JULY 18th, 2015
MISATO'S APARTMENT, TOKYO-3
10:21am:
"Just leave me alone, already!" Shinji barked back at Asuka, reaching for his shoes as he sat on the floor to tie them.
"Aww... did I really upset the invincible Shinji that much?" She said back to him. "Maybe your overconfidence is finally growing you a pair of balls! Too bad you're such a cocky ass about it!"
Shinji scoffed.
"Look who's talking! And what the hell does that have to do with anything, anyway? This isn't about my confidence... if anything it's got to do with you being an annoying bitch!"
"The fuck did you just say to me?!" Asuka yelled.
"You heard me."
"Well say it again, hotshot!" She yelled once more.
"Alright, then! You're an annoying bitch!" Shinji said more aggressively.
"Oh so you think you can just say things to me now, huh? Well tough shit, asshole! You're not as cool as you think, you know that?"
Misato stormed out of her room, having heard the two argue for a little while. She tried not to intertwine, as she was hoping the two would have the common sense to just stop after a while. But once the shouting started, she lost all her cool and stomped her way onto the living room.
"Alright, enough of this! What the hell has gotten into you two?"
"Shinji's being-!"
"No! Stop this! I don't want to hear you guys trying to get at the other, I want to know what's got you two fighting each other!" Misato quickly stopped her.
Both went silent, but still felt incredibly angry at one another. Shinji continued to tie his shoe, not wanting to face either of the other two people in the room, while Asuka kept her arms crossed impatiently.
"So? Anyone going to explain themselves?" Misato asked again.
"Asuka was making some petty comment about me again and I told her to shut up. And now here we are again." Shinji finally said.
"Yeah because he can't take a joke, apparently!"
"Oh, will you just calm the fuck down already? You mouth off to me every single day! Do you honestly expect me not to react eventually?" He argued, losing his cool again. "You're so full of shit, you know that?"
"I'm the one who's full of shit? You're the one who couldn't take a simple jo-"
"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU, JUST SHUT UP!" Misato shouted, now having stooped to their level of aggression. "I'm tired of this! You two have been at each other's throats for a month now and I can't take it anymore! Asuka, you need to start treating Shinji better! And Shinji, you need to be more patient with her and not blow up like this! It solves nothing! Just please, stop yelling at each other in this house!"
The two got quiet again. Shinji stood up and headed to his room, not wanting to talk about the matter anymore.
"And where do you think you're going?" Misato asked him.
"I'm going to HQ to pick up Rei. To hell with this..." He answered passive aggressively.
"Oh and there you go again! Running off to your doll girlfriend when shit gets too rough! You're so whipped!" Asuka blurted, making sure she did so before Shinji was able to leave.
Misato groaned in frustration, and Asuka tried to look proud of herself, but in reality she really wasn't all that happy about what just went down. Her anger had been getting the best of her more and more over the past few months, more than was acceptable now. Misato hadn't even bothered trying to talk to her about what happened back in the Command Center a month back, as she knew it would just turn into another argument.
"Well at least I won't have to see his face around here for a few hours!" Asuka said with a slight uncertainty in her voice. "Fucking asshole..."
That last bit was said under her breath as she stormed off into her own room, though Misato was able to hear it. A sad realization had just hit her like a ton of bricks; this living situation wasn't going to work for either Shinji or Asuka anymore.
'But what do I do? I can't just kick one of them out... I don't even know if it'd be safe for either of them to live alone after last month's invasion.'
Misato tried to think of someone, anyone she trusted enough to potentially house one of the teenagers to avoid the ever-growing tension between them. Ritsuko, though Misato still valued cared for a lot, wasn't someone she was exactly very trustworthy of anymore. The Commander wasn't even an option in her mind, not after what she heard from Kaji about Shinji having physically assaulted him.
But then it struck her.
'That's it... Kaji.'
She went over to her phone and dialed his number, hoping that he was home to take her call. Misato knew that it might've been asking for too much, but she actually grew to trust him more than she did anyone else at NERV lately, despite him being a triple agent.
"Hello?" He finally picked up.
"Kaji, we need to talk."
