Misato Katsuragi stood still inside one of the conference rooms of the Geo-Front. It was the first time NERV's director of operations was called there. The room was almost completely pitch black since the woman had entered inside which only served to accentuate Misato's unease about that whole situation. She knew who she will be talking to shortly, and that notion was both interesting and unnerving at the same time. She will have to be careful with her words.
Finally, a light was turned on below her feet, illuminating her. A second later, the purple-haired woman heard a voice in front of her "You have denied our request to interrogate the pilot of Unit 01, the only person directly involved in the incident" the voice said, no doubt through some type of intercom.
Misato felt the urge to frown, but was able to hold the stoic face she had maintained since entering the room "Yes, sir. His emotions regarding the incident are still unstable" she replied in a formal manner "I don't think it's a good idea for him to be here right now"
"In that case we will interrogate you instead, Major Katsuragi" stated a different voice than the first one "During the incident, did the angel try to establish contact with any human being?"
"Why would they want to know such a thing?" thought Misato while raising an eyebrow slightly "The incident report doesn't suggest that" was the woman's reply.
"Yes, we've read it. We are not completely convinced that what appears in the report about the pilot's memories is correct" replied a third voice.
"The MAGI haven't detected any external interference in the pilot's memories during the incident, however" Misato stated later.
"Unit 01's was in life support mode for most of the incident, we can't trust the MAGI's analysis completely regarding this" the second voice stated "Was the angel interested in the human mind?"
"I'm not able to answer that question, sir" Misato replied then, trying not to sound exasperated "Do angels even understand the concept of mind or human thoughts? I have no idea if they do or not"
The voices were silent for a moment. Then, the first voice spoke again "Well, that's all, Major Katsuragi. You are dismissed"
"Yes, sir" Misato nodded before turning around and heading out of the room. She suppressed a sigh of frustration. Her first meeting with SEELE had left her with more unanswered questions than before.
Once Misato left the room, a new light was turned on, revealing NERV's commander, Gendo Ikari, sitting in his characteristic pose with his hands clasped in front of his face.
"What do you think, Ikari?" one of the voices asked.
"The angels are getting smarter" the commander replied, his tone serious as usual "There is no way of predicting their future behavior. One thing is sure, however. The time we have left is..."
"Short" one of the voices interrupted "Is that what you're going to say?"
Far away from there, inside the school where the three Eva pilots attended, the best time of the day for the students had finally arrived: lunchtime. Hikari stood up from her seat and directed her attention to the girl sitting behind her.
"Asuka, where would you like us to have lunch today?" asked the freckled girl, a lunchbox already in her hand.
"Hmm, good question" the redhead murmured as she finished putting her things into her backpack and got up from the chair she was sitting on.
"We can go to the roof, it's nice and sunny today" Hikari suggested while smiling brightly.
"It's an option, but I bet there's another one you'll like more. Follow me" Asuka said, her lips curved into a smug smile. Then, much to Hikari's surprise, the redhead approached a group of their classmates that at that point was very usual to see at lunchtime together: Shinji, Rei, Touji and Kensuke. Once the German girl closed the distance, she put her arms on her hips and spoke "Hey, Shinji"
The boy, who had his back turned to her at that moment, glanced back towards the German girl "Asuka? What's wrong?"
"You're all going to have lunch together where you always do, right?" Asuka asked.
"That's the plan, yeah…" replied the Third Child a little curiously.
"Good. Hikari and me will join you today" said the Second Child simply. The surprises of those present were obvious. Touji and Kensuke's jaws almost touched the ground, while Shinji and Hikari's eyes widened. Even Rei's face reflected a little perplexity for an instant.
"Oh..." was all Shinji could say in response. Since her apology the day before, Asuka had acted much friendlier towards him, but he hadn't expected her to go so far. Not that he had a problem with that, however "...Alright then, that seems like a good idea" added the boy, smiling slightly.
"Unbelievable, her majesty Asuka having lunch with us?" Touji said once he recovered from his initial surprise, sarcasm obvious in his voice "To what do we owe such honor?"
"Touji..." Hikari reproached, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Heh, heh, heh... relax, Hikari, I'm just joking. If that means you'll also have lunch with us, I'll gladly take the deal" the boy hurriedly said, quickly causing the girl's frowning face to be replaced by a shy smile, her cheeks blushing "Besides, I'm in too good a mood for anyone to ruin it"
"Is that so? Why?" Kensuke asked curiously.
