Quick AN before we start - I'm currently without internet, so next update will probably either be around Christmas or after the New Year. Also, I've begun to touch up and rework some chapters - details at the bottom. Please enjoy.
"Leisure, Cooking & Lazing" was a small eatery on the outskirts of Tokyo-3's business district. It was a regular stop for many NERV workers, despite its small size - the food was inexpensive and often delicious. It was here that Shinji, Rei, Misato and Kaji had decided to eat on their night out.
Shinji and Rei showed up first, 5 minutes before schedule. They went inside and took their ordered table, and waited for Misato and Kaji arrived.
The pair arrived half an hour later, both of them visibly disgruntled.
Ignoring their moods and lateness, both parties shook hands and made small talk. Misato and Kaji soon picked up the menus sitting in the middle of the table, and decided on their meals.
The mood stagnated quickly. Both Misato and Kaji were stiff as boards, and gave off a hostile feeling - even reading menus, they seemed ready to pounce at the slightest stimuli.
Eager to break the heavy mood surrounding the table, Shinji nervously spoke up.
"So, how about today's traffic? We just hit the edge of peak hour getting out here."
Misato peeked over her menu, a strained fake smile on her face. "Yeah, it was a real fight getting here, let me tell you!" She laughed and softly nudged Kaji with her palm. He looked up at Shinji and smiled briefly, before immersing himself back into the menu, clearly uncomfortable.
After a moment of increased awkwardness, the server came to take their orders. After confirming each order, the server took the table's menus and went back to his post.
Leaving the four to force small-talk.
"Miss Katsuragi, have you been following the Geneva debate recently?" Rei spoke up in a formal tone, softened by the social setting.
"What, the talk about working in N-2 restrictions or something?" Misato spoke a bit louder than intended, and lowered her voice quickly. "I've been paying a bit of attention, but I've mostly just been picking up bits and pieces from coworkers..."
As Rei led Misato into a discussion about bureaucracy, she nudged Shinji - half-paralyzed by the tense atmosphere. Nervously, he turned to Kaji.
"So, uhh... have you been keeping up with basketball lately?"
The question took Kaji a few seconds to comprehend, but it left him smiling.
"Shinji, basketball season ended a month ago. We watched the final game together, remember?"
Shinji's face went red with embarrassment. He and Kaji had headed out with some other people from their department to watch the last game - at "Leisure, Cooking & Lazing", of all places.
Kaji reached over and gave Shinji a rough pat on the shoulder. "Hey, it's fine. I can't think of much to talk about either, to be honest. You tried."
Both men sat awkwardly for a few moments until Kaji noticed a small TV off to the side. A popular drama movie was playing - sound off, but it was a decent mood-setter and enough of a conversation piece to get things rolling.
"Hey Shinji, look at this TV over here. Did you hear about the director of this being arrested for tax fraud?"
Shinji looked over, and soon enough he and Kaji were talking about that director, and eventually the movies they planned to see. After a comfortable conversation on their end, the server from before appeared with their orders.
Rei, still smiling politely and listening to Misato until the interruption, had begun tearing at the corner of a napkin. She'd barely gotten a word in as Misato ranted about the "boneheaded decisions" being made over N-2 weaponry restrictions, and was slowly beginning to lose her composure. The food's arrival brought a quiet moment with it, and Rei savored the silence along with her chicken kiev.
Shinji and Kaji continued swapping small talk as they dug into their food, and Rei's attention was soon focused on her own dish. Deprived of her conversational partner, Misato ate a few morsels of her calamari, but soon got up to go to the bathroom. The silence was killing her, and she needed some cold water to cool off her boiling-hot palms.
Soon after she returned, her focus turned to her food. With the tension dissipating, the group made more comfortable small-talk with each other as they enjoyed their meals.
"Misato, how's your calamari?" Shinji smiled as he brought a piece of steak to his mouth.
"Not too bad, actually!" Misato grinned. Both she and Kaji had loosened up considerably, and Misato in particular was beginning to enjoy the evening.
The TV channel had been changed at another customer's request, and both Kaji and Shinji were watching between bites. It was a rerun of an old crime drama, and the pair were discussing the different actors who were appearing. Suddenly, something on screen surprised Shinji.
"...Wait, that guy's been in everything! What's he doing on a small show like this?"
Kaji laughed. "Yeah, this was his first break. This show's a good 20 years old now, you know."
"Wow, and it still looks so good!"
