Gendo Ikari wiped the sweat from his forehead. It was unpleasantly greasy. Through the windshield, he could see that the crowd exiting the shrine was heading this way, toward the parking lot they were in. The parking lot was still relatively deserted, but that wouldn't last long.
"Better hurry up, we might get stuck in here."
Before he could even finish his sentence, the backseat door slammed shut. Gendo lifted his eyes to check the rearview mirror. Shinji was fast asleep, fastened in his child seat.
Yui slid into the passenger seat, closing the door. She began fanning herself with both hands. Her furrowed brow was glistening with sweat.
"Why don't you try doing it yourself for once? I bet you don't even know how heavy your son has gotten lately."
"That's an exaggeration. Might even think I'd never held him before or something."
"Like you did today at the shrine?"
Gendo started the car, groaning slightly. A quiet bass vibration filled the steel box they were in, a far cry from the noise his old car made. It was one of the many things that had been bestowed on him after proving his loyalty and being allowed to marry Yui. No one would care if Gendo Rokubungi drove a weathered, rattling used car. But plenty of people cared if the son-in-law of House Ikari did.
He turned on the air conditioner. "He doesn't like it when I touch him, you know that."
"Only because he's not used to it."
"Nah, sons are supposed to prefer their moms to their dads. The opposite case is virtually unheard of."
"Huh."
"What's that supposed to mean? It's the truth."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Have you ever been a son?"
Yui shook her head silently, turning the air vent in her direction. It was a lukewarm breeze since the car started only a moment ago, but it was still better than the summer heat. She sighed and wiped her forehead. Gendo smirked at the sight.
"Hatsumode in the middle of the heat wave. Ridiculous, isn't it?"
"It's the new reality of the so-called Post-Impact Japan."
"Ah, the Impact. Sometimes I wonder if this country's population shrunk at all. Think of what we've been through today. Crowds like this in the middle of nowhere, Hakone? Imagine what it would've been like in Tokyo-2."
"For most of them this must have been their first visit since the Impact. It was impossible to care about things like this until recently."
"Maybe."
"Maybe? I'm always right."
Gendo chuckled, starting the car. Then he slammed on the brakes. The car that tried to cut them off honked in response. Gendo glared in the car's direction. Several years ago this might have led to a fight, or a road rage chase, or at the very least a nasty exchange, but this time he didn't say anything, instead stepping on the gas again.
On the periphery of his vision, he could see Yui tilting her head. "Be careful, won't you?"
"I had the right of way, not that jackass." Gendo snorted. "Now that I think of it, there must be a negative correlation between one's chance of surviving the Impact and their driving skills. And the quality of their character. So much trash on the road these days. Only the bad ones survived the Impact, I tell you."
"Like us?"
Gendo glanced back at Yui. She was staring straight ahead with an odd look on her face.
Second Impact was not a topic that came up often between them, including the little joke he just made. It wasn't like he was consciously avoiding it, or at least he thought so. And he regretted referencing it already.
He didn't like the face she was making. It happened less than it used to, and with much less intensity, but Gendo still felt uneasy at times like this. He couldn't understand the look on her face. He thought he knew her so well, and yet he was still drawing a blank, still unable to parse the hidden meaning in the set of her mouth, the glitter of her eyes. It was unpleasant, uncomfortable. So he quickly found something to fill the silence that was about to descend.
"What did you pray for today? You took your time. The couple behind us was giving you dirty looks, you know."
The corner of Yui's mouth lifted slightly. The procession through the toll booth started to move slowly, so Gendo had to tear his eyes off her face for a moment. When the car came to a stop again, Yui spoke up.
"It's bad luck to disclose what you prayed for."
Gendo snorted. "If you don't want to tell me, just say so."
"You wouldn't believe me even if I did."
"You don't know that."
Cicadas chirped. Worshippers chattered happily as they swarmed past their car. The air conditioner wheezed faintly. There was a high-pitched, tinny ringing in his ears. Truth. Or lie.
Yui cocked her head and glanced at Gendo. The soft smile Gendo had recognized from earlier was still on her face. "The permanent existence of humanity. So steadfast and concrete no prophecy or calamity could threaten it."
Silence fell for a moment, to be broken by Yui's sudden laughter. It did not stop even after Gendo sighed and shook his head.
"Oh, Mr. Rokubungi, I wish you could see your face right now."
"Keep your secrets. Must be a big deal to you."
"Are you going to tell me what you prayed for?"
A simple wish: for everything to stay the same. An eternal summer. "Well, on the principle of reciprocity, no."
Yui, without a word, rested her head on the chair's neckrest. Silence fell.
Time passed.
The line moved at a snail-like pace. Gendo let out an irritated snort.
"It's bad enough already. Going to get much worse when construction of the fortress city starts in earnest. Maybe we should start skipping Hatsumode. Spend time on something better."
"Maybe."
Her voice was strangely dreamy. Something he didn't notice at the time. Back then, he had just nodded absently, not paying much mind to it. "Yeah, let's not bother with this anymore."
That was January 2004.
At least one of his hopes was fulfilled, albeit in a strange way.
Because he never visited a shrine on New Year's again.