Misato heard him sigh, though he tried to make it not so noticeable. Things between them had only gotten more complicated in the past month, as it had for everyone else they knew following the NERV HQ ambush. It kind of pained her to ask him for another favor like this. But there was no one else she could go to for this request.
"About?" Kaji asked.
"It's Shinji and Asuka... I don't think it's healthy that they stay around each other right now."
REI'S APARTMENT
3:26pm:
This was a place that still very much depressed Shinji every time he entered it. It was so small and crowded despite almost no furniture taking up its space, almost as if whoever designed it had specifically made it for inhumane purposes. Even after Shinji had finally gotten around to cleaning it for Rei, it was still a very sad-looking apartment. And he hated that this was something Rei had been conditioned to think this was okay.
But even in his present moment inside this gloomy apartment unit, Shinji felt a peaceful bliss like no other.
"It sounds like you and Soryu should avoid being in each other's presence." Rei said to him, resting her head on his chest as the two held each other, laying on her bed.
"Oh believe me, I wish I had that choice."
Shinji had journeyed to HQ to pick up Rei from one of her many mandatory meetings with the Commander and Dr. Akagi. Afterwards, they had gone to her apartment where they'd often eat together, talk about whatever they may be going through, and then lay in bed together, embraced in each other's arms as the hours floated by. Nothing about this was fueled by the typical raging hormones that affect people their age.
The two just felt at peace with each other.
They'd normally only have free time to spend with each other at night, while weekends were their days off. Saturday and Sunday had quickly become their favorite days of the week.
"Honestly, that doesn't even matter right now." Shinji added. "I'm here with you now... and I'm happy. I feel safe."
"But you will have to return home eventually, will you not?" Asked Rei.
Shinji sighed.
"Yeah, there's that. Ugh... what's even worse is that now even Misato is kinda pissed off at me." He said. "Well, more like she's upset at both Asuka and I. We had a pretty bad one right before I left to pick you up. I don't think I've ever seen Misato that mad before."
"What did you do?"
"I talked back to Asuka and called her something mean. It was pretty bad, actually. I just... I don't know. Ever since Hikari was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant, Asuka's been really insecure about losing her position in Unit-01. But I mean even she should know it's only temporary, right? The only reason we're staying back here is because of our training."
Ever since the disastrous ambush SEELE launched on NERV HQ, Shinji, Rei and Asuka had been teamed up by Gendo to form the 'Children Program', a mini Special Operations Unit that required tons of additional training. The rest of Unit-01 were off in the battlefields again, fending off the Angels while the First, Second and Third Children stayed home for their advanced training.
This was what lead Asuka to taking her anger out on Shinji; it felt every bit like she was going to be replaced. Bested in her own game, and by her friend, nonetheless.
"Lieutenant Soryu has never been one to think reasonably." Rei said. "But regardless of that fact, you shouldn't stoop to her level of pettiness."
"Yeah, I know. But after dealing with her for so long, I think I'm beginning to lose my cool. I always try downplaying whatever she says to me but I just can't take it anymore. It's really hard living with her as a roommate! I know I shouldn't have done what I did, but you can see why I did it, right?"
Rei nodded.
"Of course. I have had a bad reaction to Soryu's attitude once before, back when the core absorbed you."
Shinji was a little surprised by this, always having known Rei to be on her best behavior despite receiving harsh treatment from anyone, most especially Asuka.
"Really?" He asked. "What happened?"
"Soryu was upset at the fact that Misato had so kindly given me a ride to school that day. The only reason she did so was because of my depression at the time, which I came to really appreciate, but Soryu wouldn't bother to hear me. She resorted to her usual ways and began insulting me, which I responded to with my own attitude. So, she struck me." Rei explained.
Shinji looked down at her, upset that Asuka would do such a thing to her.
"Asuka hit you?" He asked, having gotten another nod from Rei. "See what I mean? She goes too far all the time! Honestly, how does she expect us not to get annoyed by her bullshit? To not react to her endless scolding? I say she deserves a little taste of her own medicine. She shouldn't have done that to you, Rei."
