MARCH 25th, 2015

MISATO'S APARTMENT

8:00am:

*BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP*

Shinji opened his eyes only to find a ceiling above him he was still not used to. It had been three days since he moved in, but he still wasn't feeling all that comfortable there. This was Misato's home, a home he couldn't quite call his own just yet. One he wasn't sure he'd ever see himself calling a home.

'Another new ceiling to wake up under...'

He sat up and shut off the alarm clock Misato lent to him, lifting the bed sheets as he groggily stood up.

The layout of the place was simple enough that he could navigate the place just fine. But even then, nothing about the apartment felt welcoming to him. Shinji knew that Misato was trying her best to have him feel comfortable in her home, but he just wasn't having it. It wasn't just the mess that took over the entirety of the living room and all three bedrooms the apartment unit had, he just didn't feel like he belonged there.

Shinji looked around the room again, feeling quite displeased with the mess Misato didn't bother cleaning up before letting him sleep there.

'Seems she lacks any sense of self-awareness.' He thought. 'This stuff isn't getting cleaned up anytime soon.'

Then he looked towards the window. Although the filtered sunlight was still coming in as a depressing shade of white, he noticed that it looked at least somewhat brighter than the day prior. He walked towards it and peeked between the blinds, finding that it wasn't currently raining. Shinji was finally able to see the other side of Lake Ashi. Even the skyline of Tokyo-3's 1st District was finally visible in the distance.

It was a very bleak image.

'What a shithole.'

Shinji finally decided that he'd start his day off, unsure if Misato was even up at this hour. Though with her position at NERV, he figured she'd be responsible enough to be the early bird to catch the worm. So when he headed to the living room to find it completely vacant, his assumption was proven wrong on his first morning waking up there, but he was in no way surprised.

'And she promised to drive me to HQ today...'

He headed back into the corridor and towards Misato's bedroom door. Not to invade on her privacy, he gave it a gentle knock to see if she'd be able to get up herself as not to be rude to her. But there was no response. He gave the door a knock a few more times, which still garnered no response from Misato. Unsurprisingly, Shinji would have to actually enter her room to wake her up himself.

He slid her door open and found that her room was just as much of a mess as the living room was. Misato herself was sprawled all over her bed, mouth wide open, with a little bit of drool on her pillow. Shinji found the image very unflattering as he shook her by the shoulder.

"Huuuh? Whuzzat?" She said as she opened her eyes in a squint.

An empty beer can rolled from her bed onto the floor, which Shinji picked up to shake and see for himself if she was really that much of a mess.

"It's 8:09am, Miss Misato." He said in a stern voice.

"Mmmmm..." Misato let out in a whiny tone. "Jus' lemme get a lil' more rest, I'm so tiiired."

"But you said you'd give me a ride to HQ this morning!"

She groaned once more.

"Oooh yeah. Sorry 'bout that, Shinji."

"It's fine. I'll just... see what there is to make for breakfast while you get cleaned up." He said.

"Thaaaaanks." She replied tiredly.

Shinji then walked back to the living room and turned on the lights. Although he offered to prepare her breakfast just to give her some incentive to actually get up on time, he wasn't even sure there was anything for the two to eat. Her fridge had almost nothing but beer, and he was just about tired of having microwavable TV dinners for breakfast.

He snooped around some more and eventually found that she at least had some waffles he could heat up in a toaster for the both of them. It wasn't his idea of a sufficient breakfast, but it would do for now.

Misato had just started showering, so he decided to eat his waffles first and make hers afterwards so that it wasn't cold by the time she got out.

Before inserting them in the toaster, Shinji felt the need to check on the package's expiration date just in case Misato had forgotten about it and had it lying around for too long. He looked on all sides of the packaging and eventually found it, seeing that they were just three days away from the printed date.

'Seems she did forget about it. Good thing I found it before it went bad.'

After heating his waffles up, he found some maple syrup and ate it rather quickly. It had been a few days since he ate something that tasted good. And for Shinji, eating something like this was never the norm.

He then heard the shower head turn off, and he went to prepare Misato's batch in time for her to arrive to it fully prepared.

As Shinji waited for the toaster to go off, he heard the sound of fleshy slaps running towards him, by now having already recognized that Pen Pen was making his way to the kitchen. The warm-water penguin opened the main fridge and grabbed some raw fish located on the bottom drawer. Before turning around to take it to his own bowl, he stood still and just stared at Shinji, who found the short interaction between them a little awkward.

