Shinji sighed as he waited outside of the big mall. His father had promised to send someone to pick him up, but Shinji wondered if he really wanted to get back to the base.

Actually, the only reason why he had agreed to become the pilot of MechaGodzilla was to impress his father, to show him that he wasn't as useless as everyone believed him to be.

He hadn't been to enthusiastic when he learned that the robot he was supposed to pilot had an extremely annoying A.I. program installed. How was he supposed to be a hero when the dumb robot didn't let him battle the big monsters? And then she even had the nerve and just dropped him out of the emergency chute...

But... having seen her transform into a human-sized girl, Shinji wasn't too sure if he really wanted to fight anymore. His father would be mad for all the trouble, sure, but this wasn't Shinji's fault, was it? The idiotic technician who programmed Minako was to blame.

So he would quit... and then what? Go back to school? Let everyone laugh at him for what a weakling and coward he was, running away from his duties? He didn't want to know what Asuka was going to say...

He sighed and watched the people going in and coming out of the mall. One couple that was about to go inside caught his interest. It was a young man who looked like he was a bit older than Shinji, and a cute-looking, pony-tailed redhead.

"So why do we have to go here again?" the boy grumbled.

"Just wait until we are inside," the girl said cheerfully. "If you've never been in a mall before, you just have to take a look yourself. I'll bet there's something you'd like. Come on, take a look!"

"I really need to go and find M..." Mamoru stopped himself. He almost had said Mothra, but Unazuki probably wouldn't understand what he meant. "A... friend of mine," he said.

"Really? What's this friend like?" Unazuki wondered if this 'friend' was as weird as Mamoru was, but she did the polite thing and didn't say it out loud.

"Umm..." Mamoru scratched his head, ignoring how strangely human this gesture was. How was he supposed to describe Mothra without saying that she was an enormous moth?

"She... is very kind," he finally said.

"Ooooh, it's a 'she'!" Unazuki giggled. "Are you sure she's just a friend?"

"I... I don't know what you are talking about," Mamoru quickly said.

"Then why are you blushing?" Unazuki winked.

'Damn this human skin,' Mamoru thought. 'And damn those irritating feelings... Mothra said she likes me like that, so what? It's not like we are even compatible...'

"What does your friend like? Maybe we can buy her something nice... does she like flowers?"

Mamoru thought about it. Well, Mothra was a moth, so...

"I... I guess so..." he said.

Unazuki grinned. "Great! Then we're going to buy you a bunch!"

She was very excited, which confused Mamoru. Unazuki, like most girls her age, was a bit of a romantic, so she liked having the chance to improve a boy's and girl's relationship. Mamoru, on the other hand, had no idea what it really meant when a human boy bought flowers for a human girl...

As they walked towards the entrance, Mamoru bumped into Shinji.

"Hey, watch it!" Shinji said.

Mamoru glared at him. "Step out of my way the next time, human!" He then continued to follow Unazuki.

Shinji shook his head. Really, some guys could be rude...

Then he realized something. The other boy had called him 'human'... Under normal circumstances, Shinji would have suspected him to be a weirdo...

But Shinji had seen with his own eyes how two kaiju and a kaiju-sized robot had turned into cute girls... was there a chance that this guy was also...?

"Hey, baka-Shinji, what are you doing here?" a loud voice spoke up next to him.

Shinji turned around and looked into the face of none other than Asuka Langley Soryu, his half-german classmate.

"Didn't you tell me your father got you this job for the government?" Asuka asked with a frown. "Didn't you say something about having to pilot a giant robot? If that is true, then I'm wondering why you are hanging around in front of the mall."

Shinji murmured something unintelligible. "Speak up, I can't hear you!" Asuka complained.

Shinji winced. "I said: My robot dropped me just when I was about to fight Godzilla," he muttered.

Asuka was taken aback. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Why should I joke about something like this? It was the fault of that A.I. program someone installed in the robot. She simply decided not to fight Godzilla and got rid of me."

Asuka raised her eyebrow. "She?"

"It was a female A.I. program..." Shinji muttered.

Asuka snorted. She couldn't help herself and began to giggle. "Bwahahahahah! That's just like you, Shinji! I've never met a girl who would stand you. Now, seriously, what did you do, press the wrong button?"

"I didn't do anything!" Shinji protested. "I wanted to fight, but Minako wouldn't let me."

"Oh, now you're giving your computer program a name? Is it because you'll never have a girlfriend yourself? You can be such a perv sometimes..."

Shinji groaned. That was just typical. He could say what he wants, Asuka just wouldn't listen to him.

"Anyways, I don't know why I'm even talking to you," Asuka grumbled. "I'm here to do some shopping... but why am I surprised, you're actually not the biggest weirdo I ran into today."

"Oh, thanks for the honesty..." Shinji murmured.

"Well, but at least that guy was a real looker," Asuka grinned. "Unlike you, baka-Shinji! But still, he acted even stranger than you. Just imagine, he asked that girl if she had ever taken a warm lava bath." She chuckled.

Now Shinji frowned even more. That had to be the same guy who just bumped into him. Lava bath? And he called him a human? And then Shinji recalled how Godzilla had simply disappeared during the battle.

'I have to find that guy,' he thought. 'If my guess is correct, that girl he was with could be in great danger...'

"Hey, what's the matter?" Asuka shouted when all of a sudden, Shinji ran off.

"I need to find that guy," Shinji shouted back.

"What guy? Hey! Wait for me!" Asuka yelled as she ran after him.

Author's Notes:

Short episode this time, and without any big kaijus involved. I hope you're not disappointed.