"Sakura will be discharged from the hospital tomorrow" Touji replied with a big smile. Those present received the news happily, at least the ones who were aware of the situation of the boy's sister. Shinji, in particular, felt a great weight being lifted from his shoulders. If Touji's sister was in the hospital, it was partially his fault.
"Oh, that's great. I'm very happy for you, Touji" said his glasses wearing friend.
"Thank you" said Touji, smiling brightly "Well, shall we get going?"
The group of now six people headed first to the cafeteria, where those who had not brought food from home bought their respective lunches for that day. Once that was taken care of, they headed towards the schoolyard, where they sat under the shade of one of the trees there, before starting to eat their respective lunches.
Since Shinji had not stopped by Misato's apartment that morning, he was unable to cook lunches for him, Asuka or Rei as he did usually. Asuka had bought herself something at the cafeteria, but Rei, for the first time since Shinji had started giving her cooking lessons, had prepared lunch for both of them. The girl handed Shinji his corresponding lunchbox while gazing warmly at him, her cheeks blushing "I hope you enjoy this, Shinji" she said quietly.
"Thank you, Rei…" said Shinji as he took the lunchbox, mesmerized. No matter how much time had passed since they got together, when Rei acted so adorably he still had trouble getting his eyes out of her. He eventually did so, however, opening the lunchbox shortly after. Rei had cooked fried rice. Shinji took a spoonful and brought it to his mouth, while Rei looked at him expectantly. Shinji chewed for a few seconds before speaking again "It's good" he said after swallowing.
"You mean it?" asked Rei, smiling softly.
"Of course" he replied. It wasn't the best fried rice he had tasted in his life, but for Rei's first time? Not bad at all.
"Thank you, Shinji" the blue-haired girl murmured while directing her attention back to her own lunchbox, which promptly opened.
Kensuke stared at them in silence for a few seconds, then looked to his other side, where Touji and Hikari were sharing a similar exchange. The boy then gave Asuka an amused look "You know what, Asuka…? I'm kinda glad you're having lunch with us today. I was getting tired of being the only third wheel around here" he said before chuckling softly.
Asuka, against all odds, allowed herself to agree with him "Oh, I know what you mean. You have no idea how disgustingly clingy these two get on our way to NERV from here" the red-haired girl said while pointing with her fork at her fellow pilots.
"Hey, where did that came from?" Shinji interjected.
"You two hold hands so much anyone would think you're afraid of getting lost" Asuka remarked back, her voice not hiding her annoyance in the slightest. Shinji blushed and fell silent, unable to retort back. Rei, however seemed to ignore her remark completely. Asuka sighed before speaking again, her attention now focused on her best friend "Hikari, please promise me that you're not gonna be so clingy, I have enough of that already"
"I can't make promises" the girl replied while her lips curved into a shy smile and her hand held Touji's. Asuka couldn't help but groan.
"This is bad" said a worried Misato, staring intensely at a screen of one of the rooms inside the Geo-Front. There, an aerial image of where a few hours ago NERV's second headquarters were located, in the United States, was depicted. At that moment, however, the only thing that could be seen was a huge crater.
"Administration and Inspection departments are in chaos" stated Makoto, unease also present in his voice "And the General Affairs department is in panic"
"How did this happen?" Misato asked.
"It is still being investigated" explained Ritsuko, to her left "The only clue we have for now is this recording from one of the satellites at the time of the incident"
As she said this, the screen began to play said recording. The image of the second headquarters could be seen from above for a few seconds, until an explosion detonated on the center of the facilities. After a few moments in which the shock-wave from the explosion and the smoke produced by it continued to expand, the image was suddenly cut off, undoubtedly as a result of it reaching the satellite.
"Unit 04, along with all the facilities within an 89 kilometer radius of the center of the explosion have completely vanished... along with all the people who were there" Maya reported sadly.
"It's horrible..." said a distraught Misato.
"Apparently the incident occurred during the installation of the experimental S2 engine" Aoba stated, reading a report "Seems likely that this was the cause"
"But all this is very strange" stated Makoto, carefully observing the image of the crater "There are no destroyed remains or anything like that, it is literally as if they had erased what was in there"
"It's too early to draw conclusions" Ritsuko replied, frowning "What is certain is that using the S2 engine as a perpetual power source for an Evangelion has been a failure"
"All those lives... ending because they were being forced to use things I bet they didn't even really understand" Misato thought bitterly.