'I'll never get used to this weird bird...' He thought, wondering what was going through Pen Pen's mind as his unreadable face just stared him down.

The penguin eventually just walked away, placing his fish into his bowl just like a human would, despite being a wild animal and not needing to do so. Shinji did find that to be a little odd in a funny way as he placed Misato's breakfast on the dinner table.

'Guess he's just used to seeing the way Misato eats and does it himself.'

"Ooooo, what's that smell?" Misato asked.

"Oh, I made us some wa-"

Shinji was suddenly struck by the image of a wet-haired Misato in skimpy denim shorts and a tight top, having never seen her be so revealing as of yet. She had been careful not to be her usual carefree self when it came to what clothes she wore at home so far. But either it had slipped her mind this time, or she thought that the attire wasn't that big a deal after he had only lived for a few days there.

"-wa-waffles. Um, yeah. I already ate mine, and um, yeah. I'll just... go get dressed or something."

Misato could tell he was a little off, but didn't really understand what was making him so awkward. He was about to rub shoulders with her as he passed her by but was stopped when she grabbed his shoulder to stop him in his tracks.

"Hold on there, champ. What's the matter?"

This was the most awful position to be put in, as Shinji was just going through the conflicting emotions of a teenager, but wanted to remain respectful.

"It's nothing, I-I'm just gonna get changed and wait f-"

"Shinji, your face looks a little pink... what's wrong?" She asked. "If you feel a little ill I can-"

Halfway through her sentence, she caught Shinji's eyes trying their hardest to avoid her. Almost instantly, she realized what was going on.

Misato looked down at her own clothes, finding that what she had on may have been a little too revealing for the young boy, who's sexual urges was probably just beginning to bloom. She had a quick laugh, trying to alleviate the awkwardness, but had only made Shinji even more embarrassed about the situation.

"Ooooh... I see your dilemma." She said while fighting laughter.

"I'm sorry! I- um... look, I... c-can we not talk about it?!" Said Shinji while still looking the other way.

"Heeey, relax! I'm not mad... if anything, I was the one being inconsiderate here. I'll get changed before we leave, alright?" Misato assured him. "Just don't you get any funny ideas, m'kay? I know how you boys get around this age..."

That last part only made things even worse for Shinji.

"MISS MISATO!"

And that proceeded to get an even bigger laugh from her. His reaction was priceless to her, and this taught her another thing about Shinji; he was so easy to tease. Now Misato found a way to derive some innocent fun from the boy when she was bored.

"Just go and get dressed, I'll knock on your door when after I change into some more 'professional' attire."

Shinji walked off as quickly as he could, feeling so flustered he wished he could disappear off the face of the earth for just a few minutes.

He knew that what just happened was somewhat out of his control. Shinji was a hormonal teenager, after all. Though he still couldn't help but blame himself for being so perverted, or so he thought. He didn't do anything wrong but he didn't feel that was the case. His housing situation was truly a weird one; Shinji was just 14 and was dealing with the confusing time of life that was being a teenager. Misato was 29, and admittedly a very attractive woman too.

Shinji shut his door and slumped on his bed, burying his face in the palm of his hands.

'Living here's gonna be a disaster...'

9:31am:

On the car ride to the Geo Front, Shinji kept his attention on the outside world, much like he did on his first Spinner flight. Without the rain to obstruct the skies as much, he could see a lot more of Tokyo-3's natural landscape. It was a strange juxtaposition of pure green jungle, and grey city blocks spanning miles and miles with its many skyscrapers dominating the skyline.

'All this artificiality, it's surrounded by mountains and jungles... we may have perfected city building, but we haven't conquered nature.'

This served to remind him just how much he missed Yusuhara. Shinji had already grown quite weary of the bleak skies by now, praying for the clouds to clear up if only just a little. But he knew that wasn't going to happen.

"I can't believe a city like this even exists." He said suddenly.

"Tokyo-3 is a bit of a natural wonder." Misato responded. "It was built on what was considered to be a very dangerous and unlivable piece of land following Second Impact... if the rain wasn't off-putting enough, the amount of floods and thick mud was just another factor. But somehow, NERV had convinced the Japanese Government to create the new Tokyo right here on this land."

Shinji thought that was a bit of an unnecessary step for the government to take, taken what seemed to be the general consensus of the Hakone region.

"Well if it was as dangerous and unlivable as you described it, why build it here? Why take all the steps to convince the government to do such a thing? Or why not somewhere else... like, maybe somewhere less hazardous and depressing?"

