Shinji could finally feel the lift slowing itself down as they approached another large gate. The platform jolted a bit as it came to a full stop, and finally the gates rose slowly. Misato drove forward at a slow pace before turning onto the street, finally revealing to Shinji exactly what his new home looked like.

"My god..."

These were the darkest shade of gray he'd ever seen for a sky. The street they were going down rode right along Lake Ashi, of which Shinji couldn't even see the other side of because the rain was so heavy.

Most of the surrounding mountains had long since been blasted and paved over, populated now by numerous towering structures and cranes handling construction.

Unlike the Geo Front's fantastic buildings, Tokyo-3's buildings had no flashy neon lights and large screens displaying advertisements, although some were lined with what looked like neon lights. Though they were only installed for visibility, even in the day. The streets were filthy and mostly empty. It was why most roads in the city spanned many more lanes than one normally would, to accommodate for those who drove in their cars to avoid soaking in the rain.

"This is Tokyo-3?" Shinji asked Misato in utter shock.

"Yup. It might be the most important city in modern-day Japan, but it certainly isn't the prettiest." She replied.

"I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be all that great. But I wasn't expecting... this." He said.

"Trust me when I say that no one does."

Shinji looked back out the window, now beginning to dearly miss his old place in sunny Yusuhara. Tokyo-3 was the complete opposite of his previous home in his eyes. Where as the sun always blasted him back in Yusuhara, even though it could be unbearable, it at least wasn't a 24-hour gloom like this city was. As they continued their drive to Misato's place, he watched the raindrops roll down his window.

'I sure hope Miss Misato's home isn't all that bad...'

MISATO'S APARTMENT COMPLEX, TOKYO-3

2:43pm:

At last, they arrived at the parking garage of Misato's place as she parked her car in the spot that was numbered the same as her apartment unit. Both her and Shinji left the vehicle as they made their way out of the gasoline-scented space and towards a gated door that lead to an open air space located in the middle of the complex.

Before leaving the garage itself, Shinji looked towards the main gates once more. The light that shone through was all-white, and he could hear the sound of rain and a stream of water hitting the floor, likely coming from a gutter.

'I guess this is just my life, now.'

Just as they both passed through the gated door, Shinji saw an elevator to the left and stairs to the right. He turned for the elevator without much thought before Misato told him to stop.

"Hate to break it to you, but it's out of order. Been like that for a while." She said.

Shinji sighed, but followed Misato up the stairs. He didn't think it would be all that bad at first. But what Misato didn't tell him was that her apartment was on the 15th floor, which he would've very much appreciated before walking for what felt like an eternity in his head.

And it didn't help that he was still in charge of carrying all the groceries.

When they finally made it to her level, they walked down an open-air corridor until they hit Misato's door, which was marked with 'M. Katsuragi'. She inserted her card key into the smartlock and her door slid open automatically. This was just another one of those incredibly modern things Shinji had never seen in person before, but by now he was started to get used to such sights.

Misato entered without a problem, but stopped once she noticed Shinji was a little hesitant to come in. He carried an unsure expression on his face that she immediately sought to help out with.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Shinji. This is your home now." She told him with another one of her kind smiles.

Shinji forced a grin, finally stepping into the apartment.

"I'm home."

"Welcome home!" She said back as the door slid closed behind them.

Misato went on to flick the apartment's lights on, finally revealing to Shinji exactly what his new living conditions would be. Up until now, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. If it was a little messy, he wouldn't really have minded. And if it was clean, he would've been more at ease.

But nothing could've prepared him for the absolute chaos that was Misato's living room.

"Um..."

Trash was everywhere. Dirty dishes remained on the table and kitchen sink. Beer cans littered, even piled up on top of one another just about everywhere in the living room. Bottles upon bottles of saké, some opened and others empty. And unorganized paperwork sprawled all over the counter.

"Sorry if it's a little messy! I wasn't expecting anyone else to come over anytime soon..." Misato said, as if completely oblivious to the absolute mess she was surrounded by.

Shinji was truly terrified.

"That's the kitchen, the TV is there if you wanna watch whatever, and that hallway takes you to the bathroom. I'll show you your room in just a little bit, okay?"

Shinji nodded, trying to hide his bewilderment as best he could.

'Is she... not even slightly embarrassed living in this pig stye? This is insane!'

"Oh, some of the items I bought are meant to be kept cool. Can you throw those in the fridge?" She asked. "I'm gonna fix us some dinner in the meanwhile."

"Okay..." He said.

He walked over to the kitchen and opened the fridge to place whatever it was he found in the bag that needed to be cooled. But once he looked inside, Shinji found yet another reason to be shocked by Misato's strange ways. The fridge's interior was packed with nothing but beer and a single pitcher of water. Not only was this a repulsive sight, but there was no way he could fit whatever it is she wanted him to inside.

'There no way anything else will fit... it's full of beer!' He thought. 'Just what kind of life is this woman living?'

Misato, of course, saw no problem with any of this at all. She was busy preparing what looked to be their dinner for the night. Shinji was now concerned as to what she might even be feeding him, since it looked like she wasn't even actually cooking any of it herself.

He decided to try and not think about it, though, and looked for another possible location to store the items.

'Perhaps she's just one of those people that keeps their drinks in a separate fridge... even if it's this much overkill.'

The kitchen proved to be of no use, but upon another glance around the hectic living room, he found what appeared to be an even bigger fridge. Shinji walked to it in hopes of finding food items of actual substance in there. But he noticed that the door, and even shape itself of the fridge was a little off.

"What's in this big fridge?" He asked Misato.

"Oh, better leave that one alone." She replied. "He might still be sleeping."

Shinji was already in the process of opening the little door just as she answered, which only served to throw him off even more once he saw exactly what was in there.