Misato, on the other hand, had softened considerably since the beginning of their meal. Rei was half-listening to the boys talking, but was otherwise eating her food.
"...Hey, I'm sorry for talking your ear off earlier." Misato shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
Rei looked up from her food. Misato looked slightly guilty, a small smudge of tartare sauce on the side of her frowning mouth.
"I understand that you were tense, it's fine."
The statement made Misato feel slightly better, but not by much. Giving Rei a half-hearted smile and a "thank you", both women soon returned to their meals.
It wasn't too long afterwards that everyone finished eating, and soon after that the bill came. Despite Shinji's suggestion of splitting the bill evenly, everyone ended up paying for their own meals (at Misato's insistence) and were soon out the door.
Misato was practically bounding down the street once they were out the door.
"C'mon, where are we going now? Let's do something!"
Kaji wasn't too far behind her, and Shinji and Rei brought up the rear at a comfortable pace. Content to let Misato decide what to do - figuring that they'd just end up at a bar, as planned - the younger couple spoke to each other as they walked.
Once Kaji got further ahead of them, Shinji spoke to Rei in a hushed whisper.
"Hey, do you think they're alright?"
"They seem to be okay now, but Miss Katsuragi seems a bit reckless tonight and Mr. Kaji seems a bit run-down."
Shinji looked ahead. Misato had found a decent drinking hole, and Kaji reluctantly followed her inside.
"Yeah, she seems a bit restless tonight. I'm kinda worried about her."
"We'll avoid getting into trouble tonight, hopefully." Rei opened the door to the bar, and both her and Shinji entered.
The trouble had already begun, however - Misato was drinking from a stein as tall as her head, and the liquid inside was vanishing fast. Kaji was at the bar ordering a similar stein.
"...Hopefully being the operative word," Rei added as she stepped up to the bar.
Once Shinji and Rei had been served, they went to sit with the older pair. Misato was nearly done with her glass, and Kaji was already halfway through his own. Seeing them sit, Misato finished her beer quickly and slammed her glass down on the table.
"Yeah, there's nothing like a cold one fresh from the tap!" Misato whooped with gusto. Soon she was out of her seat and at the bar, ordering four pitchers of beer for their table.
Rei had gotten a glass of cider, and Shinji had followed suit. Once Misato sat back down, she noticed almost immediately.
"CIDER?! C'mon, Shinji, who taught you how to drink in the first place?"
Shinji was a bit surprised - it'd been a while since he'd heard one of Misato's drunken barbs. For a moment, he was actually offended.
"Hey, I'm working my way up to beer, alright? You focus on your own damn glass."
Though it came out a bit sharper than he'd intended, Misato laughed.
"It's fine either way, kid - I love seeing that backbone of yours!"
While Misato lent over the table to embrace Shinji in an affectionate headlock, Rei leant over towards Kaji.
"Do you think you'll both be alright tonight?"
Kaji drained his glass and looked towards Rei. "Yeah... we'll try and behave. Shouldn't get in too much trouble tonight." His response was distant, and he looked away once he'd finished - the beer had begun to work on him, and he began pouring himself a second glass.
In 15 minutes, the first pitcher was gone. Shinji and Rei finished their glasses of cider.
Misato was already swaying, and Kaji was absorbed in his third glass. As Misato poured her fifth glass, she heard something coming from the back of the bar.
"Oh my god, does this bar have karaoke?!"
Almost out of reflex, Shinji stood up.
"Hey, I'm going to grab some onion rings. Who wants to chip in?"
The promise of onion rings piqued Misato's interest, and she threw her hands out with a few small notes.
"Get a large basket, please!"
Shinji accepted her offering, and soon went up to the bar to place his order. Misato slumped down in her seat and nursed her drink.
Rei filled her glass with beer, and when Shinji returned he did the same. They nursed their drinks and talked amongst themselves for a bit as they waited for their order.
As soon as the basket hit the table, Misato was all hands. Taking a good 8 onion rings, she jammed three of them in her mouth at once.
"Oh m' ghod! Schweet greashe!"
Kaji gave Shinji a thankful pat on the shoulder. Rei looked at him in confusion, and Kaji leant over and whispered to her:
"They're Misato's weakness. It's temporary, but Shinji's saved us from karaoke."
A necessary action indeed, Rei thought as she took a swig from her glass. The alcohol was hitting her, and as the bitter taste of the beer began to subside, she slowly began drinking more.
