Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion and all rights go to their respective owners. Also, all OCs are the creation of JimmyWolk himself.
SPOILER WARNING: This contains spoilers for the fanfic "The 2nd Try" and its sequel comic Aki-Chan's Life" which is all done by JimmyWolk. So If you haven't read that then you should stop right here and check those out first before continuing.
Summary:
As the Ikari family prepares to cook dinner, Misato comes home to announce that there getting take-out food instead.
"Pizza Time!"
It was a quiet evening for the Ikari family in the shared Katsuragi apartment. After doing some food shopping and arriving back they had just started putting away their stuff while Shinji started preparing to cook that evening's dinner.
As he put on his apron and heated the frying pan, he, Asuka and Aki heard the sound of the front door opening, signalling that their guardian had revived home from work.
Before the two parents could vocally welcome home the purple-haired woman or even before Aki could run over to welcome her auntie, they heard Misato call out.
"Shinji! Turn off the cooker and put down the frying pan! We are having takeout tonight kids!" Misato hollered excitedly as she finally came into view from the entry hallway.
"Wait, you mean that.." Asuka tried to finish but was quickly cut off as Misato quickly dropped her work bag on the kitchen table.
"Yep that's right Asuka, I got word and confirmation that our local take-out places are re-opened for business."
While Asuka looked as excited as Misato did, Shinji on the other hand was apprehensive of the idea, knowing full well of Misato's habit of ordering fast foods rather than at least trying to cook a decent meal. Though then again, considering the older woman's natural talent of turning even a basic meal into something that resembles toxic sludge was astounding in itself.
But in all, they had just been shopping and Shinji was going to make dinner, especially with ingredients that were on sale and had to be used today. "But Misato..," Shinji tried to voice out but was promptly cut off.
"I know what you're gonna say Shinji and any food you bought today can be used for tomorrow or another day but now it's TAKE-OUT TONIGHT!" Misato cheered loudly again, leaving no room for more discussion. Shinji sighed, heavily knowing when the purpled-haired woman got like this there was no persuading her.
"Ok gang, what do all you fancy?" Misato said as she quickly went into one of the kitchen cupboards and pulled out a bunch of menus before displaying them like a hand of cards in her hands. "We can get Fried Chicken, Chinese food, Indian food, Pizza or.."
"What's pizza?" Aki's small voice called out.
Aki's innocent question made Misato stop altogether before the older woman turned and looked down at her "niece". "Wait you don't know what pizza is, kiddo?" Misato asked slightly in disbelief.
Aki shook her head no. "What is it?"
Rather than quickly answer the question, Misato walked over to the small girl before snatching her up and holding her close in a comforting hug. "Oh my God, you poor thing. How on earth have you not had pizza!" Misato cried out dramatically as she rocked the girl in her arms gently before looking at both her former charges with a slight stare of disappointment. "Shinji, Asuka! How could you deprive this girl of pizza?"
Both parents looked at the older woman in disbelief. Surely she hadn't forgotten what they had told her. The years they spent in a post-third impact world, right?!
"Err Misato, remember we were kinda preoccupied with…things," Shinji said, stressing the emphasis on "things" being them trying to survive day to day after the end of humanity.
"And it wasn't like there was a special magical button that would instantly give us food you know," Asuka said sarcastically to the woman, a bit peeved at Misato for forgetting the details of all the struggles and hard work growing their food and scavenging for supplies while insinuating that they were depriving their baby of any food.
"Well, didn't you at least try to make your kind of pizza!?" Misato inquired. Surly they must have tried to make some foods with the stuff they had found or had grown. Sadly, she saw both of the teen parents shake their heads negatively.
"We just didn't have the ingredients and we were limited to what we could grow," Shinji explained. They did try to be creative with what they could grow and scavenge occasionally for Aki's sake but there was only so much they could do at the time.
"Hey! What is pizza!?" Aki called out as she looked at everyone, a bit tired of being ignored and that no one was answering her question.
"Well little troublemaker, let me weave the tale and origin of one of the greatest things ever created by mankind alongside TV, air conditioners, instant noodles, indoor plumbing and of course Bee…" Misato trailed off as she saw Asuka instantly giving her a warning glare, knowing full well that she was going to say beer.
"And bee what?" Aki asked.
"Bee…hive, yeah beehives. You know, for making honey," Misato quickly said. However, she saw that Aki was now glaring at her and pouting at her choice.
"I don't like bees. One stung me on my hand when I was just being nice and I'll never forgive them!" Aki proclaimed loudly and pridefully. Even raising her small fist in the arm to show her defiance.
"Well…ok no to beehive then. Anyway, we're getting off track here. Pizza was created back in a country called Italy.."
"Where is that? Is it near here?" Aki quickly cut in due to not knowing what Italy even was or how far it was.
"Oh err ok scratch that part. Well, pizza was made a long time ago about a couple of hundreds of years.."