"In any case, the US government has requested that we receive Unit 03 here. They don't want to get involved with Project Eva any further" the faux blonde added.
"First they insist on building it and now they want us to take care of it" said Misato shaking her head "They ignore all responsibility"
"You're not wrong, but after this tragedy, their reaction is understandable" countered the doctor.
"I guess you're right" the operations director conceded "But what do we do with it? We already have as many units as there are pilots"
"We can use it as a backup in case one of the other units is not operational" said Ritsuko, putting a hand on her chin "Either way, first we should do an activation test to check its functionality"
Hours later, Ritsuko was inside Terminal Dogma, specifically in the Dummy Plug System room. A few steps in front of her was Commander Ikari. In front of both, suspended from the ceiling, was an entry plug, which the inscription Dummy Plug-Evangelion 2015-Rei 00inscribed on its side. Finally, after months of work, the Dummy Plug System project had been completed. If they needed to activate one of the Evangelion Units without the presence of a pilot inside of it, they could now do so. At least, in theory.
"It's a prototype Dummy Plug. Rei's knowledge as a pilot has been transferred to it, but neither a soul or critical thinking can be digitized" said the fake blonde "It's still an imitation, just a machine"
"It transmits a signal to the Eva, which believes there is a pilot inside and synchronizes with it" Gendo stated, his voice cold "That's all we need. Load the data into Units 01 and 02"
"Are you sure, sir?" the scientist asked "We haven't tested the Dummy Plugs on them yet"
"It doesn't matter. As long as the Evas are activated by it it's enough" the man replied.
"Naturally. What else could you care about, youbastard?" Ritsuko thought bitterly "Understood, sir" was what came out of her lips.
"Transport of Unit 03 has been delegated to the United Nations, it will arrive next week. Then you will be the one to take care of it" said the man, changing the subject.
"Yes, sir. The adjustments and activation tests will be performed in Matsushiro" stated Dr. Akagi.
"And the test pilot?" the man asked.
"Since the Dummy Plug is still dangerous, we will proceed with the reveal of the Fourth Child" the woman replied "We have a candidate who will be perfect"
"Well, I'll leave everything in your hands, then" was the commander's reply, diverting his attention from the Dummy Plug to the LCL tube located in the center of the room. Inside of it Rei was floating, naked and with her eyes closed. The man took several steps towards the girl and spoke to her "Rei, we're done for today"
"Yes, sir" the girl replied, opening her eyes.
"Take a shower and we'll have dinner afterwards" the man added. It didn't happen very often, but the few times that the commander was present when the First Child finished one of the tests inside Terminal Dogma, it was usual for them to have lunch or dinner afterwards, depending on what time it was, together in a private area of the dining rooms of the Geo-Front. These moments, as rare as they were, had been treasured by the girl at the time. Spending a few minutes with the commander, the man she respected and appreciated above all else, were some of her most pleasant memories not so long ago.
Things, however, had changed.
"About that, sir..." Rei began to speak. The commander, who had already considered the conversation to be finished, had begun turning around to leave, but he stopped when he heard her voice "I already have plans to have dinner with Shinji tonight. If it is not an inconvenient, I would like to still do so"
The commander was silent for a few moments. His face remained serious, as always, but he didn't like hearing that. Those meals with Rei didn't mean too much to him, but they were another grain of sand in the desert of actions that Gendo carried out with the goal that the loyalty of the First Child always laid on him. For a second he considered ordering her to have dinner with him, but that might have worse repercussions than letting it slide. Finally he decided on the latter. It was a way to keep his son bound to NERV, after all "Understood. Goodnight, then" the man said with a cold voice, and then headed towards the exit.
"Goodnight, sir" said the blue-haired girl, slightly relieved. For a few moments she feared that the commander would refuse. Since her conversation with him regarding her relationship with Shinji, the girl had lost much of the trust she had in the man, especially when it came to her personal issues. She still respected the man's work, and continued to give her best effort as a pilot, but no longer out of respect for Gendo Ikari as a person.
A few steps away, Ritsuko could barely contain a smile. Her satisfaction upon hearing the First Child refuse a moment with the commander had been cathartic. The man had had his back towards her during the exchange, so she hadn't been able to see his face, but the woman was betting that this had upset him, and she loved it.