An hour after their arrival, the group was down to their last pitcher. The onion rings were nearly gone - a fair amount had by all - and everyone was pretty zoned out. Misato and Kaji in particular were the most affected, with 8 and 7 beers to their names respectively - Shinji and Rei following up with an even five each.
"Right now, let's get rid of this thing!" Misato's drunken yell didn't draw much attention in the nigh-deserted bar, but drew a low grunt from Kaji and an unprecedented enthusiastic response from Rei. Shinji was holding onto the table for support, and slapped its surface in agreement.
"But wait, hold on-" Misato lost her balance as she reached into her purse. She landed chest-first on the table and bumped the last pitcher of beer, splashing a few drops onto the table. Unfazed, she slammed a 5000-yen note on the table.
"Whoever drinks the most of this gets the moneythreetwooneGO!" Misato quickly hammered out, grabbing the jug first and filling her glass to the brim. Shinji grabbed it off of her next, prying the handle out of Kaji's liquor-weakened grip, and filled his glass. As he set it down again, Misato's hand darted out again and filled her empty glass - emptied in a matter of seconds.
Rei got a couple of drinks in as well, but otherwise Misato was the unanimous winner with five glasses, downed consecutively. Smugly taking her money back, she took it to the bar - and ordered another pitcher.
Kaji was in pretty bad shape at this point - murmuring to himself and slumping over the table. Shinji pushed the onion rings towards him.
"C'mon Kaji, onion rings. Eat 'em." Shinji kept pushing them into Kaji's forearm, to little response from Kaji. After a few unsuccessful attempts, Kaji shot up, grabbed the last few rings and scarfed them down. He then stood up suddenly - quickly grabbing the table to support himself.
A deep gurgle sounded from within him.
"'M gon' vomit. Shinji, help."
Shinji jumped up and guided the older man out of the bar, staying as upright as he could.
Misato came back to the table with the pitcher, and set it down.
"...Hey, weren't we drinkin' with th' boys just now?"
"Kaji's outside, being sick." Rei was the drunkest she'd been in recent memory, but visibly fighting the effect of alcohol. Though she was slurring a few words and supporting herself on the table, she still had some semblance to her earlier self.
"Ah, I c'n see that. Lightweight." Misato smirked to herself as she filled her glass. She offered a refill to Rei, and she nodded in appreciation.
After putting the jug down, Misato took a big sip before putting her glass down.
"...Rei, I wanna talk t'you 'bout somethin' serious. Kinda like touchy-feely emotion crap. S'that okay?"
Rei looked up from her cup and nodded, surprised but not opposed to the notion.
"...Y'shure? It's not gonna be m' usual kind of talking, alright? S'gonna be tot'lly honest, but s'not gonna be like me usually, 'kay?"
"Miss Katsurrraghi, I want to hear what you have to say."
"Alright, here comes." Misato wringed her hands nervously.
After a few silent moments, Rei took a big swig of her drink.
"I'm waiting."
"Okay, 'kay - here, it's comin'." Misato braced herself, finished her half-full glass of beer and began speaking.
"I think you're ssssSUCH a nice girl, Rei, and I think you're t' best thing t' ever happen to Shinji ever. Like I helped him a bit, but you're just so great, you're stable and lovely. You're a lovely young woman, always thinkin' of others..."
Misato stopped for a moment, reaching for the pitcher - knocking it across the table, away from her and into Rei's grasp. After having her glass poured, Misato took a sip and continued:
"An' you're just such a joy to be around, I mean it. I love seein' you both so happy t'gether, because y'both deserve it. You know, if I was that boy's mother, I'd be honored to have you as a daughter in law. I love ya both so much, an' I hope you're both happy fer years t'come."
At that point Misato was on the verge of tears, so she drained a large amount out of her glass to suppress her emotions. As she lowered her glass, however, she came face to face with a teary, blubbering Rei.
"Woah, hey - y'okay, kid?" Misato reached over to shake her shoulder, and Rei's hand came up to meet hers.
"I'm sorry, I'm being a mess all of a sudden... I've never heard anything like that before. Sorry, I love Shinji and I've been a bit appre... apperhen... aprerenhensive about you and Kaji n' everyone and I'm sorry... and I never really had a mother, or anyone to say things like that to me. It really means a lot to me to hear that, and... an'..."
Despite getting a bit loud, Misato didn't stop Rei from blubbering. Instead, she got up and sat next to her, and gave her a big, immersive hug.
