GOD'S IN HIS HEAVEN, ALL'S RIGHT WITH THE WORLD
Written by フロジストン or Furojisuton
Attempt at English Translation by Reluctantly a MisaShin fan
"Go ahead."
A warm hug.
The woman in front of him shouldered so much, even though she usually shrugged it off.
"You've grown up... Shinji."
The boy in front of her couldn't accept the truth that was in front of him, which was why they struggled for so long.
When he tried to pierce himself with the spear, another woman took his place. She was hugged from behind by a man with the most serene smile on his face, one the boy hadn't seen on him since he was a child.
"Mari-san!"
A girl with eyes that shared the color of the sea rose from it, reflecting the clear blue sky above. The boy called out and ran after her.
No matter how much he chased after the girl with the sunny disposition, her figure receded into the distance, and a countless number of star-like lights trailing and converging in front of him.
It was the late afternoon, with a slight cool and refreshing breeze.
The sun was hot for early spring, which made him feel hazy. He went to take a breather after getting off the train only to fall asleep on a nearby bench.
Unfortunatey for the sleeping man, the smell of baking cement filled his nostrils and woke him up.
As his blurred vision came to focus, he suddenly met the eyes of a silver-haired man and a blue-haired woman standing on the opposite platform.
Both possessed crimson eyes that stood out even from a distance. The silver-haired one was smiling at him, the man realized.
(Have they met somewhere?)
Just as he was fully waking up, thin, slightly bony fingers suddenly came up from behind and covered his eyes.
"Who is it?"
"...a girl with big boobs."
The answer left his lips, as if it practiced from memory. The person behind him smirked.
"Good answer."
Turning from behind, a woman with long brown hair wearing distinctive red-rimmed glasses appeared in front of his line of sight. She sniffed him, which oddly did not disturb him.
"You smell great. Is this the scent of an adult?"
The woman smiled mischievously like a cat as she put her hand on her glasses so that he could look into them.
(This person always does that. She's always treated me like a child.)
"You're just as cute as ever."
Aiming to take his revenge, the man gently removed the glasses from the woman.
"I finally started listening to what everyone's saying…"
For a moment, the woman looked surprised, like a deer caught in the headlights, before grinning. Clearly she was pleased with his action, even if it was meant as vengeance for her prank. He was doing something for himself.
She smiled kindly, reachind her hand out to touch his neck and remove something.
(Did he always wear a black necklace like this? It's not to his taste.)
"Let's go, Shinji-kun."
The black choker came off the neck of Shinji Ikari. She twirled the choker with her fingertip before placing it in her pocket.
Shinji was scheduled to go on a business trip today. After taking the conventional line to Shin-Yamaguchi Station, he was to take the Shinkansen to Tokyo.
(If he was to be on a business trip... why was he taking a nap?)
He felt like he was forgetting something. Something far more important than a supposed business trip he couldn't remember the full details of anyhow. He checked his watch, realizing he was far too late for it anyway. Go figure. Since it apparently only involved some sort of technology exhibition, there wouldn't be a problem if he couldn't attend.
Suddenly, his stomach growled. He came to realize he was hungry. really hungry, and wanted to eat somewhere he knew. The weather was pleasant, so he got ready for a short run.
"Yeah, let's go!"
He took the woman's hand and ran up the stairs of the overpass. He hadn't been getting enough exercise lately so it was perfect trial run.
Shinji and the woman he was holding, Mari Illustrious Makinami, heading straight to a local café he liked to frequent.
"Shinji-kun, what's wrong with you? You suddenly started running."
She was out of breath not too long into the run. Shinji was taller than her and had a wider stride, so he was more relaxed.
"Yeah? Isn't it nice every once in a while?"
After traveling about 500 meters, they knocked on the door of a coffee shop, "Café Restaurant Live''.
The owner noticed Shinji, who excitedly exclaimed...
"Hello uncle! I'm having the usual suncony set. Meat sauce spaghetti, curry, and pudding for dessert."
"The suncony set... Shinji-kun, you eat a lot. Well then, uncle, I'll go to the pork and tongara spa."
Shinji was stuck in a good mood the while time he waited for his request to arrive. Next to him was a smiling Mari. She patted his shoulder, giving him a calm gaze.
"You good...?
"I'm so hungry that I wonder if I've been eating anything good recently."
"...Hmm, Shinji-kun, you seem to have been a particularly poor eater when you were a kid. I guess once you're a grown up it catches up to you, huh?"
"Mean… Mari-san always treats me like a child."
Shinji slightly puffed out his cheeks as Mari gave him a mocking grin.
After a while of idle conversation, the food arrived.
"Ah, uncle! Just like every time, this is the best. It looks delicious! I'll take it!"
"Uncle, thank you! I'll take it!"
Mari joked about his growth spurt, but it was nothing compared to watching Shinji who devoured his whole meal like a man who hadn't seen edible food in years. After a while, he noticed she wasn't making as much headway into her meal as he was.
"Huh? Mari-san? Are you hungry? It doesn't seem like you're making much progress."
"Ah, no. I'm a little sorry. I have someone I'm waiting for. Don't worry about it and eat."