Ritsuko Akagi's plan continued its established route.
Touji Suzuhara headed to class 2-A with a big smile on his face. Things were going well in his life lately. The day before his younger sister, Sakura, had finally been discharged from the hospital, so she was able to return home with him and his father. After weeks and weeks of waiting, it was wonderful that the little girl was completely recovered and seeing her happy at home with them made him really happy.
The sporty boy entered the class, and soon spotted a specific girl sitting in the first row of desks. That was the other reason for his recent happiness. Hikari Horaki, the girl he had secretly loved for quite some time, had become his girlfriend a few days ago, after the boy finally decided to take the plunge and finally told her how he felt. The freckled girl quickly noticed his presence, smiling cheerfully at Touji as he approached her.
"Good morning, Hikari" the boy greeted as soon as he was in front of the girl's desk.
"Good morning, Touji" she greeted back "How is Sakura? Is she happy to be back home?"
"Yeah, she sure is. And so am I, honestly... you can't imagine how much I missed her being around at home" Touji replied with a big smile "It's as if the house was empty before"
"That's great. I'm very happy for you" Hikari added, staring warmly at him.
Both teenagers locked eyes with each other while smiling, until an announcement over the school's intercom system interrupted the pleasant moment they were sharing.
"Touji Suzuhara, second year, class A, please report to the principal's office as soon as possible"
Both Hikari and Touji raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. The class representative cast a gaze full of suspicion at her boyfriend "Touji...what have you done now?"
"Hey, don't look at me like that, I haven't done anything, I swear" the boy replied, raising his hands in a placating gesture. Hikari relaxed her gaze a little.
"Alright, I believe you… but either way, you have to go" the girl concluded after a moment of silence.
"Yeah... I guess you're right" the boy regretfully murmured "I guess I'll see you later"
"See you later" Hikari said as she watched her boyfriend leave the class.
Touji headed to the principal's office, concern filling his mind. While it was true that on occasion he had had to stop by after doing some mischief, it was also true that he had been honest when he told Hikari that he had not done anything in particular that warranted a visit to the principal in quite some time "Could it be because of my grades?" the boy thought reluctantly. It was no secret that Touji's academic aptitudes left a lot to be desired, so it seemed like the most likely possibility. After walking for a little while, the boy arrived at the office, and he knocked on the door a couple of times before speaking "Hello, I'm Touji Suzuhara"
"Come in" a female voice replied from inside.
Touji opened the door curiously. The school principal was a man, which meant that whoever had spoken wasn't him. He peeked his head into the office, discovering inside a blonde woman with glasses that was wearing a white coat while sitting behind the director's desk.
"Wait a second… aren't you...?" Touji muttered.
"Good morning, Touji. I'm glad to see that you still remember me" said Ritsuko Akagi.
Several hours later, the classroom bell rang announcing the end of the last lesson of the day, much to the delight of the students, who were now finally free to leave school and have fun for the rest of the day, either at their homes or outside. Shinji picked up his school utensils and put them in his backpack, and by the time he finished doing so, Kensuke had already done the same and was standing next to his desk.
"Hey, Shinji, what do you think happened to Touji?" asked the glasses-wearing boy, who was looking at their friend's empty desk curiously. Shinji also glanced at the desk, lost in thought.
Apparently, as Hikari had let them know during lunchtime, Touji had been called to the principal's office as soon as he entered the classroom first thing in the morning, a little before they had arrived. That in itself wasn't so strange, but the fact that he didn't come back to the classroom for the rest of that morning was definitely strange. He hadn't even join them at lunchtime. While it was true that the boy had sent a text message to Hikari to reassure her that everything was alright and that she didn't need to worry, the whole situation had picked everyone's curiosity.
"I have no idea" Shinji replied after a moment of reflection "Although considering that he went to the principal's office to begin with..."
"...Yeah, it doesn't seem that whatever happened was a good thing, huh?" Kensuke remarked, quickly understanding what his friend meant "Well, whatever has happened, I'm sure we'll find out soon. Touji has never been good at keeping secrets" he added while shrugging his shoulders.