"I love being a part of your little family, Mish... Misahto!"
"S'alright, we love ya, Rei."
The pair stayed embraced until Shinji and Kaji re-entered the bar, a few minutes later.
As the pair stumbled out of the bar, Kaji made a beeline for the side alley. Breaking free of Shinji's grip, he went to stumble into the alley - and ended up face down on the sidewalk instead. Quickly turning his head to the side, he vomited into the gutter.
Shinji quickly helped him up, grabbing his arm to put around his shoulders. Kaji broke away as Shinji had his hand, swinging from Shinji's grip and managing to fly into the alley. He propped himself up with his hands, and vomited again behind a bag of trash.
He began dragging himself further up the alley, putting his right hand in the puddle of vomit that he'd just made, and came to a rest behind the bar's main wastebin. It's here that he stayed as he emptied the contents of his stomach - dinner, onion rings and a copious amount of beer. Shinji stood nearby, watching for any signs of struggle.
Once Kaji was done, Shinji helped him up - only for Kaji to swing off again and smack into a wall back-first. With his legs out in front of him, Kaji leant against the wall and slid down until he was sitting on the ground.
"Shinji... We're not going anywhere."
"Yeah, I'm trying t' fix that," Shinji said as he tried to pick up Kaji again. Kaji swatted his hand away.
"NnnnnNNNO, Me and Misato! We're not gonna last!" Kaji hit the ground with the bottom of his fist, making a dull thud.
"Come on, she's inside, Kaji." Shinji stumbled over his own feet for a sec. "We've gotta get back in."
"Just listen for a second, damnit!" Kaji yelled a bit too harshly, and Shinji went quiet.
"...Alright, I'll listen."
Kaji looked up at Shinji's face - he'd gone serious, with his brow furrowed slightly and his jaw steady. He was seething.
"Ah, godfuckit..."
"No, I'll listen. Just tell me, Kaji."
The whole situation pissed him off, but Kaji didn't have much else of a choice. Slowly, he began to speak.
"...We dun enjoy each other's company very much. we're just convenient for each other, but we don't usually enjoy each other personally."
"That's a shame, but I don't wanna hear 'bout your sex life, man..."
"It's not that, Shinji." Kaji's voice carried a sense of resignment to it. "We have fun, but we can't stand each other as people. Put us in a cage and we'd kill each other."
It took Shinji a moment to respond.
"...So you don't love each other?"
"I dunno any more, Shinji. I just don't know." Kaji's hands fell to his sides.
The pair waited for a few moments - Shinji taking a seat next to Kaji.
"...Shinji, how do you and Rei get along so well?"
Caught off a bit by the sudden question, Shinji pieced together whatever answer he could make.
"I dunno. We just... really like each other. We help each other, and stay togevver when we need each other. We just... do."
Kaji looked straight ahead at the wall.
"What does that mean for us, though?"
Shinji put a hand on his shoulder.
"Kaji, I'm drunk right now. And not really a relationship expert. But that's something you need to discuss with Misato. Not now, prolly not even tonight, but you need to talk this out as a couple."
"...Fair enough. I'll keep that in mind, Shinji."
They sat for a few more seconds, before Kaji tried to get up. He fell to the side - right on top of Shinji.
"Giddoff me y' bastard!" Shinji yelled as he pushed Kaji off of him.
"Sorry, my bad." Kaji rolled onto his back. Shinji stood up soon, and gave Kaji a hand up.
"C'mon, we've been out here long enough." Shinji began helping Kaji along to the entrance of the bar.
The boys came in and sat down opposite Misato and Rei, Kaji choosing to lie over the table. His tie had a few spots of vomit, but his shirt was pretty clean - just a small patch on his right sleeve.
"I think'm ready to go home." Kaji slurred, face-down.
"Hold on, we'll finish the pitcher." Misato said. Rei swayed to the side for a moment, but she raised her empty glass in agreeance with Misato. Shinji took up his glass as well, but Kaji decided to stay face-down.
20 minutes later, the pitcher was gone and the couples got up to go home. Only to find that out of all of them, only Shinji could walk straight - Misato's legs buckled under her as soon as she put weight on them, as did Rei's. Shinji called Misato and Kaji a cab, and put Rei's arm over his shoulder for a walk up to the convenience store.
Outside as the cab rolled up, the group said their goodbyes. Rei and Misato hugged, Shinji and Kaji shook hands and there were hugs all round. As the tail-lights of the cab grew smaller and smaller, Shinji led Rei up towards the nearest store.