"Simple. The Geo Front." She explained. "NERV had discovered the Geo Front shortly after Old Tokyo was destroyed. And just as quickly as they found it, they made an appeal to create the third Tokyo right here in this spot. I can see why the government was skeptical, though... have you seen pictures of this place before it was paved over? It was like a swamp!"

"So, how were they able to make such a terrible place livable?" Asked Shinji.

"Oh y'know... state-of-the-art technology, advanced city planning, all that kind of stuff. As for the rain, this city has loads of gutters that dump water through these channels, pumping the excess rainwater past the Sea Walls and onto the ocean. The engineers had to make do with what they had." Misato said. "It's a fine example of humanity's ability to adapt to their surroundings."

Shinji rolled his eyes a little, finding that last bit to be just a bit pretentious.

"Still a cruddy place, if you ask me. I doubt anyone on the surface likes living on this dump. Might as well have just left it as is."

Misato was a little taken aback by this rather pessimistic view. She already knew Shinji to be depressive, but this just came across to her as an extremely defeatist attitude. And for someone about to head to battle in a matter of weeks, it was a very dangerous mindset to hold.

"That's kind of missing the point, though... isn't it?" She asked. "That's exactly what it means to adapt to something. You get used to what you have and what's around you, even if you don't like it."

"Eh, I guess I don't really see the point of it all." Shinji replied.

"What do you mean by that? You realize that millions of people had lost their homes to the Impact Floods, right? It's not like we wanted this place particularly, we had to make do with what we had!"

Shinji noticed that Misato seemed a little offended by his comment, though he wasn't exactly sure why. Whatever her reasoning may be, he didn't really want to think much about it. He still believed in what he wanted to believe, and Misato seemed to refuse to accept that, which was beginning to irritate him.

"I just don't see the point in living when the world is crumbling around me, that's all."

Almost immediately after he said that, Misato took an alarmingly sharp turn and pulled over, stopping her car not too far from a bus stop.

"What the hell, Miss Misato?!"

"Level with me here-" She began. "-and I don't mean to to pry too much into your life or anything, since you and I barely know each other. But as it's my responsibility to supervise you from now on, I just have to make sure, okay?"

Shinji was struck with confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

"What you just said... that's not okay. I mean how do you expect to survive out in battle with a mindset like that? If you keep your head wired like that, you'll get yourself killed!" Misato clarified.

But now Shinji was visibly annoyed.

"Look, don't worry about it. It's just my opinion." He said.

"How can you even say that? This is your life we're talking about. When you say something like that... well, it sparks some real concern, you know?"

Shinji suddenly went silent. Their conversation was getting way too serious for his liking, as the subject was hitting a very personal note that he just wasn't willing to discuss. By going quiet, he thought that Misato might've received his message and stopped pressing the issue altogether. But by doing so, she only worried more for his mental health.

"You don't really mean that... do you, Shinji?" She asked.

This was all sounding almost exactly like the discussion his teacher tried having with him almost two weeks ago, and it invigorated him.

"You know what? I can get to HQ myself." He said, opening the car door and reaching for his umbrella.

A wave of guilt struck Misato like a ton of bricks.

"No, Shinji wait-" Misato tried to intervene before he shut the door and quickly walked off.

Tons of thoughts raced through her head. On one hand she desperately wanted to run over to him and try to patch things up, but Misato figured he wouldn't want to face her after what had just happened. Now he was walking to HQ all by himself, likely to arrive to his battle simulation late. And she was blaming herself for it.

'Fuck! What the hell was that?!'

Misato didn't bother driving off for a little while. She needed some time to process what had just happened, and wished to spot any possible mistake she had made when addressing the issue to him. Looking back, she had actually been quite careful, and did her best to mind anything that could've possible set him off.

In truth, it was Shinji that had acted irrationally. Misato was just trying too hard to be nice.

'No... no, I was trying to help him. I've put up with his attitude for the past few days now.' She concluded.

She wasn't the type who preferred to call someone out on their mistakes. Misato would have rather avoided such a thing. But she knew that she had to put her foot down for this. Shinji was warmly welcomed into her home, and he was being extremely ungrateful for it.

'Guess I have to put my foot down on this one.'

MISATO'S APARTMENT

3:28pm:

Hesitantly walking through the open-air corridor that lead to the Katsuragi residence, Shinji could faintly hear the now-familiar sound of raindrops grow louder and louder. By now he had already been fed up with the storms Tokyo-3 seemingly soaked like a sponge. But the reason the rain was annoying him more-so at that moment was because it might've been overheard by Misato as he opened the door.