"But I should've known better than to talk back to the likes of her. Doing so will only make things worse, Shinji. It doesn't matter if she is in the wrong or not. Soryu is looking for a reaction. The best thing to do is to disregard her."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But that still doesn't give her the right to hit you like that. I swear, if she lays another hand on you-"
Rei grabbed ahold of Shinji's hand before he could finish, and held it close.
"It's alright, Shinji. All of that has already happened, being upset about it surely isn't necessary. Right now, all that matters to me is that you're here. We're away from all that, and from everyone else. We're together."
She then unexpectedly raised her head a little, bringing her face really close to Shinji's as they made eye contact.
"We are one." Rei said as a faint smile emerged on her lips.
He found her gesture incredibly sweet, and was liking this side of Rei he had gotten to know so well recently. By now, the two had been openly dating. This was like a dream come true for Shinji, as he was finally able to open up to someone about himself, more so than ever before in his life. As he lay there with her, feeling her soothing warm breath hit him, all Shinji could think about was how much in love he was with her as he smiled back.
The two shared a short, yet passionate kiss, then went back to napping together.
Shinji and Rei continued to rest intertwined in each other's arms for some 30 more minutes, the time having gone by like it was nothing. Shinji knew he'd have to go back home eventually, but held off on it for as long as possible. Then, suddenly-
*RRRING-RRRING-RRRING*
-an unexpected phone call.
He sat up, Rei having done the same, and looked down at his cellphone to see who was calling him. Much to his surprise, it was Kaji.
"Kaji?" He said. "Huh... wonder what he's calling me for."
"Is it out of the ordinary for him to call you?" Rei asked.
"Not necessarily. Usually he only rings me up if it's something important, guess I should probably take this call."
Shinji answered it as Rei sat by him, holding his hand and caressing his fingers.
"Hello?"
"Hey there, champ. Hope I'm not calling at a bad time, Misato told me you were out with Rei so I held off on calling for a little while." Kaji said in his familiar low voice timbre.
"I'm at Rei's right now, but I'm not really busy. What's up?"
"Woah there! Nice one, stud." Kaji joked, much to Shinji's chagrin. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something, but I figured the best place we could have this conversation is over at my place. You think you have the time to come through later today?"
Shinji looked down at his watch, which read '3:58pm'.
"I'll probably have to start heading out soon, then. Your place is over at the 1st District, right?"
"Yup, I'll text you my address." Replied Kaji.
Shinji looked over at Rei, as if to ask if it was alright that he left just a little earlier than usual. She didn't mind at all, and nodded that it was okay.
"Alright then, I'll start making my way there in just a bit. Gotta sort a few things before I leave for the bus." Shinji said.
"Sure thing, Shinji. And hey, don't get anyone pregnant."
Kaji hung up before Shinji had a chance to put down the embarrassing comment, who by now was used to Kaji's playful jabs and had developed his own responses to them.
"Don't mind him, Rei. He was just joking." He said, not wanting Rei to have gotten any wrong impressions of Kaji.
"I understood that he was joking. Mr. Kaji is quite humorous." She assured him. "And besides, there is no risk of that happening to me at all."
Shinji was a little lost.
"What do you mean? What 'risk'?" He asked.
Rei looked down now, as if saddened by something.
"I am... not able to conceive a child." She said. "My body's chemistry does not allow it."
This was also a little surprising to Shinji, which made him wonder if she had some kind of underlying sickness. Rei had opened up to him about why she was strictly vegetarian; her stomach reacted poorly to meat. So now, having found out that she wasn't able to produce offspring was just a little alarming, as it made it sound to Shinji that something was wrong with her body.
But he was also struck by how upset Rei sounded at admitting this. She didn't look too good at all.
"Oh... I'm- I'm so sorry to hear that, Rei." He said, holding her hand closely. "I- wow... I really don't know what to say. I'm sorry."
But Rei looked back at him, another smile emerging on her face as she brought him close.
"It's okay. I'll be fine." She said, proceeding to plant a light kiss on his lips. "You should start making your way to see Mr. Kaji. The sun will begin to set soon."
Shinji smiled back at her.
"Love you, Rei."
He gave her another kiss, this one quickly turning passionate. They made out for just a few seconds before pulling back, but Shinji wasn't getting up to put his shoes on like he was originally supposed to.
