Disclaimer: See prologue
Chapter 11: Cohabitation
Shinji, Touji, and Kensuke parted ways at their respective train lines, and Shinji made his way back to Misato's apartment. When he entered the building, his bedroom was stacked floor to ceiling with DHL shipping crates.
"What is all this stuff?!"
"This 'Stuff' is my personal property and you'll show some respect for it!"
"Soryu?! What in the world are you doing here?"
"Isn't it obvious? Misato realized that you weren't up to her high standards; she wants to live with a real pilot! Now grab a shovel, your old crap is outta here!"
"You can't be serious!"
"Ha! That's exactly what I thought when I saw these tiny Japanese apartments. Do you people own anything? I can't fit anything of mine in here. And what is wrong with these doors? They don't lock or even close all the way." She started opening and closing the door to prove her point, when a tall, dark-haired woman appeared behind them both.
"Actually, we Japanese respect people's privacy, we simply knock before we enter a room."
"MISATO!" the two teens exclaimed in unison, and Asuka continued.
"Finally, get this idiot out of here! I need the space."
"No ma'am, Shinji's not going anywhere, you two will be living together from now on."
"WHAT?!" their voices sounded like they were merged into one at this point.
"Asuka, this is for your own good. I listened pretty closely to your little tirade at the train station, and it became clear that you need to learn teamwork. You may have operated alone in Germany, but here you're part of a functional Eva squadron. You may be one pay grade above Shinji and Rei, but until you prove otherwise, you're behind them in the chain of command."
"Then let me prove otherwise! You're tying me to those deadweights without a second thought!"
"Your time in the Luftwaffe should have taught you that you never leave a wingman behind, but right now you're showing absolutely no Officership whatsoever. "
"And? I'm stuck here with Ikari's kid while the First Child gets off scot free!"
"Rei is a naturally solitary person, but she and Shinji already work extremely well together." She shot a mischevious wink over to Shinji while he facepalmed. "If she caused as much of a problem as you are, she'd be going through this training as well. Now, we just have to work you into the chores. Shinji's the family chef, I work for a living, and that means you get laundry duty from now on."
"What?! I'm not handling his moldy clothes!"
"That's an order by the way."
"Man was that job ever a pain in the ass. Still, everything went exactly as you'd hoped. The Third Angel is dead, and Bethany's in too much disarray to notice your package is gone. However, that doesn't make anything easier for you. The UN has ordered me to do a full inspection of NERV's flagship facility. I am the Inspector General after all..."
"Yes and I'm sure you'll find everything here is up to regulation. Now, for your delivery, I'd like to see its state of disrepair."
"No disrepair at all." Kaji opened the case and presented it to Gendo. "The embryonic remains of the First Angel, perfectly preserved in bakelite, like a Jurassic mosquito trapped in amber."
"And from that amber we will extract the genetic data necessary for the future of humanity. What of our competition?"
"Well, lets see...Japan Heavy Industries has consistently failed to produce their Jet Alone concept...across the pond the TriOptimum Corportation in Boston is developing a Psioinic Amplifier that may one day allow a 'man sized' AT field... SEELE wants to create cheap and Mass-Produced Evangelions... Other than that, if everything is satisfied here, I need to take my leave. I have several individuals I need to contact, and if I don't have a report written the UN is going to have both our heads."
The ponytailed rogue left the room and made his way down to the synchronization chambers.
"UN Inspector General Ryouji Kaji...Can he be trusted?" Fuyutsuki asked of his colleague.
"If we do not trust him then we lose our official support, Professor."
Dr. Ritsuko Akagi was going over medical research when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, and a poorly-trimmed chin nuzzled her cheek. "Your figure has gotten even more stunning, Ritzy."
"You of all people should know that flattery doesn't work on me. According to the real world I've been gaining weight."
"Well, you could drop a few pounds right now by taking off all those clothes."
"Right in front of a security camera?"
"That I replaced with a static feed to an empty room..."
"You do always think of everything, except one." Ritsuko gestured to a dividing window, where Misato was steaming like a bull in the arena.
"What the hell is that creep doing here!?"
"I'm on a job. UN's got me...Inspecting the place." he answered with a lecherous grin.
"You've got some nerve showing your sorry face again." She looked to Ritsuko. "HR just gave us the go ahead on Asuka." She stormed out of the room.
"Kaji, that look was pure jealousy...I'd say you've still got a shot."
"That's what I wanted to find out..."
"A field trip?"
"Yeah, Mr. Kaji said I could bring anybody that I wanted."
Misato snarled "In that case, count me out-"
"Did you say 'KAJI'?!" Asuka bolted into the room.
"Uhh, yeah, why?"
"Because he's a real man, and he was soooo gooood to me back in Germany!" she answered with hearts in her eyes.