'Damn it... did it really have to start raining just as I'm trying to get in as quietly as possible?'

He had already imagined several times over exactly what kind of talk he was going to be put through by Misato once she caught sight of him again. All Shinji wanted right now was to swiftly waltz over to his room undisturbed, and his best bet would be to go in without her even noticing.

But even he knew those chances were slim. Though, it wouldn't hurt to try.

'Okay... okay okay okay. If she's there, so be it. She'll chew me out... whatever.' He thought. 'If she isn't, I go to my room and sleep it out 'till she's back.'

In the distance, Shinji could see Misato's door inch closer as he continued his walk over. His anticipated punishment lay behind that door and he knew it, but there was nothing he could do about it. Shinji acted the way he did, knowing it was wrong, but it didn't stop him.

'I should've just kept my mouth shut.'

The raindrops got louder as he finally reached the entrance to his new home, effectively ruining any chance he had of sneaking in had Misato already gotten back from work. Either way, he opened the door as slowly and quietly as possible, peaking in to survey if anyone was home or not. The lights were on, but Shinji knew that it might've just been Pen-Pen that turned them on, as the freakish bird was pretty intelligent and was quite accustomed to the human way of doing things.

He took light steps and closed the door behind him just as carefully as he had opened it. The coast looked clear.

'Looks like she's not home, good... I can just-'

Though it certainly wasn't. Misato walked over as she had likely heard the strengthening rain splashing away at the corridor's walls and met his eyes. Shinji braced himself for a number of yells, scolds, and criticisms not too dissimilar to the things he'd hear from his previous guardians when he had done something bad when he was much younger.

But nothing arose. She just stared at him with a flat expression, her eyes teeming with silent disappointment.

And then she walked off, having gone back to her room, speaking no word of what happened earlier that day. That didn't manage to make Shinji feel any better about things. To him, it was almost worse than having been talked thoroughly to.

So he too walked over to his room, sliding his door shut as he face-planted onto his bed.

The minutes pressed on as Shinji tried his hardest to fall asleep and avoid thinking about what he did. It was then that a familiar feeling suddenly made its way into his head; the self-isolation in his room, the uncomfortable awkwardness of coming back home, and not even bothering to talk to anyone he shared this living space with.

It felt just like his uncle's place all over again. Only now a guilt was keeping him from resting.

Something about the way Misato said nothing to him struck him much more than it should have. Maybe the stark contrast of how peppy she normally was compared to the look of sheer disappointment on her face just a few minutes ago was what drove the point to his head.

And though he felt really bad about what he said, a strange comfort washed over him. Again, it felt just like when he lived back at his uncle's. He was surprisingly upset about that. But the familiarity made him okay with it. The only problem he'd have to deal with now was interacting with Misato, whom he felt he had already strained any chances of getting along with ever again.

'Maybe now she'll realize having me live alone is better.'

*SHH-TCK*

Shinji looked over at his sliding door, finding Misato looking back at him assertively. There was no avoiding the talk, it seemed.

"Come with me downstairs. We're going for a drive." She said.

Just as she was about to walk over to the living room to put her shoes on, Shinji almost got up from his bed, but decided against it. He plopped himself back down on his pillow and turned towards the wall.

"I'm too tired." He replied.

Misato's forceful footsteps were heard coming back towards his room.

"I wasn't asking you. That was an ORDER!"

He flinched ever so slightly at the raise of her voice, despite her not being that close to him. So far, he only witnessed Misato's over-the-top, sometimes almost even fake, cheery demeanor. Shinji knew that as soon as she stormed to the living room to wait for him, he had made a grave mistake acting the way he did.

As he stood up from his bed, he sighed a very pitiful sigh as he looked once more at this new ceiling.

'I want to go back home...'

4:19pm:

Shinji never knew just how painful silence could be under the right circumstances. He didn't know exactly where Misato was taking him, which made the car ride feel excruciatingly longer. She had just made a left turn that took them on an uphill drive, making the raindrops impact the windshield with a more force.

He still refused to say anything to Misato, only now it was less out of stubbornness and more out of fear. Shinji knew that if he were to try and open his mouth at all, Misato would go off.

Or at least he assumed such would be the case.