"Mari-san is still busy as usual."
"Oh, I ate, I ate!"
"Nyahahahaha! Shinji-kun, your stomach is sticking out like a sore thumb! You're in your twenties, time to be careful with your weight."
"Hey! How old are you anyway, Mari?"
She flicked his forehead.
"You shouldn't ask that of a lady, just don't. You're not gonna get an answer out of me."
Mari's cat-like grin expanded ever so widely before she cackled to his face. Shinji didn't mind. At the moment, he didn't think of Mari as someone of the opposite sex. In fact, he liked the way she laughed, giving off the impression of an old stand up comedian who had long since lost the ability to care about being judged.
After trading barbs, Shinji rubbed his bulging stomach as he paid the bill and opened the door out.
"Now that we finished, I can get back to work."
"Hmm? There's no need for that today."
When he opened the door, Shinji saw an unfamiliar bright blue car with its hazard lights on parked in front of the store. Mari smiled when she saw the car, which looked out of place in a rather modern city occupied by high tech companies.
"Five minutes earlier than expected."
The left door of the car opened. Legs wrapped in slender black pants stepped out.
Shinji didn't know much about cars, but even though he couldn't see the left door, he could tell from the design of the car that it was a vintage made overseas, getting the feeling he'd seen it somewhere before.
"The golden rule for working adults is to arrive 5 minutes early."
A voice came from the car.
Fully getting out, a woman with a dignified presence, wearing black pants and a simple white blouse, stood up to face the two. She was slightly taller than Mari, her hair long and tied nearly around the back with a chignon. It was hard to see her face because of the backlight. Her sunglasses only made it harder to make out her expression. Shinji thought she was an actress because of her well-defined contours and style that made her simple clothes stand out.
"As promised, I brought him home."
Mari said with a cool face, facing the new woman. She threw the black choker she had removed from Shinji's neck earlier to the owner of the car.
The woman caught it, holding it up to the sun to stare at it thoughtfully. After a moment, she put it inside her pants pocket.
"Indeed...I received it. Thank you, Mari for keeping Shinji-kun safe."
Shinji watched the interaction between the two. There was something familiar about the woman, but he couldn't remember. She seemed like an acquaintance of Mari's, but since the woman called him Shinji-kun he had to have known her somewhere.
"I'll explain everything later. Get in."
"Ah... um... I... I have work..."
Shinji had been confident up until now, but became strangely timid in front of the woman.
Mari pushed Shinji into the passenger seat of the car, saying it was okay. Shinji contemplated his situation, sitting in the passenger seat of a foreign car, next to a woman he didn't know.
"Okay, both of you, buckle your seatbelts. Let's go."
"Departure progress, taking off! Pickled cucumbers in a rice bran!"
"Where are we going?"
Despite Mari having fun, Shinji was growing anxious at the banter between Mari and the woman wearing sunglasses.
However, even though Shinji was talking about work, he honestly had forgotten about his job.
The woman in the driver's seat smiled mischievously at Shinji, who looked at her suspiciously.
"I- I- I was a-about to-"
Whatever he wanted to say, it didn't leave his mouth.
The car, a deeper blue than the clear sky, drove along the coast that reflected sunlight. As Shinji looked at the orange-colored guardrail along the road, he began to recall a distant memory.
A summer tangerine-colored guardrail was nothing new in Yamaguchi Prefecture. They were installed along national and prefectural roads when the National Athletic Meet was held in Yamaguchi Prefecture in the past. Therefore, it was only in Yamaguchi Prefecture that the guardrail was maintained over such a long distance. However, while sitting in a car that wasn't as comfortable as the one he had back home, Shinji felt like he had seen this view before, if somewhere else.
Come to think of it, he also felt like he had been in this car before.
"Alpine Renault A310... I've never seen anyone drive this car before. Misato, you're an expert. I wonder if you had a hobby like this."
"Well, I'm running this one for the first time in a while. It's nice to have a gasoline car."
From Mari's conversation, Shinji learned that the driver was named Misato.
"It's contrary to what Ririn called 'eco-friendly', though."
Mari said as she hugged the driver's side seat from behind and leaned out from between the driver's and passenger's seats.
Hearing the name "Misato", Shinji felt the same sense of deja vu he had when he met her in front of "Cafe Restaurant Live." He had been having that feeling all day, not just for Misato but the view. This whole situation had triggered something in him.
Today's cars had amazing fuel efficiency. In an age when hybrid cars and fully electric cars were selling like pancakes, the older models based purely on gasoline couldn't compete. Shinji hadn't thought anyone liked them, yet one sat in the driver's chair.
Misato was beautiful, he decided. Maybe she was an actress, given she drove an expensive-looking foreign car that he had never seen before in Ube. It made Shinji wonder how Mari, admittedly a top company researcher for science and technology, was acquainted with this woman, who seemed to be in a completely different league of her own. Had they been roommates?
While Shinji was thinking of the possibilities, the car slowed down at a hillside facing the Sea of Japan. On this day the sea had calm blue waves, perfectly mirroring the sky.
"Well, we're here."