"Mmmmm, maybe just a few more minutes..." He said flirtatiously, earning him a giggle from Rei.
TOKYO-3
4:17pm:
Shinji found himself walking all alone in the ruins of a particular section in the 6th District, the bus route he was used to taking to and from Rei's apartment having been completely blocked off by the debris of fallen structures. By now, most residents who still lived in Tokyo-3 had to carry flashlights with them when it neared night time, since a lot of streets no longer had working power or even light poles to illuminate their way.
Though by now, Tokyo-3 was experiencing a massive population decrease. As a result of the ambush, a lot of people were moving out. A lot of them lost their homes, and some were just terrified at the thought of another direct invasion.
'This is so depressing.' He thought. 'I can't imagine the loads of people who died where I'm walking right now.'
While others, like Toji, had lost family to the invasion and moved out to cope.
'Toji's little sister, man... that still devastates me. I didn't even know he had a younger sibling. Her name... 'Sakura', was it? Kensuke seemed to have met her before.'
As he continued to trek the ruins, Shinji took a look around and observed the disorder of each building. Numerous blast holes took up each wall, some of them even causing some structures to lean a slight bit. Even though Tokyo-3 was a very large city, it looked as if an earthquake had decimated the entirety of it.
Looking at all the destruction around him, he couldn't help but morbidly wonder how Sakura died.
'Did the Angels kill her?' He pondered. 'What am I saying... of course the Angels killed her. Guess I'm just wondering if it was a direct kill or an unintentional one. Either way, those sick fucks are brutal.'
He couldn't possibly imagine what was going through Toji's mind right now. Though Unit-01 was currently operating, Toji was given a leave of absence to recover from his loss. They knew that he probably wouldn't be able to function as he usually would in the battlefield, and couldn't risk getting him killed.
'At this point, I wonder if he'll ever be okay to battle again.'
The sun would soon set, which only made it get darker twice as fast due to Tokyo-3's perpetual cloudiness. It had stopped raining just before Shinji left Rei's place, so he didn't need to use his umbrella just yet. Though pretty soon, he'd need to start using his flashlight before he was able to find another running bus line.
Shinji continued walking for a few minutes before hearing the sound of music in this unusually desolate and quiet part of the ruins.
'What's that?'
He listened some more, and recognized it to be a Beethoven number being played on a piano.
'And it's well-played, too...'
Shinji veered off his course just a little, his curiosity now leading the way. He wondered who in their right mind could be out there all alone playing Beethoven on a piano. His detour lead him to a half-demolished church, likely having been destroyed during the Angel attack.
He was surprised to see an undamaged piano inside the church. But perhaps even more peculiar; a boy with the strangest of images.
'Who...?'
The boy in question had striking silver hair, and carried an expression of bliss with him as he played Beethoven's tune. He didn't even need to look at the notes as music poured out of each finger, the satisfaction having been felt by he and Shinji's ear. It was as if he had become one with the piece, and Shinji found himself watching an impressive performance for free in the most unlikely of places.
'What's this guy doing out here all by himself? Doesn't he find this to be a little inappropriate, given what happened last month?'
The boy playing the piano was in the middle of playing the piece's growing crescendo. The louder the music got, the more expressive he looked. Shinji was puzzled, but he was intrigued.
Then suddenly, he stopped, not even finishing the rest of the piece.
'Why'd he stop?'
The boy's eyes remained closed, his face pointed upwards at the sky before facing back down again. He let out what seemed to be a sigh of relief, and smiled once more.
"'Fiery the Angels fell...'" He proceeded to recite. "'Deep thunder roll'd around their shores; burning with the fires of orc.'"
Shinji began to wonder if this guy had lost his mind.
"Do you know that song?" He suddenly asked Shinji. "The one you were watching me play just now."
'How'd he know I was here? His eyes are closed!'
The boy finally opened his eyes, revealing his irises to be a dark, bloody red. It looked exactly like Rei's did.
'His eyes! They're-'
"Well? Do you know the name of that piece I was playing or not?" The boy asked.