"Hundreed? I don't think I can count that many…oh but can go up to seventeen!" Aki said, being proud of her current ability to count to that particular number.
"Oh err…well that's good for you. Anyway, pizza is made up of flattened bread that is usually topped with tomato sauce and cheese.."
"Cheezz?…Oooh, I know that! Mama and Papa tried to make it before, but it always came out weird and funny." Aki giggled remembering the time her parents tried making it.
Asuka and Shinji shared a smile while also remembering their attempts at making certain products like butter and cheese during those times but unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in producing anything good or even last. Once again it was more due to the limitations of their applications and resources that had at their disposal at the time but they had some funny moments experimenting back then.
"Well, this type of cheese the pizza places have, honey, is way better than what you guys were trying to make. It's rich and creamy that it melts in your mouth and with any kind of topping you want on it, it's the perfect food for any occasion," Misato went on as she walked over to the kitchen table, grabbing the pizza menu before handing it to Aki to see.
"See this, this is what pizza looks like and you love eating meat right?" Misato questioned although she already knew Aki's love of anything with meat by now. "Look, they got the perfect pizza for you. A meat lovers pizza!"
"A meat-lover pizza," Aki repeated, her voice filled with utmost wonder as she stared at the picture of the said pizza item on the menu.
"Yep, it's got all the toppings of pepperoni, Italian sausage, ham, bacon, pork and beef…and she's drooling," Misato said as she finally noticed Aki was no longer listening and was majorly drooling on the menu and table.
"I want meat lovers," Aki voiced out like she was in a trance before taking a deep breath. "I WANT MEAT LOVERS!" Aki shouted excitedly. "I want meat, I want meat, I want meat!"
"Ok, ok, we'll get you your own personal meat lovers, kiddo," Misato declared, smiling at seeing how excited the little girl was.
"YAAY!" Aki cheered.
"Wait, Misato, you're getting Aki a whole pizza?" Shinji said a bit concerned. He knew from experience that this pizza takeout was infamous for its sizes.
"Oh relax, I'm not getting her a humongous eighteen-inch for crying out loud. I'll get her a twelve-inch one to start with," Misato said although Shinji still gave her a look of disapproval, believing a simple ten-inch would have been preferable for Aki.
"Ok so besides Aki, what do you guys want? Are you sharing a pizza or do you want separate ones?" Misato asked the two parents as she started writing down on a piece of paper.
"It's fine, me and Shinji will just share a triple pepperoni," Asuka replied giving Shinji a look who nodded in agreement, although reluctantly, still wishing to have cooked a nice dinner instead.
"Ok, so a fourteen-inch triple pepperoni and oh I nearly forgot!" Misato said as she went over to the other fridge in the house, knocking on the small door at the bottom a few times. "PenPen, we're getting pizza! You want your usual seafood pizza, little guy?" Misato called out and not a few seconds later the door opened with PenPen poking his head out, looking up at the purple-haired woman.
"WARK!" PenPen cried in confirmation, with an additional wave of his clawed hand.
"Ok, then that just leaves my order and I'm getting my classic, Hawaiian pizza," Misato declared, writing down her choice before walking over to the house phone.
Her choice did not sit well with a certain redhead who gave the older woman a gross-out expression. "Ughh seriously why that pizza Misato?"
"Hey, what's wrong with Hawaiian?"
"It's just…I don't know it's just unnatural to put fruit on a pizza," Asuka tried explaining.
"Well, tomatoes are a fruit and they're used as the sauce on a pizza, plus the sweetness of the pineapple adds well to the saltiness of the pizza overall," Misato countered.
Asuka tried to say something but ended up just giving up and leaving the whole debate. "Ah fine, whatever. Order your freaky pizza."
"Hey, it's not freaky! Besides, I bet you that Aki-chan will love it too," Misato challenged the redhead mother, while she started typing in the pizza place number on the phone.
"She doesn't know what pineapple even is, right Schätzchen?" Asuka said as she turned to her daughter, who was still staring at the pizza menu while fidgeting where she stood.
"Meat.." That was all Aki said and once again wiped the drool with her top sleeve.
"Oh yes hello, I like to order a bunch of pizzas, please," Misato hollered to the pizza place on the line. In less than a few minutes, she was able to list down everyone's orders over the phone, even including some side snacks like garlic bread and some wings to the mix.
As Misato put the phone down, she felt a tap on her leg and looked down at the eyes of an impatient Aki. "Auntie, when's my meaty pizza coming?"
"Well kiddo, it should be about thirty minutes, so don't worry it will be here in no time," Misato reassured the young child.
Unfortunately, patience wasn't Aki's strong suit. "Ehhh?! That long!? But I want it NOW!"
x-x-x-x
"Guys, I need help here, please! Got the pizza but your little gremlin won't let go of my leg," Misato shouted as she slowly limped back from the apartment's entryway while carefully holding in both arms a stack of pizza boxes with Aki latching on to her right leg like a clingy koala bear. "She even tried to tackle the pizza guy before I stopped her."