The woman in sunglasses announced as they stopped at their destination, breaking Shinji's thought process. The three occupants left the vehicle to face the ocean.
In front of him were a series of red torii gates curving along the reef.
With no hesitation, the woman wearing sunglasses and Mari went down the steps to the torii gate. They called out to Shinji, who hurriedly ran after them.
When they reached the end of the torii gates, the women walked further to the edge of the reef.
The woman wearing sunglasses took out the choker. She shook it in front of Shinji, seemingly curious as to how he would react. At his lack of response, she chugged it into the ocean.
After a while, the sound of an explosion came from beneath the sea, causing the calm waves to ripple and burst loudly.
(Ah….)
At that moment, various scenes flashed through Shinji's mind like a camera feed.
The sight of a silver-haired boy smiling just as his necklace exploded before his eyes.
The sight of a woman in a vermilion coat handing him the choker, then shielding him from a deadly bullet.
The sight of him telling a red-haired girl that he loved her as she laid on the white sand next to the red sea.
The blue-haired girl waiting for me in the cockpit of a large robot.
The sweat he poured working in a village surrounded by his classmates.
What he worked hard for.
Without saying anything, a boy watched over Shinji during his lowest point. The boy, who had bandages on his cheeks and fingers, was the son of a woman he used to live with and a man he had become close to, a man who taught him the smell of soil.
On the other hand, he used a giant hand to crush the silver-haired boy he shared his heart with.
He masturbated to the red-haired girl's naked body while she was in a coma.
He had been surrounded by giant white monsters wearing his blue-haired classmate's face.
His mother, who Shinji thought had died when he was young, became her substitute. The woman in the red jacket, like the woman in the coat, sacrificed her life to protect him from the bullet.
Tears.
Sobbing.
(I... I know this woman.)
(And Mari...)
Just like a dam bursting at the seams, pillars of seawater gushed from the holes of the reef, reflecting the sunlight diffusely.
Mari stared at them dazzlingly.
"Aaah... ah... ah."
Shinji was struck by the burst of information gushing out of his head. His pupils trembled. Was this really Yamaguchi prefecture...? Or…?
"Do you remember?"
Mari's eyes, still sharing the color of the sea, turned toward Shinji.
"…Yeah."
He looked at her. Really looked at her.
"Mari-san, who are you...?"
"Mari Illustrious Makinami. She's the woman who takes time."
"Misato-san..."
Shinji called out to the woman Mari called Misato. She had been looking to the sea before turning around to face him. She took off her sunglasses.
(That's an adult kiss... We'll do the rest when you get back.)
(Please go.)
(I'm going.)
Her caring eyes, full of kindness and love, were exactly like the last time they exchanged glances.
Shinji took a breath before speaking.
"I'm home."
"… Welcome home."
Shinji could recall those words from a time and place other than the current Yamaguchi Prefecture. Just like they had done before, the two held each other tightly.
They drove inland after leaving Nagato. On the way from Nagato, Shinji heard everything from Mari.
Misato risked her life to deliver Gaius, or WILLE's Spear, to Shinji, a spear she created with the power of his will to restore the world to its original state. He was able to accomplish this without God's help, which meant he was able to kill God.
Gaius's spear was passed to Shinji, who was able rewrite the world to remove said spear, the Angels and Evas, even though they could not return the time or lives lost before that point.
Mari previously conducted research on Eva before she met Shinji and Misato. Rver since her experiment failed, she had been trapped under the curse of Eva, which froze her physical age... That was just a statement, but the truth is that she might have existed in world lines before that.
"Mari thinks she's an alien?" he said teasingly, but Shinji almost believed that it might be possible. He started to feel like anything could happen with Mari.
Mari realized that a world with Eva is a circular loop, but as she lived for so long, she realized that humans with wisdom and will would some day surpass God and the world will be abe to get along without Eva. Exactly what she had been looking forward to. It would have been impossible to accomplish this task alone, so she always tried to entrench herself in organizations that could bring her closer to the answer she was reaching for. At first, she worked alongside the likes of Kouzou Fuyutsuki, Gendo and Yui Ikari, but after seeing Gendo break down from his wife disappearing, she became a member of NERV and later solely to Misato. She trusted Misato enough to follow her in WILLE.
Such was their bond that she promised Misato to bring Shinji home with her. Shinji had lost consciousness in this universe and brought Misato, who had been adrift in space time, to it.
The world they were currently occupying was between the various universes that Shinji and Misato have experienced up until now, and the fictional world line, a world line that Shinji had rewritten to remove Eva.
Due to the gap, past experiences and memories are integrated, but the age of the body, which was the vessel of the soul, was the actual age at the time of the last real world line.
Furthermore, she told them both that they had to escape from this in-between world at some point.
Shinji understood Mari's explanation. When he saw the grey haired boy and blue haired girl- Kaworu and Rei, Shinji realized- he felt a pang of nostalgia. From the moment Misato threw the DSS choker into the sea, deeper memories came back to him like a set of running lights. He wasn't proud of his actions in previous loops, but he knew he couldn't run away from them anymore.