"U-Um..." Shinji said, bewildered at the strange nature this random boy carried with him. "It's the 7th... Beethoven's 7th Symphony, 2nd Movement."
The boy stayed quiet for a moment, looking back down at the keys.
"Such a long title." He said. "Do you know why that is?"
Shinji was once again puzzled.
"What do you mean? It's the name of a piece..."
"But what is it with all the specificity?" The boy asked again.
"It's all in classical terms. It's the seventh symphony Beethoven wrote, on its second movement. Think of it as a 'part 2' to an even bigger piece." Shinji explained. "You were just playing the piece in its entirety... did you not know what it was even called?"
The silver-haired boy shook his head.
"I heard it on my way here." He said. "There's something so bleak about it... and yet it sounds gorgeous. Such sounds of great defeat, followed by a revitalization of one's will. Never have I heard a piece present such an auditory portrayal of death and rebirth so vividly."
The boy looked lost in his own world as he described what he felt while listening to the piece.
"That's what it all means to me, this piece... death and rebirth. It's really quite beautiful, don't you think?"
Shinji nodded.
"I mean yeah, it's Beethoven."
"You say that like it's so obvious. How was I supposed to know? I've never even heard the name Beethoven until now." Said the boy.
"Well, it is kinda obvious. Beethoven was one of the greatest composers of all time... even if you've never sat down and listened to an entire piece, you have probably heard bits and pieces of his music." Shinji replied.
"When did you first come across his music?"
"Back in my old middle school. I took some cello lessons early on, and my old music teacher was a classical fanatic. The 7th Symphony, that part you were playing in particular, was the first Beethoven piece I heard." He recalled. "Though initially, I wasn't all that into it."
Then the strange boy looked a little surprised.
"You didn't like it when you first heard it?"
"Well, no. Not really. I was a kid then. And I guess our teacher did kind of shoehorn it into our ears. But when we slowed each part down to learn it, and I was able to hear all the notes come together to form the complete piece... I found that I actually liked the piece quite a lot."
"So it took learning the piece, and deconstructing it for you to enjoy it?" The boy asked.
"I mean yeah, I guess so."
Then they both went quiet again.
"Okay I'm sorry to get off-topic, but what are you doing out here all by yourself?" Asked Shinji. "Are you lost or something? It'll get dark soon, I'm not sure it's entirely safe out here at night."
The boy closed the piano's fall board and finally stood up, now approaching Shinji. This gave him a better look of the boy's red irises, the ones that looked strikingly similar to his girlfriend's. They were almost exactly like them.
'Hold on... it's not just the eyes.' Thought Shinji. 'His skin, it's just as pale as Rei's. And his hair is discolored too...'
There was something very strange about this boy. Shinji knew that he was somewhat similar in look to Rei, but his attitude was completely different. Even now, with Rei being more expressive and less stoic than before, her nature was completely different from his. Almost like it was a complete 180.
The boy smiled at Shinji as he formally introduced himself for the first time.
"My name is Kaworu Nagisa."
An eerie silence followed his introduction, only adding to the bizarre nature of how Shinji ended up meeting this unusual person.
"Shinji Ikari." He said, sticking his hand out for a handshake.
But Kaworu didn't shake his hand, instead keeping them in his pockets. For a little, he just awkwardly stared at Shinji's hand. He seemed to be a little confused by the gesture, which only weirded Shinji out even more.
"Well, I do believe I have to get going now. It was nice meeting you, Shinji Ikari." He said before walking off.
Shinji watched as Kaworu walked way, not even carrying a flashlight or an umbrella with him. He was humming the tune he had just played on the piano as he went, indulging in the wondrous melodies of Ludwig Van Beethoven.
Nothing about this random encounter had made any sense to Shinji. There was something so off about this Kaworu kid, like he wasn't really part of this world. And the fact that he had learned to play a song he heard on his way there was nothing short of impressive, albeit Shinji didn't know whether he was just saying that to sound cool or not.
Shinji finally went back to walking past the ruins, looking around for the nearest bus line that could take him to the 1st District.
'What a nut...'
KAJI'S APARTMENT
5:23pm:
*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
"Just a second!" Kaji said, pausing the movie he had been watching while waiting for Shinji to arrive.