"Meaty, meaty!" Aki repeated, obviously so hungry for her food that her speech devolved into saying a single word.
Asuka came over to help grab the boxes in Misato's arms while Shinji was able to untangle and grab his hungry feral daughter before placing her on the chair at the kitchen table.
"Oh man, I have been waiting for this. Shame I couldn't have used my old tricks to get a discount from the pizza guy," Misato said as she gave her "niece" a slightly irritated look. She had it all planned out after answering the door but Aki in her hunger ruined any chance of that.
"And what tricks would those be Misato?" Asuka asked, giving the woman a disapproving look, already assuming what tricks those were.
"Nothing like what you're probably thinking Asuka. I just flirt with them and nothing more," Misato said. It was true she did flirt heavily with the delivery guys to get discounts for her food especially if they were either cute or handsome fellows, although she did leave out that many times she would purposely dress in revealing clothes to up the ante. A few times in the past she did come to the door in nothing but a bath towel and even gave one poor guy a nosebleed.
"Ok gang, time to dig in, here's your guys's pepperoni, PenPen's seafood, my Hawaiian, the garlic bread and chicken wings and last of all, for the little munchkin, her little meat lovers," Misato laid out and opened the boxes containing their foods and showing Aki hers by opening the box in front of her.
While everyone dug into their food, they noticed that Aki, who was before obsessed with eating this so-called pizza was simply looking over it with uncertainty.
"Hey, what's wrong Schätzchen?" Asuka asked her daughter.
"Is something wrong with the pizza?" Shinji asked concerned.
"Um, is the food supposed to be like this, Mama, Papa?" Aki questioned. It seemed that upon seeing her pizza she now felt unsure to even eat something that looked strange, yellow and a mixture of different toppings.
"Hey, of course it's supposed to look like this kiddo. That's what makes it so good," Misato quickly added. "Just have one bite I promise you'll love it. Like the old saying don't knock it till you tried it once."
Aki, still unsure, looked to her parents for support and saw them give her a smile and nod. Aki took hold of a slice, giving it a look over before finally taking a bite out of it.
"So what do you think, Aki?" Misato asked as she took another slice of her pizza while she, Asuka and Shinji looked on at the girl, hoping for a positive response rather than a negative one.
Aki however didn't seem to move, apparently looked frozen in place, as if her little brain and taste buds were trying to process what was put in her mouth. Just when everyone was about to voice their concerns, the girl's eyes seemed to sparkle before she quickly chewed the pizza in her mouth and ultimately devoured the rest of the slice before reaching for the next one in the box. The speed at which she was eating was starting to worry both Asuka and Shinji while Misato sighed in relief, happy that the kid was enjoying the food.
"Aki, honey, please slow down," Shinji tried to tell his daughter, worried that she might overstuff her mouth and choke at the speed she was eating but Aki was not listening. Already she finished her second slice of pizza and was going for her third at a rapid pace.
"More! More!" Aki shouted as she finally gave a break from stuffing her face. She looked very happy even as pieces of cheese and meat toppings stuck around her mouth.
x-x-x-x-x
"Well, I hope you are proud of yourself Misato," Asuka voiced to the older woman as she helped cleaning the mess around the table along with Shinji who was stacking up the now empty pizza boxes.
"Well, yeah, of course. I think this was a very good first takeaway experience for Aki," Misato said, happy with how everything turned out.
"You turned my little sunshine into a gluttonous pizza freak," Asuka exclaimed. Looking over Asuka saw her Schätzchen now sleeping happily on one of the bean bags in the living room with a now full bloated belly.
It wasn't an exaggeration as after Aki had finished her meat lover's pizza all on her own, she had also gone after everyone else's, taking a few slices from each set and easily devouring the sides they had ordered.
"I'm surprised that she even ate a few slices of PenPen's seafood pizza. I mean she always made a fuss when we cooked fish before?" Shinji wondered as he finished putting away the empty boxes in a garbage bag.
It was true, Aki had always hated eating defenceless fishy, especially when it looked like it was fish to the girl, which made it difficult for Asuka and Shinji to get her to eat it. They compromised by sometimes mixing it in with other foods or cutting it up into pieces that made it easier for the girl to eat it.
So it came to the parent's surprise as when all the other pizzas were gone Aki had set her sights on trying the seafood pizza, seemly unbothered when told by everyone that it had fish in it. Despite PenPen putting up a valiant effort even his seafood pizza wasn't spared as Aki had managed to take a couple of slices from the bird despite him constantly guarding it away from the little girl.
At the end of the night, there was no leftover pizza.
"Hehe, yummy pizza," Aki mumbled happily in her sleep.
End.
Note:
Hey everyone!
While this isn't a Christmas or New Years themed chapter I still wish everyone the best for the holidays and hope for the best in the new year.