"...I wonder why I'm still alive...?"
Misato said while driving the car.
Shinji's eyes widened in surprise at Misato's words.
The fresh greenery flowing outside the window dazzled him.
(She was always like that, protecting me, shielding me, losing her life without even caring about herself…)
"Well, I guess because there's still so much to do!"
Mari leaned back to her seat, letting her words sit with Misato. Shinji remembered how Mari liked to play with words, often interspersing them with odd dialects and phrases from all over the world.
On her end, Misato didn't understand why she was still alive. In every loop, she tended to meet her end with a blast to her body surrounded by illusions of the people she loved. She had lived her life to the fullest as much as possible.
"There are things even I don't understand. Well, one thing I can say is that in reality, the timing at which you lost your life was at the very edge of whether your body would truly perish or become LCL, right? "
Misato didn't respond because Mari tried her best to say it cheerfully, but she wondered how destiny had played a hand. No, even in this intervening world, once she regained her body she became conscious of her various ends across lifetimes.
How could she survive now? How could she rebuild the world Shinji and herself had created, one they left in tatters? How could they care for the surviving life aboard their broken ship, when she couldn't even face her own son? She haven't seen him for fourteen years, she wasn't sure where to begin now.
There was a boatload of guilt. Misato would have to learn to live with it now, even if she wasn't sure how to overcome it yet .
How will they all live in a world without Eva? Up until now, even when her enemies changed from Angels to humans, she had been completely focused on fighting. She had to think about where to go, before she could truly face reality.
On her end, Mari didn't have reason to worry. She knew that when Misato asked questions, it usually meant she already found the answer on her own. Still, Mari added her speculating to the mix.
"... Alternatively, Misato surpassed God when she was able to generate Gaius' Spear. So, like how Gendo and Shinji became something beyond human, she was able to surpass her own humanity enough to enter this world? Heh… we talk about killing God, but there are over eight million gods in Japan, right? I'm sure you were spared by one of them for your good deeds."
Misato wondered how selfish he must be if there was such a god. There had to have been a trillion other people who wanted to live more than her. If Mari's theory was correct, did that mean there were no accidents? Everything from her life up to this point was predestined, even across all the loops? Letting the thought sink in, Misato held her side tightly.
She suddenly remembered a line from a poem by Robert Browning, one that became the official motto of the organization she once worked for.
God's in His heaven– All's right with the world.
Mari smiled once she saw Misato had found her own answer after all.
As they passed through vermilion-colored houses made of stone tiles and a road that didn't differ too much from the mountains, a large landscape suddenly spread out in front of them.
Atop the hill were countless white rocks shaped like sheep grazing at the grass, with their horns sticking out from the ground. The contrast between the fresh greenery and the clear blue sky highlighted the beauty of this sanctum.
"Wow! That's amazing!"
Mari let out in a tone of admiration.
Shinji was also glued to the window, his eyes shining.
The blue Alpine moved gently down a road so pristine that it would have served as the setting for a car commercial. A cheery, annoying car commercial that Asuka would have complained about back in the old days. Shinji wondered if she was doing fine.
After a while, Misato decided to take a break and pulled the car off to the side of the road.
An unpaved sidewalk stretched from the side of the car toward a plateau.
The three of them got out of the car and climbed up the sidewalk onto the plateau until they reached the highest point. Seeing the land from the top left a far different impression than seeing it from the side of the road. It turned out that the landscape with protruding white rocks was not only connected to their specific plateau, but also to the surrounding plateaus. The lush greenery swayed in the wind.
"Heaven might be a place like this."
Misato said, putting her hands on her hips. While listening to her, Shinji remembered the day he met Misato.
He was in the passenger seat of Misato's Alpine, being taken to see his father. He had been anxious about meeting him, telling Misato he wouldn't have been called if he wasn't needed for something. Misato told him they shared a dislike for their fathers, before they were distracted by the Geo-Front. From there, Misato took him to a hill overlooking Tokyo-3, calling it the city he protected. Even with what came after, these were cherished memories for Shinji.
Unlike those memories, this was a world at peace, one that never knew Eva. A world they couldn't stay in forever even if they wanted to. New conflicts will emerge once they left this place behind.
There always seemed to be a fight. A fight with mundanity, a fight with the world, a fight between people, a fight with oneself... Back then, they had a clear goal that carried them from the day to day. Kill the Angels, which later became destroy the Evas. Unlike before, Shinji felt like he could live in a world where conflict and ambiguity existed. He sacrificed himself for such a world, restoring it with his own power.
Misato was probably able to come back because she was the same way, having that courage long before him.
Shinji noted that unlike the Geo-Front, this plateau was not artifically crafted by humans, but a place that was carved over centuries of time. A person's life would pass by in a fleeting blip, much like all the lifetimes he remembered. He wondered if he could have experienced this in a world where Second Impact hadn't happened.
"Japan still has a lot of good places! I think I'll try traveling around Japan someday!"
Mari looked around. She seemed to really like this plateau, having fun with it like a child.
Misato saw Mari enjoying herself and thought it was a good thing they all came. When they were fighting together on the Wündar, they were fighting for their lives. Now? They could actually stop and rest for the first time in years.
