The next day
Maya Ibuki's Apartment
Shinji was surprised at the very speedy movers, essentially moving all his stuff out and getting it to her apartment in under an hour. Probably because he didn't have much stuff in the first place.
It was on the other side of town, a nicer looking neighborhood than the one he was previously in. The door to her apartment had a little sign on the front stating that this was indeed..
Maya Ibuki's Lovely Apartment!
There were small pink hearts drawn on either side of the sign, surrounding the text.
"Are you ready to see inside?"
Maya said, blocking the entrance.
"I suppose so…"
She giggled giddily before opening her door.
But the moment she did, a small tube shaped animal came running out and climbed up onto Maya, squeaking in an annoyed tone.
"Bipbo!"
"Bipbo?"
Shinji stared down at the strange looking creature, just to see it was a ferret. A brown and black ferret. Maya picked him up and held him up to her face, brushing her cheek against him.
This went on for a moment before Shinji coughed to bring her back to reality. She took notice and chuckled nervously.
Holding the ferret out in front of her, Maya spoke out again.
"This is Bipbo! My ferret!"
Shinji raised an eyebrow.
"Bipbo?... Really?..."
…
"Leave me alone, I like the name…"
Inside
Maya apologized for the mess and said, "Sorry about the mess, I genuinely didn't expect you to ever be here."
Shinji looked around, taking in the cluttered state of the apartment. He thought to himself that it wasn't too bad and definitely smelled better than Misato's place did when he first arrived.
He gave a small smile to his new big sister and chuckled.
"It's okay, it's not that bad," he said.
While he liked and cared about Misato and Asuka, he was finding it increasingly stressful to live with them. He saw this new change of pace as something more relaxing and welcoming.
As he explored the apartment, he noticed some posters hung up on the wall, featuring movies and bands. However, one particular poster had knives stuck into it, which piqued his curiosity. The poster had a blue background with a scribbled out corner, and four men with their faces scribbled over.
She must really hate them…
As he glanced around, Shinji also saw a small flat-screen TV and a comfortable-looking couch placed in front of it. A relatively new-looking video game console was connected to the TV, resting in front of it on the floor.
There were some novels stacked up neatly on a cushion, creating an inviting atmosphere for someone who wanted to relax and read.
He looked over behind him and saw his boxes of belongings, left by the movers. Maya tapped his shoulder, prompting him to turn and face her.
"So… I guess I can show you to your new room…"
She had a sheepish and awkward smile as she rubbed the back of her head. She gestured down a hall which had four doors leading into separate rooms.
She led him over to the closest door on the left, it was an almost empty room, it just had some boxes and junk lying around.
"Well… it's not much but this is your room now, I suppose…"
He sat down his box of stuff on the floor in the nearly empty room and smiled. It wasn't too grand or anything, just a simple apartment room.
And he was fine with that.
Sorry for the short chapter, and thank you for all the follows and favorites.
Soursugar404 is now a coauthor.