He quickly walked over to the door and opened it, finding Shinji on the other side with a wet umbrella, as it had just started to rain shortly before he arrived at the building.
"Hey there, Shinji! How was your date with Rei?" He asked.
"Pretty good... we had lunch together and hung out at her place for a few hours." Answered Shinji. "So, what did you need me for?"
"Come on in, I'll tell you over a cup of coffee."
Shinji entered Kaji's apartment, never actually having been there before. Compared to Misato's place, this was a major step up. It was slightly bigger, and had a lot more modern accommodations installed within the apartment unit itself. He had a large flat screen TV mounted on his wall, a very large window with a spectacular view of Lake Ashi and the surrounding city, and a bar at the kitchen with plenty of bottled of liquor.
Kaji was really living a miniature version of the high life.
"Woah, quite the place you got here." Said Shinji.
"I know, cool isn't it?"
Shinji looked around a little more, feeling the red leather couch facing the flat screen, quickly glancing through a very admirable movie collection, and even skimming through a collection of vinyl. Kaji was a very interesting person to Shinji. He had all these decorative things in his house, was basically living the high life, but still chose to live in Tokyo-3 instead of the much safer Geo Front.
"Say,-" Shinji said. "-why do you live up here and not at the Geo Front?"
Kaji had just lit a cigarette and opened one of the windows so the smoke would clear out, just for Shinji's sake.
"To be honest, that place is a bit much for me."
Shinji raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
"I don't know, it's just a bit tacky for me. I mean I'm sure the apartments and luxury penthouses down there are to die for, but the city itself is kind of a bore. There's lots of attractions, and arcades, and a variety of things to do and all. But all those neon lights, and those big advertisement screens... quite the turnoff for me." Kaji explained. "Or at least, that's just how I see it. Hell, maybe you and Rei should have a date down there. I hear it's a great place for lovebirds."
"Well, I don't know about that..." Shinji said with a chuckle. "Anyway, what's so important that you needed me to come over here? Is something wrong?"
Kaji poured a little bit of hazelnut creamer onto his coffee, than did the same for Shinji's. He place his mug on the dinner table, then walked over to Shinji to hand his mug where he was at.
"Yeah, you and Asuka." Kaji said, having unintentionally guilted Shinji in the process.
"A-Ah, yeah. About that... look, what I did was fucked up, and I-"
"You don't have to explain yourself, Shinji. I know how Asuka can be. Granted, you shouldn't have said whatever it is that you said to her, but I know she can be... difficult, at the very least." He said. "I knew her when she was little in Germany, and all I can say is that she went through a lot as a kid. Trust me when I say it's pretty terrible stuff."
Shinji was a little struck by this.
"What happened?" He asked.
"I'm not really gonna go into detail in respect of Asuka's privacy. But what she want through was pretty damn traumatic. It's why even though she has gone too far and irritated even me a lot of times, I still stick with her. She needs that kind of attention." Explained Kaji.
"Okay, I can understand that... but that doesn't give her the right to treat me the way she does!" Shinji tried reasoning.
"Shinji, you and I both know you're right about that. Nothing justifies the way she's treated you or Rei before. Misato has let me in on all of that, and I do agree that Asuka needs to simmer down when she's set off. But Misato and I are in agreement, here-"
Kaji put his coffee mug down.
"-we don't think you and Asuka should be living together anymore."
Now, this didn't really surprise Shinji all that much. Even Rei was suggesting the same earlier when he was with her, but the big question in his mind regarded how they'd go about that.
"I mean yeah, it wasn't really working out all that well. Maybe for like a week it did, when she first moved in. But after that, things took a nosedive pretty quickly." He said. "So... what exactly are we gonna do about it? Does Misato want one of us to move out, or something?"
Kaji nodded, pointing his finger at Shinji, which slightly angered him.
"Hold on, she's kicking me out?" He asked in utter shock. "First my own room, now her house? Did I really mess up this bad?"
"Slow down there, champ. Don't get too ahead of yourself." Kaji said.
"B-But... no! This doesn't make sense! I only reacted the way I did because Asuka won't stop giving me shit for whatever I do! No, this doesn't make any sense! Why does she get to stay when I was the first one living-?"