After enjoying the natural beauty of the plateau, they drove for a while and finally arrived at the hot spring resort.
Misato parked her car at a quaint inn next to the resort. An employee of the inn offered to pull her car into the parking lot, but since the Alpine was retro and, as Misato said, "had some quirks," she politely declined the offer.
After completing formalities in the lobby, where a plaque reading "Rishin Kyojin" was displayed, the group entered the room they were directed to and stretched out their legs.
According to Misato, they were at an inn where the Meiji Restoration patriots and literary giants stayed at. The plaque from earlier was said to be by the first Prime Minister. The room they were led to had an open-air bath in the back, and the interior was simple and sturdy, giving it a sense of history. Shinji followed them all the way to the room, but he gulped at the fact that he was once again sharing a space with two women, even if one of them was Misato, someone he used to live with, or Mari, someone who didn't seem to act like a member of the opposite sex.
(I'm nervous though I don't have the body of a 14-year-old anymore… some things never change.)
In contrast to Shinji's thoughts, the two women relaxed without a trace of caution.
"A bath is the cleansing of the soul! Let's take it easy."
"Japanese Ryokan is the best!"
(They seem fine. Maybe they just don't see me as a man.)
The inn had an indoor bath and a family bath, and the quality of the spring water was excellent. The meals also featured characteristics of the four seasons, including local seafood from the Seto Inland Sea and the Sea of Japan. They delighted the group with dishes that made the most of the power of the ingredients.
After finishing the meal, the futon was laid out, and Misato and Shinji spent an uncharacteristically relaxing time on the veranda, enjoying the sake they had ordered while talking about their past lives.
"When I lived with you, I thought, I won't drink this! But now I think I understand why you love it so much. Beer is so delicious.''
Shinji said while blushing.
On her end Misato, who used to drink beer like it was water back when they roomed together, didn't sip a gulp like expected. She explained it was because she stopped had to stop drinking while leading WILLE, which was how she was able to keep in shape as an older woman. That being said, even though Misato's dosage increased from what she was used to, the color of her face only lightly blushed.
In the world of the Angels and Evas, there weren't many days when to relax, but in the world they made together, if one felt down on the day by day, they would be able to pamper themselves on a moderate basis like today. Everyone would have a chance to survive and make peace with the hardships they experienced.
Kensuke, one of Shinji's classmates who become an adult before he had, taught him how to live like that.
Mari's eyes lit up as she enjoyed the Kaiseki meal. She talked a lot, and seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself, but after sipping larguq gallons of alcohol she dropped ike an anchor to her bed. Shinji and Misato looked at the dozing Mari with mild amusement.
"Mari-san thought she was invincible, but she was extremely weak when it came to drinking.''
"Ahahaha, it's good to see. Shin-chan turned into such a handsome lil' man once he grew up... It's new to me. I've never seen this side of you before. I'm so happy."
She spoke to him the same way she used to, but the words felt charged to Shinji's ears. The air shifted, he realized as he stared at his former guardian. Misato was stunning in the moonlight, wearing a bright blue yukata for the occasion. She stared back at him, locked in a sedutive gaze that caused his heart to skip a beat.
Misato looked at Shinji with a newfound interest. His adult form reminded her of his father, but while her long time enemy was a man with a rough physique and a manly beard, Shinji was different. He had a more androgynous visage, pretty, frail and delicate as he was at fourteen. Even at this stage, he could be mistaken for a girl.
Misato had never seen a photo of Shinji's mother, but she assumed Shinji took more from her.
"...Misato-san..."
"What? Shin-chan?"
"Now that you're back… would you like to continue our adult kiss?"
As Misato stopped holding her sake cup, she was reminded that Shinji inherited memories from the various world lines just like her.
(We'll do the rest when you get back.)
On his end, Shinji remembered how Misato kissed him once she realized she was about to die. It tended to be done for a variety of reasons, mixed emotions, juvenile prank, a serious interest, or just encouraging Shinji the only way she could. It was for his sake more than anything, yet somewhere along the way it became more for her.
It was a selfish wish that could only be explained by ego. No matter what happened to the world after she died, Misato didn't want Shinji to forget her existence.
She'd rather he remember the taste of blood on his lips than act like she was a disposable tool for him.
She wanted him to remember her, warts and all, as her body was obliterated via explosion.
It made her realize how much she devoted herself to Shinji, how much she loved him.
They hugged each other by the window, replicating their previous one back in Nagato. Misato's lips moved closer to Shinji's as her hand rested on his cheek. Shinji accepted without hesitation.
The first time, he didn't know what was going on, the kiss laced with an bitter iron taste. Now, he accepted it with open arms. Not only did Shinji give into her obediently, but that kiss and Misato's slender fingers made him feel warm.
"... Shinji-kun, let's go to bed."
They fell onto the futon. Shinji's face became covered with Misato's kisses, her breath shortening in proportion to his own hands caressing her.
"I've always wanted to do this."
They couldn't help but laugh when once they said the same line at the same time. They worried about waking up Mari, but both soon realized there was nothing to be concerned about. They laughed again, before continuing to kiss.