"I guess you're right" Shinji agreed, heading to the classroom door alongside him. A few steps ahead, Rei, Hikari, and Asuka joined them. The group of five walked through the school's hallways until they reached the exit, where their paths parted ways. Asuka and Hikari left with the nearest mall as their destination, the redhead deciding to try distracting the class representative a little so she wouldn't worry about Touji's absence too much. Kensuke went to his home, since Touji was not present, he had decided to spend the afternoon on his military-related hobbies. Shinji and Rei, respectively, had nothing planned for that afternoon… yet.
"So, what do you feel like doing this afternoon, Rei?" asked the Third Child, holding her hand while they walked away from the school "It's not very hot today, we could take a little walk, maybe go to the park"
"That sounds pleasant" the girl stated, interlocking her fingers with his "We could go to my apartment afterwards…" she added later, a small knowing smile forming on her mouth. Shinji blushed slightly at the implications of that suggestion. He nodded shortly after, finding that implications quite appealing.
Both pilots began walking towards the park silently, just enjoying each other's company. They were halfway there when Shinji's cellphone started ringing. The boy took the device out of his pocket and stared at the screen curiously "Touji?" the boy thought, raising an eyebrow before bringing the cellphone to his ear "Hi, Touji" Shinji greeted.
"Hi, Shinji..." the aforementioned greeted from the other side of the line. His voice seemed less cheerful than usual, especially in contrast to the most recent days.
"What can I do for you? Is everything alright?" Shinji asked curiously.
"Um, yeah, everything is fine..." the boy replied not very convincingly "Well, somewhat... Shinji, can we speak in person?"
"Um... yeah, I suppose we can" the Third Child replied, his curiosity getting mixed with some concern. Touji was acting very strangely "Where are you?"
"I'm at the park closest to the school" Touji stated.
"Oh, good. Rei and I were actually heading there" Shinji said.
"Oh... you're with Ayanami, of course" Touji murmured, some disappointment present in his voice.
"Uh... yeah I am, why?" was Shinji's next question.
"Well, it's just that... I would like us to speak alone, if you don't mind" Touji revealed.
Shinji arrived at the park a few minutes later. After wondering for a moment where Touji could be, he spotted him sitting on one of the benches there, his eyes looking at the ground underneath his feet, most likely lost in thought. When the Third Child approached him, the boy looked up and smiled weakly.
"Hi, Touji" Shinji greeted as he sat on the same bench, next to him.
"Hi, Shinji" his friend greeted back, directing his gaze back to the ground "Sorry about asking this so suddenly… I guess I should also apologize to Ayanami when I meet her again"
"Don't worry about it. Rei isn't upset, and neither am I" Shinji replied, shaking his head.
"Oh… well, that's good…" Touji murmured, remaining silent for a few moments afterwards. Shinji raised an eyebrow, something was definitely wrong with his friend.
"Alright... what do you want to talk about?" Shinji asked, cutting to the chase "Did something happen this morning at the principal's office?"
"I guess you could say so..." Touji replied with a serious face. The boy looked back at the Third Child before speaking again "Shinji, when you got on the Eva for the first time... how did it feel?"
Shinji's eyebrows rose at this question "How did it feel?"
"Yes… were you afraid?" his friend asked.
"Um... yeah, I guess so..." Shinji replied, slightly confused "Why do you want to know that?"
Touji's frown narrowed "This morning, at the director's office... Misato's coworker, , was the one who was there... she told me that I was the next chosen to pilot the Evangelions… the Fourth Child"
Shinji's eyes widened. It was probably the last thing he expected to hear "They have asked you to be an Evangelion pilot?" he asked stunned.
"Yeah..." Touji confirmed with a hint of regret in his voice "They have given me until Monday to give them an answer..."
Shinji processed the information in silence for a few moments. This had taken him by surprise, but analyzing it in depth it wasn't a bad thing, at least, not necessarily. He understood why Touji was behaving the way he was, however.
"What do you think about it?" Shinji asked, to which Touji grimaced.
"I don't know..." the boy began to answer, his lips curving into a not very confident smile "On one hand, I understand that piloting an Evangelion is something very important. You guys save all of our necks constantly. I bet Kensuke would be overjoyed if he were in my position right now. And the red-haired demon is always bragging that she's the best for being an Eva pilot and all that… Besides, from what Dr. Ritsuko told me today, they pay you guys a good salary, and my family could use some extra money..." the boy stopped talking for a moment, and then his face became serious again "On the other hand, I know that you don't like being a pilot... and I still remember what it's like to be inside an Eva..." he murmured, obviously talking about the time both he and Kensuke had entered Unit 01's entry plug during the battle against the Fourth Angel. It had not been a pleasant experience for neither them or Shinji.