"Shinji, just stop for a second!" Kaji firmly said with a raised voice.
Shinji was still upset, but had an easier time listening to Kaji when he lost his patience with him. Ever since telling him about his past, Shinji always knew he could rely on Kaji for things. They had certainly grown closer over since, and Shinji always saw him as an older friend he could admire. So even when Kaji sometimes couldn't quite keep his own cool, Shinji would always want to heed his advice.
"Look around you." Kaji said.
"What?" Shinji asked, not understanding what he was getting at. "Why?"
"Just do it."
Shinji did as he was told, not exactly sure what he was supposed to be looking around at, but he still did it. All he could really look at were the things in Kaji's apartment. So he did just that. He took a look at the city-lit night sky outside the window, observed the fine details in the flat screen TV's sharp quality, noticed that the dinner table consisted of metallic legs and a large piece of glass, and continued on with looking at his very fine apartment.
"See anything you like?" Kaji asked out of the blue.
"I mean, it's a pretty nice apartment and all." Shinji replied.
"What exactly do you like about the place?"
This still made no sense to Shinji whatsoever, but he was willing to go along with it for now, as he had a feeling Kaji did have a point to make.
"It's pretty luxurious for a Tokyo-3 apartment unit. The carpet's nice, I like the lavender scent it has, and the atmosphere you've created here is pretty welcoming." He said. "Also it's bigger than Misato's place. Certainly a lot less crammed, too."
Kaji took another sip of his coffee.
"Well, get used to it. You're moving in first thing tomorrow."
Shinji almost dropped his coffee mug all over Kaji's nice carpet, but managed no to do so. He did, however, feel the need to place it on a counter to avoid the possibility.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Asuka's staying where she is and you're moving here. Misato and I already rang up our superiors and got their okays. You'll be living here now, at least until things with you and Asuka can settle down for good." Kaji elaborated.
"I mean-" Shinji began, taking another look around the place. "-look, this place is really nice and all. But I still don't see why Misato wants me out. Damn, and I thought she liked having me over there..."
"Oh she does, kiddo. But it's not like that." Kaji assured him. "Again, there isn't much I can tell you, but Asuka never really had a mother figure growing up. That's all I'll say about that. What Misato and I are trying to achieve here is to give Asuka more of a motherly discipline, the kind she's never had."
Shinji almost felt some sympathy for Asuka now. But he was still frustrated at the unwelcome treatment he'd often receive from her.
"This is Asuka we're talking about... I hope she gets the help she needs and all, but I think you guys are going to have a real tough time with that one."
"Trust me, I warned Misato about that too. But she thinks it's what needs to be done." Kaji said. "And to be quite frank, I think it'll be a welcome challenge that Misato needs. I don't think I need to tell you how much of a... erm, slob, she can be at home. I hope she can see it in herself to shape up for this, because it is not going to be easy."
Kaji proceeded to finish his coffee, placing the mug back on the table.
"And it's exactly in these type of moments that we're able to learn and get past things. When they're difficult, not easy."
He then went over to his red leather couch and grabbed ahold of the TV remote, handing in to Shinji as he made his way into his room.
"Listen, I got a ton of unfinished work I gotta focus on. Make yourself at home, 'cuz this really is your home now." He said to Shinji. "And feel free to leave when you want. I'll call you tomorrow morning."
And then he went, off to do what Shinji presumed was more spy work.
Shinji looked at the TV remote, but wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to watch, or if he even wanted to watch anything in the first place. He plopped himself onto the couch and looked around once again. This was the new home he'd have to get used to. But for the first time in his life, he wasn't getting anxious about it. He'd miss living with Misato despite it being as imperfect as it was. He enjoyed her presence.
'But Asuka... no. That won't work anymore. She stresses me out too much.'
He began to feel really bad about calling Asuka a bitch earlier that day. He knew she had her issues, but from what Kaji had vaguely detailed, it sounded like it was much more serious than he had previously imagined.
Shinji looked out the window, towards the direction of the 3rd District, right where he knew Misato's apartment was at.
'Another ceiling to get used to...'