"When I saw you in Ube, I mistook you for a beautiful actress. Of course, I remembered you later... How could I have lived with such a gorgeous woman while I was 14 years old? I guess it was my luck."
"But no matter how good she looks, you've probably realized she's not worth it, right? I mean, she's rough, lazy, already pushing her 40s… oh!"
Misato cried out as be licked her neck.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't finished. Even when I was fourteen, I knew Misato-san wasn't mature."
He stimulated her by running his tongue over her ears and neck. He slipped one hand under the lining of her yukata to gently massage her breasts.
"Yay... ah! Neck... no! Shinji-kun, you did it..."
"Now you're wearing a yukata, but you used to wander around the apartment without a bra... you and Asuka didn't have any sense of decency. It drove me crazy."
"Right now? I know exactly how to make you feel good, Misato-san."
(Shinji-kun hasn't seen the real me... The truth is painful. He'll have to face it.)
In a previous timeline, Shinji bore witness to Misato's college days, her having sex with Kaji. He had been disgusted by that display, feeling further alienated from Misato. He was an idiot back then, not appreciating the woman for all she was. This time, he would rectify his mistake. He heard her speak.
"You've become an expert at your mouth too, huh?"
"I'm sorry. The university student, the operations manager, the captain of the Wünder, all of you is so wonderful..."
"Ah, ah, ah… I'm sure you've put up with a lot… I'll do my best to make you feel good… hah."
Misato caressed Shinji's collarbone, gently rubbed her knee around his crotch. Just her touch caused him to bounce.
The day they started living together, Misato happened to get a full view of Shinji's naked body when he ran scared out of the bathroom. He was small back then, just a kid, so she took it in stride and teased him until he retreated.
In sharp contrast to this, the Shinji standing before her was a man. He was taller and leaner, his crotch leaving a dent through his yukata. It filled Misato with anticipation.
"Hehe, you have quite sensitivity Shin-chan."
Shinji smiled kindly, sweat dripping down his forehead, before he put his hand on the belt of Misato's yukata. He loosened it until the front was completely open.
The sweat pouring from her body shimmered in the moonlight, making her look even more beautiful to his eyes.
However, Shinji was rendered speechless once he came across something different in Misato's body.
"This...maybe..."
He knew about the lightning-bolt-like scar that ran from Misato's chest to her side, but what shocked him there was a new scar right next to it, about 10mm in diameter. It appeared to have come out diagonally from her left side to the right. Shinji instantly knew where they came from.
These scars were wounds she received trying to protect him. A pang of guilt came over him.
"Misato-san... thank you..."
Feeling his eyes tear up, Shinji carefully licked the scar as if he was tracing it with a brush.
"Hmm..."
Misato usually didn't think about her scars, actively tried not to. She's never let them be seen as thoroughly as Shinji was at the moment. She always thought the scar from Second Impact was the ugliest part of her body, but the new ones she didn't mind as much. They were beautiful because they created from protecting someone. The feeling of being licked, the sense of sinful pleasure that Shinji was the one doing it to her, made Misato twist her knees.
"... I've always hated the scar on my chest... but the two on this side... were made to protect you Shin-chan. They're my treasures…"
After wiping the tears from his eyes and the sweat from his forehead, Shinji further traced the lines of Misato's body with his tongue and lips, moving down toward her lower abdomen to extend his tongue between her already wet legs. He used his tongue to edge the shape of the vaginal opening, before inserting it in to lick it more. Each time he took such actions, Misato's lower abdomen tightened, her vaginal opening twitched, and her body fluids overflowed as if inviting his tongue further inside.
"Huh... ha... ah... ah... yeah…"
Just as she wanted, his tongue penetrated deeper and traced the walls of her vagina, making her let out a high-pitched wail even as she tried to keep it down.
"Huh... ah... I'm a total idiot. I asked to be your guardian, tried to make a pass at you, and even kissed you... In the end, Ritsuko was right about everything... I'm such a terrible guardian."
Misato stroked Shinji's head between her legs. His soft hair felt good between her fingers.
"What's more, we're even having sex right now… I want you to lick me more here, I really want you inside of me… It's the first time I've met an adult Shinji-kun, I can't wait to see this for the rest of my life."
"Hmm...? You say all that but I'm the bad one here… not just for letting you die. Kaji-san is an irreplaceable and unforgettable man for both of us, and Ryoji-kun..."
He talked to her while licking her vaginal opening. Her breath tickled his, making both feel even more lewd.
"Right now, I want to connect with Misato-san as much as possible. I want to be able to hold her and help her for as long as I can. I want to be inside her as soon as possible."
Once Shinji removed his head from between her legs, he whispered those words in Misato's ear in a lower voice than she ever heard. He inserted his finger into her vagina causing a slurping sound.
"Ah!"
Misato had her joints bent on the inside, and she reached her climax easily.
"... Cute. But we're just getting started, Misato-san. I'm sure you'll like this too," Shinji said, slipping his head between Misato's legs again. He took the clitoris in his mouth, which he had deliberately avoided touching, and began sucking gently. Afterward, he slowly inserted his finger into her vagina, where he thrusted it upward to violently agitated her clitoris.
