The sizzling sound of meat frying on a pan was motivation enough to ger Misato out of bed. She had lived on beef ramen and takeout for the last several months, and a home cooked meal seemed in order. She slowly got to her feet and stumbled into the kitchen.
Hot links and eggs were coming along nicely in one of Misato's skillet pans, and coffee was in a pot, nice and hot.
Shinji had his back to her and was dressed, a white shirt and black slacks, minding the food. He stepped away from the stove and opened a cabinet, taking out a tin of sardines. he peeled it open and emptied it over a small plate. He then handed the plate to something standing next to him, about waist height. There was a loud, contented WARK! saound, followed by waddling and the sounds of talons clicking on kitchen tiles. A small door on a refidgeration unit about seven feet high and five feet wide opened and closed a second later.
"Well at least he's polite." Shinji said, before going back to the stove.
Misato leaned against his shoulder. "Oh good! You can make Western style food." After Misato had come back from Germany a few years ago, she hadn't had a lot of chances to eat that kind of food anymore.
"It's about all I can cook." Shinji said, turning off the stove and serving the food. "I learned how to cook from my aunt. She was from France, and stuff like this are all she knows how to make, so that's all I know how to make."
Misato pulled out a beer from the fridge and popped it. "France, huh? What was she doing living in Osaka?"
"Several years before I came to live with them, my uncle met my aunt while he was abroad. She came back with him and they were married by the time I came to live with them."
One beer down. "Oh. You excited for your first day of school?"
Shinji began eating. "I guess. Haven't been with kids my own age in a while. Might be fun. One question. What's the story with that penguin? I go take a bath and he busts in and starts screeching at me for taking too long. Kinda freaked me out."
Misato smiled. "Pen Pen? He's a warm water penguin. He's cool. I used to work at a genetic testing center, and after it closed down, many of the animals were without anyplace to go. I kind of adopted him. I don't know what this place would be without him."
Shinji raised his coffee to her. "Misato Katuragi, the humanitatian, the lover of animals."
She chuckled. "Get your ass out of here. School is starting in twenty minutes."
The thing that bothered Shinji the most about going back to a public school was the noise. Dozens of teenagers talking, screeching, yelling about things that he had no interest in. It was maddening. Keeping his concentration was an effort, and he would have to get used to that.
When he had been living in Osaka, he had lived on an estate outside the city. His aunt and uncle, due to their previous occupations, had enough money to live like kings for the rest of their lives. The decision to home school Shinji had not been an easy one. It was not a manner of academics, as both Samanosuke Rokubungi and his wife could have been considered geniuses in any given field. But at the time, Shinji's extreme anger problems barred him from a public school. Through much time and effort however, the two of them were able to turn his energies toward more constructive areas, and the last few years had been quite happy and productive, until a week ago, when a letter had arrived in the mail.
Shinji barely paid attention when the class representative, a pigtailed girl named Hikari, introduced him to the rest of the class. She seemed nice enough, but he had other things on his mind.
Off in the corner of the room, near the window, sat the so called First Child, Rei Ayanami. She looked as bored as he felt. The only sign that she had been injured, from when he had seen her in the EVA launch bay, was a cast on her hand. After hikari had finished, everyone broke up and went over to their respective friends and circles.
Rei looked up as Shinji walked up and sat in a chair next to her. "Glad to see you're feeling better. You weren't looking too good last time I saw you."
"I am recuperating steadily from my injuries, Pilot Ikari." she had a voice that expressed terminal disinterest.
"Pilot Ikari? We're not on the clock, Ayanami. Shinji is fine."
Blood red eyes shifted and examined him. 'You are wrong, Pilot Ikari. The Angels can come at any time. We are always 'on the clock', as you say."
"If you say so. Almost time for lunch. What kind of food they serve in this place?"
"I do not know, Pilot Ikari. I only know they serve meat often. I pack a meal from my home."
"You a vegetarian, huh? You're a braver woman than I. I don't know what I'd do without a cheeseburger or a steak." and with that, he got up and walked out the classroom, leaving Rei alone with her thoughts.
Rei tilted her head slightly and looked at him. "Brave? How am I..brave?" Being labeled in such a manner was confusing to her. What had she done to be brave?
The school provided top of the line laptops to every student, so they could chat over the school network and do research relating to classes. While he ate in the cafeteria, Shinji noticed a great deal of chatter through the school messaging service lines. Curious, he opened a window.
you seen that new kid? cuute. quiet though. what's his story?
i heard from by brother that he pilots one of those giant robots.
no shit? how does your brother know?
he works at NERV. his father's the commander-
His father. It always came back to his father. Why was that? Shinji gritted his teeth and opened another window and began typing.
he's NOT my father.
Several people grouped around laptops stopped typing and looked at him. Shinji waved at two girls sitting at the far end of the cafeteria. One smiled, and they began chattering to one another.
are you the pilot of that robot that killed the angel? you're so coool! i'm dying to know!
how can i become a pilot?
how do they choose? is it a test, what?
cmon, cmon, cmon! are you a pilot? YES or NO?
Shinji took a deep breath, and then typed YES.
In less than a minute, he was surrounded by dozens of students, all chattering away at once. He was a lucky dog, he was crazy, fighting giant monsters, could'nt he fight away from the city? Reconstructing damaged buildings and infrastructure would take at least a month.
A loud slamming of a chair against a table got his attention, as a tall boy looked at him with barely restrained anger turned away and left the cafeteria, followed by a smaller boy wearing glasses and carrying a camcorder. What was that about?
On his way back to class, Shinji's pants began vibrating. Pulling out his cell phone, Shinji saw KATSURAGI, MISATO as the caller. Flipping the phone open, he said "Something I can do for you? I'm kind of busy with everyone kissing my ass now that they know I'm an EVA pilot."
"Some boxes came for you. I signed for them. Nothing in them but clothes...shirts, jackets. This shit is expensive. Where'd you get the money for nice threads like these?"
"My aunt and uncle bought them for me. When it comes to looking presentable, money is no object."
"In that case, I'll have to have you take me out sometime, seeing as you're rich and all. Someplace classy."
"You know what classy looks like?"
"Very funny. I bought some steaks earlier. they're in the fridge. Can you make them when you get back?"
"Yeah. Be seeing you." Shinji clicked the phone off. He was turned around roughly by a boy wearing a black tracksuit and a hard look in his eyes.
"Gonna have to beat you down, new kid."
"Any particular reason, or is this just for kicks?"
A second boy, the one Shinji had seen wearing glasses and carrying the camcorder walked up. "You're the EVA pilot? You should be more careful. Toji's sister was injured by falling debris from you wrestling with that monster a couple days ago."
"I should be more careful? She should have gotten her ass to a shelter. At least she's alive!"
With a growl, Toji launched himself at Shinji, fists ready to smash something. Instead of backing off or putting his hands up, Shinji darted foward and headbutted Toji, knocking him back.
"You've got some moves," Toji groaned. He had'nt expected the new kid to fight back, or to headbutt him. His nose started bleeding. Shinji dropped into a relaxed stance and looked at him, waiting for a move.
The shrill sound of alarms broke the silence. An Angel attack.
"Pilot Ikari." Shinji looked to his right. Rei was there, watching them. "We are needed."
"Yeah, yeah." Shinji looked at Toji. "Duty calls." be ran down the hallway after Ayanami toward the exit.
"We're not finished, new kid!" Toji yelled after him.
"Blow it out your ass!" was the last thing he heard before Shinji sped out the door.
I promise the next couple chapters will be more action packed. Building up a slow burn...please review