The two were still akin to strangers in regards to one another. It had only been three days but Shinji was already stressed out by his new roommate. It wasn't just the chaotic living conditions Misato lived in that put him off, he somewhat resented her general attitude. Although he could appreciate her being kind to him, he didn't see it as genuine. It felt forced in every way, especially to someone like Shinji.

And then there was the talk that got everything out of hand in the first place.

'Damn it... WHY did I have to open my mouth?'

Shinji couldn't ever remember a time in his life where he had a positive outlook on the world. He believed he had his reasons to want to shut everyone and everything out, especially in the present-day darkness of a Post-Impact world. All of a sudden, he's thrown into a war and a new environment without a choice in the matter... and she expects him to just accept it? To just go on about everything like she does? In blissful ignorance of the reality of the situation?

He scowled.

So many frustrated thoughts ran through his head as he imagined all the possible scenarios the conversation could veer off to. Part of Shinji couldn't wait to call her out on all of it. But then again, the other part was well-aware of the fact that he couldn't muster the stomach to confront her on such grounds.

It was then that Misato finally pulled her car to the side and parked at an overlook.

Shinji braced himself.

"Don't get me wrong, okay? I very much do NOT enjoy having serious talks like this, Shinji. Let-alone calling anyone out to their face, but I'm really upset with you right now." She began. "But I'm also worried."

It was already off to a bad start for Shinji. He felt like he was being scolded by one of his teachers from his former school all over again, as he had heard this kind of talk many times in the past years. Not surprisingly, they too had these stern talks because of Shinji's extreme pessimism and isolation.

By now he was tired of it all and just wanted the subject to be ignored completely.

"Anything you wanna say?" Misato asked.

He didn't bother look her in the eye as he proceeded to answer.

"Look, I already know what you're gonna say so don't worry. I've had this talk-"

"Okay stop right there-" She interrupted. "-because you don't know what I'm going to say, I can assure you of that, Shinji Ikari. Besides your blatant disrespect to me after I welcomed you into my own home, can you please explain to me why this defeatist attitude is going to be a major issue?"

Shinji was caught off guard once again.

"U-Um, because I'm... uh, supposed to be- uh..."

He struggled to even answer her, already speaking in a much more muted volume. He knew Misato was pulling something out of her sleeve but couldn't figure out exactly what she was getting at. For once his dismissive attitude wasn't able to avoid the issue like it always did.

"Do you even know?" She asked again.

"N-no..."

Misato shifted slightly in her seat.

"Allow me to break it down for you, then. I know you might not care about yourself and that you brush everything off because it's easy for you but that's NOT how it's going to work in my house! You understand? I don't only happen to own the place, I'm your Operations Director. You mouth off to me or walk away from a command like that, you're dead. I know you act like you don't care but that's not how this is going to play out under my command."

Shinji started to anxiously tap his fingers on his legs, wishing that every passing second would just speed up so all this could be over.

"Whether you like it or not, you are officially military property and therefore do not hold the right to disobey me like you did today. I don't care about what you do here in the city... but you need to understand that this will not be tolerated during operations, Shinji." Misato added. "As for how you treated me... I'm legally your guardian now and I'm going to need you to start treating me with more respect."

Her points were really getting through to Shinji, which made him extremely uncomfortable. He couldn't just ignore this like he did with his teachers. Not only was Misato not backing down, but he was stuck living under her roof. There was no avoiding his problems anymore.

Shinji continued to look out his window.

"And yeah, I'm not the best roommate, I'm aware of that. I'm not tidy and I'm not on top of everything as much as I should be but can you at least not be so openly rude about it? Your constant attitude, your quiet little comments... don't THINK I haven't noticed!"

By now he was just embarrassed. Those little comments might've been a way for him to vent his frustrations, but he never expected them to actually be noticed by anyone. It was only then that he realized that such petty jabs like the ones he made were best left unsaid, only serving to make him feel even more foolish in the way that he acted towards Misato. The woman might've seemed careless and immature at first, but Shinji was beginning to see her more strict side.

And he was not liking any of it.

"And in all honesty, this kind of attitude is just insulting to me on an almost personal level." Misato added. "You think your life is tough? You think you have the right to just throw your arms up in the air and not give a damn about the world around you? I LIVED IN A POST-IMPACT WORLD! I WENT THROUGH HELL AND BACK IN A WAY THAT YOU COULD NEVER FATHOM, SHINJI!"

"I JUST WANTED TO BE LEFT ALONE!" He yelled back to Misato. "I didn't want this! I didn't want any of this! I just wanted to have my own little space and I'd do my duties no questions asked... why is that so hard for you to understand?"