"Ahh...! No, that's...haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
Feeling his fingers being pushed deeper and deeper, Shinji pulled them out.
"Ah... ah... ah... ah..."
Misato couldn't help but feel the erotic pain deep inside her clitoris. She stopped to breath heavily, before gazing at Shinji.
"…Right… Shin-chan, can I lick you?"
When Shinji nodded, Misato got on her knees and took off his yukata and underwear, smiling.
"It's getting really hard…"
His cock that had been pushing up against his underwear, overflowing with pre-cum, swollen to the point of bursting, and arched to the point that it was almost touching his stomach.
"Ah...heh... look at you"
Misato cried out as Shinji stroked her inner thigh. He laughed out of breath.
"Don't forget, you're so wet too…"
Shinji's body was no longer trapped in the twilight of childhood. His penis, reflected the moonlight and shining lewdly, asserted that he was a man now. When Misato gently stroked it, playing with it like a toy, Shinji let out a moan.
He couldn't resist, he kissed her deeply on the lips, before smooching her body from top to bottom just like before. He sucked on her nipples, licking it up and stroking her inner thigh with the tips of his free hands. Shinji's hips bucked, and even more cum dripped down his cock.
"Ah... ah... Misato-san… my nipple..."
"While being licked, hmm?" Misato said, the vibrations and even her breath stimulating Shinji's hips to move back and forth.
"Do you want to feel better quickly?"
She used her tongue to flick his nipples.
"Hmm!"
"Me too... I happened to find a naughty book while I was checking your room, Shinji-kun."
While saying this, Misato's head gradually moved between Shinji's legs.
"Some of the pages had creases, and I thought they were cute.''
Misato wrapped her mouth around Shinji's penis while placing her slender fingers atop his balls.
"Nipple torture, glans torture, big breasts, hahahaha… you really were a boy…"
"Ah!"
Shinji used his hand to cover his mouth.
"Shinji-kun's penis is twitching…"
As Misato thought that she felt fluid dripping from her vagina. She wrapped her lips and tongue around Shinji's dick and moved it up and down, occasionally licking the urethra, which started to taste salty.
After slowly attacking Misato with his lips, he licked her in a soft but violent circular motion, and then Shinji held Misato's head firmly down.
When she removed her mouth to lick the underside of her man's cock, Shinji's restraining force became stronger.
"I can't do it anymore...Misato-san...I want to…"
"Me too…."
Shinji slowly pushed Misato down onto the futon, placing his penis against her vaginal opening, rubbing her teasingly.
"Ah… I have to wear a rubber band..."
Shinji tried using his legs to search for a contraceptive in his luggage, but Misato grabbed him instead. She shook her head and pressed his cock against the entrance of her vagina. Shinji swallowed a lump in his throat.
"It's a world in between, so it's fine… I want you just the way you are."
The last thread of Shinji's rationality he barely maintained was severed. Rough breathing echoed throughout the room, like a vulture waiting for its feast.
Shinji lowered his hips, carefully inserting his penis inside Misato. He gasped in enjoyment, feeling her vaginal walls tighten around him.
Misato had experienced the feeling of being filled many times over, but she thought it was worth it to try it with Shinji. He was making her feel good in a way she hadn't in a long time.
"Uh... huh..."
"...Misato-san..."
The slimy feeling of their body fluids flowing from each other became unbearable.
"Hot…."
Both of them the line at the same time, and laughed again.
"I feel like it's going to melt."
Shinji heard Misato's reply, "Me too," so he began to move his hips back and forth. Misato's ample breasts swayed with Shinji's movements, making they feel truly connected.
"Hmm... ah, ah, ah! Yay...!"
"Misato-san's... inside... it... it feels so..."
Misato's cervix rubbed against Shinji's dick, wrapping it further around her folds. Every time she thrusted, she forced it to go deeper and deeper with mounting pressure. With Shinji that deep inside, he was bound to penetrate and release into her womb. He caressed her ample breasts in the mean time, the skin seemed to stick to him,. He wanted to keep touching her.
"Hah... huh..."
"…Ah...feeling...feeling..."
As Shinji violently thrusted into Misato, she thought of how his shoulders and hips were wider than hers. She smiled at how he had gained a fair amount of muscle. Different from Kaji, who had thick muscles sculpted from farming. Shinji had more of a slender frame, possessing a grace more akin to a swimmer or a dancer, which Misato came to find she loved just as much. The scent of sweat and shampoo filled her nostrils, which only served to send her further into a lustful daze. Not having the smell of cigarettes to distract her was a rather nice bonus.
Shinji didn't have much experience, but his enthusiasm made up for it. His body was desperately searching for hers, making the two move back and forth in rhythm. The feeling of being wrapped around Shinji was completely different from when Kaji was on top of her. Much as she loved Kaji, even at their best there was an undercurrent of using and being used, exchanging information for espionage or running away. In this moment, Shinji left her feeling a sense of comfort, and above all, unconditional love. There was nothing to be gained except what they shared for each other.