"Waaark!" A strange-looking bird squawked at him.

"Gaah!" He let out as he quickly backed off and dropped the bag he'd been carrying.

Said bird then ran in a stubby fashion over to the bathroom. The little thing even seemed to know how to open doors properly, and Shinji could hear the bath water start to run just a few short seconds later. He looked over at Misato with a puzzled look as she giggled at the boy's utter confusion.

"W-What was that?" He asked, pointing to the bathroom.

"Ain't he cute? He's this special breed of penguin called a 'hot springs penguin'. His name is 'Pen-Pen'. You should say hello!"

Shinji, still in complete disbelief that this woman had an actual penguin as a pet in her own home, walked on over to the bathroom to take a second look at the thing. He found the strange bird lounging in the warm bath water with a folded towel on its head, much like a human would do in a spa. Pen-Pen's eyes were blissfully closed as steam completely fogged the bathroom up.

This was really happening.

"Hello, Pen-Pen..." Shinji said a little weakly, feeling like he was going through some kind of absurdity overload.

He walked back over to the living room, where Misato had taken to putting the dropped bag's contents away herself. Shinji wondered how she'd been able to make space in the refrigerator to place more items inside it. But at the counter beside her, he saw that she had simply removed three cans of beer from it, one of them having already been opened.

'This... is where I'm going to be living now.' He thought defeatedly. 'This is my life now...'

Misato closed the fridge door and went to sit back down at the dinner table. Just as she did, she noticed Shinji standing in front of her with the most wide-eyed look on his face.

"Hey, is something wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost or something!" She said to him worriedly.

Shinji just looked back at her in complete shock.

"You city people are so weird..."

His comment got a good giggle out of her as he went to take a seat himself. Misato passed his food tray over to him, which was when he finally got a look at what she considered a good 'dinner'. Both would chow down on microwavable pre-made chicken curry and rice that night. And by the looks of it, it wasn't even all that good.

'TV dinners... great.'

Shinji looked up at Misato, who was busy downing about half a can of beer in one go. Once she set the can down to feel the buzz settle in, she saw him looking over at her, and she gave him another one of her kind smiles. He grinned back once again, but wasn't exactly sure what to think of her anymore.

Misato was a nice woman, but she was all kinds of unusual to him.

"Welcome home, roomie!" She said as she held her beer can up in a 'cheers' motion.

8:47pm:

Shinji's first night over at Misato's couldn't have been more of a strange one. The prospect of moving in with a total stranger was already very much out of his comfort zone, but he never expected what this apartment had in store for him. He felt like he was in one of those exaggerated college dorms he'd see every now and then in a cheesy teen comedy. But this was all very much real.

Misato had already introduced him to his room, which was just opposite the side of where the bathroom door was on the tiny corridor that lead to Misato's own room.

He decided he'd go to bed a little earlier than he usually would since he needed to wake up early to head back to NERV HQ for more of those simulations just the next day. Shinji had already switched to his pajamas and brushed his teeth. He was ready for a good night's rest with his S-DAT playing his music to him as his mind drifted into the comfortable state of unconsciousness.

But something still lingered in the back of his mind. Sure, he found today's events to be a little silly at best. But he was still in a very unfamiliar territory. It was almost scary to him.

Walking on over to the window, he pulled the blinds back just a little and looked at the city of Tokyo-3 again. The rain had weakened significantly by now, so he could get a clearer look of the city skyline and Lake Ashi. It all looked so bleak, like a rich painting devoid of color, emptied at its core.

Shinji then threw himself at his new bed. He stared at the ceiling as his thoughts drifted back to his troubles once more.

Over at the living room, Misato gulped a second glass of water in a row. Although she was an avid drinker of alcohol, even she knew her body had certain limits. After a good day of buzzing for hours at home, she'd always make sure to re-hydrate as best she could before hitting the hay.

She poured the remainder of the water from the pitcher and promptly refilled it. Misato took this last glass of water with her to her room, a practice she'd done since her college days after many wild nights out partying with her peers. All the lights, with the exception of the one in her room, had been turned off and Pen-Pen was already asleep.

Placing the glass on her nighstand and sitting on her bed's cozy mattress, she thought about her new roommate.

'He isn't very happy about this at all.' She mused. 'Maybe I overdid the whole 'welcome' scenario... he doesn't seem to be the social type, anyways.'

Misato wasn't blind to the obvious facts. Shinji was having a hard time adjusting to his new home. Not only because it was still a very foreign environment to him, but because he had to deal with a person. She knew it wasn't personal. The boy just seemed to gravitate towards isolation a lot. And with his upcoming first combat situation, she knew that being alone would only send him down a bad mental path.

'I suppose I should say something to him before he goes to bed.'

She left her bed and approached Shinji's bedroom, unsure if he was already nodding off or not. Either way, she gave a light knock on the slide door to at least give him a little warning.

"Hey, Shinji? You up?" She asked as she opened the door.

He didn't respond.

"Look, I know that everything about this is probably overwhelming you right now. That's perfectly understandable. Just remember, this is your home now. I can't stress that enough. If you ever feel the need to talk about anything, whatever it may be, I'm here."

He still said nothing. Misato thought that he probably had already fallen asleep, but felt the need to tell him this anyway.

"Just wanted to let you know. Have a good night, Shinji." She said, sliding the door shut.

Shinji had in fact heard everything she said, though. He was just facing away so she wouldn't see his face and notice that he was actually awake the entire time she talked to him. It seemed that step-by-step, Misato was trying to get him to open his heart just a little more. The mere thought of getting close to someone was terrifying him. And he wasn't sure he wanted to go that route with her.

Or anyone else.

'Why couldn't I just have a place of my own?' He thought as he placed his earbuds in. 'All I want... is to be left alone.'