"Sho, how bad was Mr. Kaji?" Rei's slur was a bit more pronounced, but still manageable.
"Pretty bad. Not too bad vomit-wise, but he was pretty bad." Shinji leant to the side suddenly, but regained his footing.
"Hmm?"
Shinji sighed. "He doesn't know if he loves Misato any more. Apparently it's a mutual thing."
Rei gasped. "No, they're Misato and Kaji! They can't split up!"
"I dunno if they're gonna split up." Shinji pulled Rei's arm further across his shoulder. "He wanted to know how we got along, and I told him to talk about it with Misato."
"I don't like the sound of that." Rei pouted, as she stopped. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she jumped up and Shinji put his hands under her legs - hopefully sober enough to give her a piggy-back ride.
"Thank yooooou~" Rei sighed as she buried her face into the back of Shinji's shirt.
They moved in silence for a few minutes.
"So, what did you and Misato talk about when we were gone?"
Rei gasped softly. "Oh my goodness, Shinji, it was the best. She said that she'd be honored to have me as a daughter in law, and I called her Misato for the first time."
Shinji gasped a bit himself. "That's actually really nice. I'd've loved to have seen that."
They continued along, Rei's head resting face-first on the back of Shinji's neck.
"You shmell nishe."
"Thank you." Shinji lifted her up a bit, as they turned a corner towards a 24-hour convenience store. Once they were outside, Shinji put Rei down on a bench just out the front and went in.
He came out soon with 2 ice creams and some hot food. Sitting next to each other, they divided up the hot food and gave each other licks of their ice creams.
"So... best night ever?" Shinji was resting his head on Rei's shoulder.
"We've had a few good nights, but this one was pretty good." Rei bit into her ice cream cone, and began eating it ravenously.
"And Misato didn't even get into major trouble tonight - that was nice."
"Mmm." With her ice cream gone, Rei grabbed a steamed bun and split it. She ate her half quickly.
"Post-drink munchies?" Shinji lightly brushed the side of Rei's neck with his nose. She nodded.
Sitting up, Shinji grabbed some hot food to eat himself. Once they were done, Shinji called a cab to pick them up.
Once he hung up his cell phone, he turned towards Rei and took her hand softly. He looked into her eyes - his own shining under the influence of alcohol, but also trembling with a kind of fear.
"...Do you think we'll end up like Kaji and Misato?"
Rei was surprised by Shinji's sudden question.
"I... don't think I want to think that far ahead. A lifetime is a long time, and I don't know how we're going to feel in the future."
She squeezed Shinji's hand slightly.
"I'm frightened. I can't answer yes or no."
As tears began to well up in her eyes, Shinji pulled Rei towards him and hugged her. Bringing her head into his chest, he gently stroked the back of her head.
"I'm scared too. I want to be with you forever, but... it's just scary to think that one day, we might not want that any more."
Rei whimpered slightly, and hit Shinji's back softly.
"Why'd you have to get all depressing all of a sudden? I'm a mess now."
"I'm sorry." Shinji bent down and kissed her head. "This isn't how I hoped the night would end."
Their mood dampened, the pair stayed embraced until their cab arrived to pick them up.
"Ahahaha! WHOOO!"
A battered and drunk Kaji opened the door to his apartment, dragging a deliriously drunk Misato behind him. Rather than take the longer trip to Misato's place and have to get up a flight of stairs, or through the hallways of her rich neighbours, Kaji had gotten Misato to crash at his closer, bottom-floor apartment for the night.
He had a couch and a double bed, but not much else besides a few plain, self-assembled pieces of furniture - one such piece of furniture soon being displaced by a stumbling Misato. Kaji's flimsy coffee table soon ended up on the other side of the room as Misato made a crash-landing on his carpet.
"Hold on a sec, I'mma get you a bucket." Kaji slowly made his way to his kitchen sink and retrieved a bucket, and placed it next to Misato's head.
"Murrrrr..."
Misato half-heartedly swatted at the bucket, but otherwise didn't object. Refusing to pause, Kaji managed to fill up 2 tall glasses of water, drinking his over the sink.
"M'sato, I need you t' drink a bit of water for me."
He was soon on his hands and knees, carrying Misato's glass in his hand. Gently, he lifted Misato's head onto his lap, and supported her upper back as he brought the glass to her lips.