Misato was disgusted. "What, exactly, did you two do in Germany?"
"He was my bodyguard, and he took me shopping and carried all my bags and waited on me hand and foot." Asuka swooned.
"Well, Commander, your son asked Rei to accompany him, the Second, and several of his classmates to the Ecological facility."
"Is this a risk to her?"
"Probably not, but since it's a long trip I highly recommend she have an LCL immersion as soon as she returns. With her current sync, I feel that we can stop aging her, but she needs more time in the LCL to balance the Neuropazyne withdrawals. Versalife company will hate us for it, we used to be one of their biggest customers."
"Very well, Ristuko. Please, consider staying here a while before you return to your work."
"This is the coolest place ever to be built! Thanks for bringing us out here Shinji!" Kensuke was video taping every last screw and bolt at their destination.
The NERV VTOL unloaded five teenagers and one penguin at the Ecological Water Reclamation Plant. Kaji greeted them via loudspeaker from the security offices.
"Alright, kids. It'll get kind of complicated from here on out..."
After being irradiated, boiled, supercooled, windblown, and dressed in sterilized clothing, PenPen, Shinji, Rei, Touji, Kensuke, and Asuka stepped into the main habitat of the research aquarium, right as one of the few blue whales left on earth swam by. The boys were thrilled, and Penpen got into a heated discussion with the other penguins at the complex while Rei looked in silence and Asuka acted miffed.
"They're acting like preschoolers." She said as she watched Kensuke and Touji marvel over a loggerhead turtle, until she noticed Shinji climbing up to where Rei was looking into an isolated tank housing a school of miniscule chromis fish. She snorted and turned to her SwanCrystal player.
"I'm glad you could come with us, Rei, are you feeling better?"
"Yes. Dr. Akagi is taking me off the medication routine, I should be fine now."
He akwardly looked into the fishtank. "Why do you think the're keeping all these fish separate from everything else?"
"They have to. They're too weak to survive anywhere else. They're like me that way."
Shinji just stared at her, what she said made absolutely no sense to him, and he had no idea how to respond or make her feel better...
Asuka was doing her best to snuggle up against Kaji, with him politely ignoring her, as Shinji laid out their packaged lunch for the trip. Everybody dropped what they were doing when they smelled Shinji's artwork.
"You're a natural cook, Shinji. Ladies love a man that knows his way around a kitchen!" Kaji laughed to him.
"You hear that, Touji?" Kensuke asked, getting a rise out of the jock.
"Whatever! A kitchen is no place for a man!"
"For a caveman like you, you're absolutely right!" Asuka mocked him.
"What'd you call me?! I, for one, still have principles!"
"Stupid principles."
"Come on, guys," Shinji interrupted, "just eat, neither one of you had to cook today anyway."
Touji went back to shoveling his face as Shinji turned to his attention to Rei. "Rei, is something wrong with the food?"
Rei looked away from Shinji and apologetically answered "I, well, I don't eat meat..."
Asuka overheard and involved herself, "Could you be any more self-righteous? There is absolutely nothing wrong with eating other animals, but right now you're just wasting a meal someone else would appreciate!" Rei blankly stared at her. "What? You wanna Fight!"
"All right, all right, I'll take care of this." Touji took Rei's unwanted food and was subsequently attacked and run down by a still-hungry PenPen. Shinji poured her a serving of miso with extra nori and tofu cubes. "Here, try the miso soup, then."
She took a drink and went wide-eyed. "...It's delicious."
Kaji smirked at Shinji's natural kindness. = He's a true gentleman to her. =
"I can't believe the ocean used to have so many fish and animals in it."
"The entire world was like that before the Impact. It's actually the reason I wanted to bring you kids out here. I figured neither the Commander or Misato would tell you what we're fighting for. Someday, after all this madness is over, the oceans will be clear and blue, the air will be clean and healthy, the Earth will cool and the ice caps will freeze again."
"You know, Misato seemed pissed that you invited us, even when I asked her to come."
"She could never see a place like this. Too many memories of 15 years ago; memories of the Second Impact." Kaji turned to face Shinji. "Misato hated her father before he died, he was married to his work, and had just begun trying to reconnect with her. He brought her to Antarctica so she could see the incredible animal life in what was thought to be barren wasteland—it's where she found her love for penguins—when the Impact happened. Her father's actions saved her life, but she blames him for it. When you know her as closely as I did, you find out that she would have rather died back there than survive without him. She was nearly catatonic for two years after that. She didn't speak and barely moved at all."
Shinji thought about Misato's comment that she and her father didn't get along, she told him that when the two had first met.
Inside NERV HQ, satellite video revealed a black sphere currently in a decaying orbit somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean.
A/N: Would you believe my favorite character in Neon Genesis Evangelion was...Ryouji Kaji?