"Because people need other people!" She said. "That's the way life works! That's the way it's always been! Do you seriously believe you can go on with the rest of your life in complete isolation? And most especially now, Shinji, you can't just run from others! You're part of Unit-01 now. You won't survive out there by yourself... you just won't. You need to be a part of the team. So get used to it."

The car went dead silent, starkly contrasting their yells from just a few seconds ago.

Perhaps this was the toughest part of having this kind of argument in the first place. The inevitable self-reflection that came with it once everyone had their frustrations heard. Shinji tried his hardest not to break down, but could feel the tears force their way out onto his face, and the sniffles began to choke him with their emotional grip. All that was heard now were the pitter-patter of the ceaseless raindrops hitting the exterior of the car.

Misato herself was now unsure of how to feel. She was frustrated, but felt for the boy. He was lost in a way that she couldn't personally understand whatsoever.

But then again, Shinji refused to try to understand her situation. She sighed.

"Look, as much as I know this whole thing has been hard on you, you are a soldier now. You need to stand on both your feet, and survive. Please... if there's anything to take from this, it's that your life is worth living. Forget what I said about NERV owning you. Just please, Shinji... don't die."

And that did it. He couldn't take it anymore. Shinji buried his face into the palm of his hands and let loose.

Both parties were uncomfortable now. Misato didn't mean to push him as far as crying but the dams had already broken loose. Amidst the chaotic sniffles and mumbles, Shinji was trying his hardest not to stain the car seat and wiped his face a ton of times.

He hated being seen like this. He always knew deep down that he was a sensitive soul but never wished for anyone else to see this side of him. He saw it was a sign that he was weak and pathetic. Even worse, this was someone who Shinji saw as almost a complete stranger. What business was it of hers to witness this? Why did she have to be burdened with his emotions when he clearly couldn't handle them himself.

"I'm... I'm sorry!" He let out. "I- HHH- I never meant to- HHH-"

"I-It's okay. I'm the one who should be apologizing... I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm- I'm so sorr-"

"No... n-no. Y- HHH- you're right, Miss Misato! I was b- HHH- being too harsh on you... I'm ungrateful after you- HHH- welcomed me into your home. I'm- HHH- such a jerk..."

Misato wasn't even sure what to say anymore. Shinji was beating himself down for it now, and having found out about his depressing mentality, she knew he wasn't going to stop overthinking about it. But this was a very different side to the boy. He tried his hardest to wall himself off from her and mind his own business. It was eerily similar to Commander Ikari's work ethic.

But unlike his father, Shinji seemed to have a sensitive side. Maybe things could work out for him in the end.

She gave him space and allowed him to calm down. Eventually his sniffles had lessened drastically. It looked like the two were going to be able to talk it out in a more rational manner, but Misato noticed the rain outside the car had come to a halt.

"Shinji, follow me outside please."

He nodded, still keeping quiet but in a noticeably much better mood than before.

Misato walked with him to a railing, in which a gorgeous view of Tokyo-3 and Lake Ashi was now visible. Of course, the ceaseless clouds didn't provide them with a full view of the surrounding nature, and it was all mostly still just the urban environment that was visible. But at night, the city looked completely different than it did at daytime. Unlike before, he was finally starting to see some beauty in it.

"Oh... oh wow!" Said Shinji in awe of the sight.

The sheer scope of the city wasn't fully realized until Misato brought him to the overlook. And at night, the city lights were truly a sight to behold.

"This is Tokyo-3, Shinji." Misato said with a tender smile. "This is the city you're helping to protect. All these people now rely on you and all of Unit-01. I'm so sorry about before... but I just felt like I needed to show you this."

Shinji's smile partially faded. The horrifying reality of the looming first battle came back to haunt him. He knew he was going to see some really messed up things, all to protect the very city in front of him. He sighed.

'Now I don't know how to feel about myself.'

That day had proven to be one wild roller coaster of emotions. But a thought began to linger in Shinji's head that maybe this needed to happen.

He had a much better understanding of Misato as a person now. Sure, he still disliked her laziness at home and wished she could keep some more personal space. But hearing about the Second Impact had really put things in perspective. She and many of the other adults he had met in his time there had been through hell. And it seems that Misato made it out okay.

'Maybe... maybe I'll be fine after all.' He thought. "Misato..."

She turned to face him.

"Mhm?"

"Thank you for this... I really needed it."