She gurgled the first sip of water, and it spilled onto herself and Kaji's carpet. The second sip was more successful, and she began drinking steadily from the glass until it was empty.
After a few seconds, there was a loud gurgle - and Misato hurled her stomach up towards the bucket. A fair bit of vomit hit the side of the bucket and splashed back onto her and Kaji, along with Kaji's carpet, but a majority of her vomit hit the intended mark and stayed in. Clamoring for the bucket, she rested back on Kaji's body and placed her head at its entrance.
Sighing in resignation and irritation, Kaji held Misato as her body violently ejected the night's worth of drinks and food. After what seemed like forever, Misato began to dry-heave and breathe lighter. After sitting her down sideways, Kaji crawled to the kitchen and grabbed some paper towels as well as another glass of water. He quickly returned to her side and wiped her face, giving her the other glass of water to wash the foul taste out of her mouth.
After she had sufficiently recovered, Misato rolled onto her back. Kaji quickly rolled her back onto her side, kneeling behind her to hold her steady.
"Kaaaaaaajiiiiii..."
"I'm here, you're good." Kaji stroked her hair, on the verge of collapse.
"NNNNNO, 'm not gurd." Misato writhed for a moment, settling in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. "I feel AWFUL."
"You'll feel better soon, you've just got to try n' sleep."
"No, 'm alright phurseckally. I feel bad 'nside, 'bout us." Misato leaned back to grab Kaji's arm, but ended up falling into his lap. Kaji helped shift her lower body - her torso had twisted around on its own.
"What're you talking about?"
Misato grasped the sleeve of his shirt. "We dun' get along any more. We're never happy w' each other any more."
Kaji lowered his face to Misato's ear.
"...I know. 'S a big prollem, and I wanna talk about it."
Misato jerked her head up suddenly, smashing into Kaji's nose. He fell back as his nose began to bleed.
"Y'WHAT?!"
Grabbing a spare paper towel he'd grabbed earlier, Kaji covered his gushing nose.
"Ow, God-DAMNIT!"
Misato propped herself up on Kaji's couch.
"Whad'y'mean "I know"?!"
"It means "I see where y' coming from"! I feel t' same way, and I wanna talk about it!" The pair's voices rose, as Kaji's nose began to bleed through the tissue he was using.
"So you've thought it all th' time we've been havin' a hard time, and y' never brought it up?" Misato's voice began to take on a venomous edge, ready for a fight.
Kaji shook his head. "No, 's just been recently. I didn't know how't bring it up with you."
"So what, tonight was a chore f' you?!" Misato was approaching hysterics, her alcohol consumption running rampant with her emotions.
"No, M'sato! I love you an' I wanna make this work!" Kaji punched the floor, his tissue discarded and his nose running free. "I'm jus' so damn ANGRY b'cause I can't do a thing!"
"Do you, thought?!"
The pair's tension reached a breaking point, and they fought for the next few hours. A bit of thrown furniture, a constant barrage of baseless accusations - the argument lasted well into the night.
It was at 3 AM that the pair eventually stopped shouting, their energy sources depleted. Mapping out their own areas, they both crashed on the floor - far away from each other, physically and emotionally.
The next morning at 7 AM, Misato woke up with a headache - not as severe as it could have been, but still enough to be a major inconvenience. Seeing Kaji asleep on the floor across the room, she remembered the argument they'd had before passing out.
Grabbing a pen and paper, she scribbled a note for him. Quietly taking her belongings, Misato took a deep breath and stepped outside into a surprisingly harsh Spring morning.
AN: So, I decided to bring this relationship to a head after all. And so early in the story, too. Well, Shinji and Rei will have their issues eventually - not soon, but eventually - so right now I'm just going to have to write along this line of thought as well as I can.
I apologize for the excessive over-description of the group's drinking habits. I just felt like writing about drinking, and that got me to write the chapter. The 4 characters represent 4 different kinds of drunk that I know of - I'm most like Shinji, my friend's most like Kaji, Rei's the kind of drunk I wish I could be and so is Misato. I tried to base the drunk talk off of my own drunken speech and that of my friends, but it reads a bit like the characters getting Southern accents. Sorry if that's bothersome.
Anyway - next chapter is a flashback. The focus? Shinji and Rei, of course. It'll be a full-on installment too - maybe not as long as this one (Jesus freaking Christ), but it'll be pretty solid. Until then, see you around.
PS: Chapter 2 has been edited. Chapters 1 through 5 will be next, and hopefully up with the next chapter.