"Well, it's not always that bad... but you're right, being an Eva pilot isn't exactly rainbows and sunshines..." Shinji nodded regretfully "At first I hated it: risking my life, the pain of the battles, the responsibility that so many people's lives depended on me... regarding all of that, I still hate being an Eva pilot, but..."
"But?" Touji prompted him to continue.
"...But I've learned to live with it" Shinji completed, a small smile forming on his lips "If by piloting the Eva I can help protect the people I care about: Rei, Misato, you, Kensuke, Asuka... it's worth going through all those hardships"
Touji listened carefully to his friend's words, after which he reflected for a few moments "So do you think I should accept?" the boy asked next, doubt still present in his voice "Do you think I would be a good pilot?"
"Well… I don't know if you should accept or not. That's a decision you have to make yourself, Touji. But I'm sure you would be a good pilot. If I could do it, I bet you can too" Shinji replied, smiling reassuringly at him "Besides, I'm sure that until you know what you're doing, Rei, Asuka and I will take care of the hard stuff and you'll be our backup. We only have three Evas, after all"
"I see…" Touji murmured, looking at the ground again. After a few seconds, he nodded his head and stood up "Alright. I haven't decided yet, I have to talk to my father and Hikari first... but I needed this talk, Shinji. Thank you very much, man" he said, extending his hand to the boy.
Shinji stood up too and brought his hand to Touji's, which he shook in an effusive squeeze "You're welcome, Touji. This is what friends are for, right?"
Touji smiled widely before speaking again "Well, I won't keep you any longer, see you on Monday at school" the boy said as he began to head towards the exit of the park "Say hello to Ayanami for me, goodbye"
"Okay, goodbye" Shinji said smiling.
Misato crossed her arms while she stood still on one of the streets of the eastern part of Tokio-3. The only company the woman had at that moment was a vending machine, placed a few feet away from her. The woman checked her watch once again and sighed. She had gotten out of work about an hour ago, but she had no intention to go back to her apartment anytime soon that day. Instead, she drove to that place immediately afterwards to meet with someone. The woman observed the street again, making sure there was no one around one more time. She knew that Section-2 didn't usually poke their noses around that area of the city, but it was always prudent to stay vigilant just in case. If worst came to worst she could always say she was meeting him because of… private reasons. A love motel wasn't far away from there, after all, and after last time… she knew that they were probably going to end up there anyways.
Misato was about to check the time on her watch again, when she saw a specific man approaching her "You're late" she said nonchalantly once he was close enough.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. It took me a little longer than I thought to get here" Kaji explained, flashing her a mischievous smile "Did you miss me?"
"You wish" Misato grumbled not very convincingly.
Kaji chuckled as he slid a coin into the vending machine "How was your meeting with SEELE?" he asked a few seconds later while taking out a coffee can.
"Not very fruitful" Misato replied while grimacing slightly "They asked me if the angel had tried to establish contact with Shinji, if it showed interest in the human mind and other crap similar to that"
"Typical of the old men" Kaji stated as he opened the can "Anything else?"
"Not really. I was there only for a couple of minutes, they dismissed me pretty quickly" the woman replied while Kaji took a sip of coffee. After a few seconds, Misato spoke again "What do you have for me?"
"Well, I suppose you are already aware that Unit 03 will arrive in Japan shortly, right?" the man replied.
"Yes, I'm aware" Misato confirmed while her frown narrower slightly "And conveniently the Fourth Child is discovered at the same time"
"Yeah, convenient is a pretty good way to describe it" the man said after taking another sip from his coffee can.
"What do you mean?" Misato asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The Marduk Institute doesn't exist. NERV is the one handling everything regarding the pilots' selection" Kaji replied.
"NERV chooses the pilots directly?" Misato asked, surprised "Why going through the trouble of making up the Marduk Institute, then?"
"It's another smokescreen" Kaji replied, smiling "The old men like to have a lot of them"
Kaji finished his can of coffee in one gulp, and tossed it towards the nearest trash can. After that, he closed the distance between him and Misato, bringing his right hand to her waist.
"How about we continue our conversation somewhere else?" he asked in a seductive voice.
Misato didn't say anything, but she didn't put up any resistance when Kaji met her lips with his.
To be continued...