Sweat, saliva, and body fluids from their genitals mixed together. They were no longer able to tell the boundaries between their bodies.
"Ah... ah ah ah ah ah... no, nnn! Shin-cha... I'm going to cum again... it feels so... good!"
"Let's go... Misato-san... I'm already at my limit... What... Inside? Outside?"
"Nah... Inside... I want...!"
Shinji felt sweat spatter on his face, and his semen was forcefully released inside her. His penis trembled, as if the cum was being squeezed to the last drop, with both Shinji and Misato left reeling from the mutual pleasure of being finished. Misato's vagina swelled, trying not to spill even a single drop of her cum, giving Shinji another pleasant show.
The two of them began to doze off, holding each other's free hands tightly. Shinji propped Misato up between his arms.
"I never thought the time would come when Shin-chan would put me in his arms."
"Me neither. I never thought the day would come when Misato-san would use me as a pillow… When I was fourteen, I almost wanted that to happen."
Misato was taller than him at that age, but now at 28 years old Shinji overtook her, even though she was taller than the average Japanese woman.
"Shin-chan, you've grown up so much… Ehehe, I guess you inherited that from your father? He was quite big last I remembered."
Misato thought that to be true, causing her to giggle. However, the peace did not last.
"You two..."
A voice came from the futon next to me. Mari, who they thought to be asleep, had woken up.
"Eh…⁉︎"
"Yay…⁉︎"
"You two thought you were being sneaky, ha! Let's mix it up! Second round! It's still going! We'll get you back in the saddle in seconds!"
"Aaah!"
"Nyahahahaha! You two had a lot of fun yesterday!"
While Mari was a bubble of excitement since the morning, Shinji and Misato were looking down, blushing brightly as they ate their dried puffer fish breakfast.
"Mmmmm! This food is delicious! I had no idea that the two of you were going to get so excited while I was sleeping like a lamb next to you! It's like being the third wheel on a honeymoon, no?"
Shinji and Misato had rather mixed feelings about Mari's use of the word honeymoon. There was a general feeling immorality and embarrassment, but they didn't truly feel sorry for what they had done.
Mari sensed this, and laughed out loud while finishing her breakfast.
"Shinji-kun and Misato were so cute "
Both Shinji and Misato thought they wouldn't be able to beat this woman. Last night they learned about Mari's weaknesses, so they have a chance of crashing her out with sake if need be, but they knew she wouldn't stay down for long.
"Well, Japanese salmon is delicious, but it doesn't suit my internal enzymes.'' Mari patted her stomacn. "I slept well! Actually, since it's a historical inn, I was thinking of exploring it, but... ? The two of you."
Shinji and Misato blushed even more.
"... Anyway. Shinji-kun and Misato have always met in the previous worlds, even ones that I've never been a part of. I'm starting to think that no amount of science can match human bonds, connections, or fate."
Mari rested her chopsticks while drinking water. Misato still thought that her survival was a prank from God, while Mari continued.
"Thanks to you, I was able to return to my normal body. Thank you both."
"Can we meet again?"
"I'll see you, I'll see you! Definitely keeping an eye on you two for sure! If I can't meet you, then I'll come again to pick you up!"
Mari never stopped smiling throughout the whole thing.
"I wonder what will happen to me?"
Misato wondered if there was a world where she died in Antarctica along with her father. How much would things have changed if that happened? Why did she survive that, along with countless other tragedies if only by the skin of her teeth? Even in worlds where Kaji and Ritsuko permanently died, she survived. Mari sensed where her thoughts were going.
"It's okay, even if you survived by chance, I don't think there's anyone who wouldn't be happy about it!. Misato, you have always lived for others' sake, so take this is a message from God. I'm sure he's telling you to try living for yourself for a while."
Misato looked at the garden from her room, considering Mari's words. The red pine tree, loved by the old literary figures, shimmered with the light reflected by the green dew.
After leaving the inn, the group headed towards Shimonoseki at Mari's suggestion. Misato's Alpine approached the entrance to the large bridge connecting to the island.
"Misato... go as fast as this car can hold on this bridge. By then, we'd be able to return to our original world."
"… Roger that."
It was finally time, Shinji thought. He didn't know how much passed in this intervening world, but he strongly believed, even if he had no basis for it, that they would be able to return to the world they had saved.
As the car picked up speed, Shinji remembered the words said to him by the shadow that resembled his mother.
(Anywhere can be heaven so long as you have the will to live. After all, so long as you're alive, there will always be a chance to be happy.)
As the car was surrounded by light, Shinji looked at Misato and nodded in approval. They would face this reality together.
It's spring,
The sun is morning (tomorrow),
It's seven o'clock in the morning,
I met Kataoka,
Agehibari (Age Hibari) ride,
Crawling on the cochlear branch,
God, let the sky know.
All is well in this world.
(Robert Browning "Spring Morning" translated by Satoshi Ueda, "The Sound of the Sea")
Author's Notes:
I didn't write this story. I found this on Pixiv and after google translating it so I can understand the story, I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to write an english version so others could read it. It's not perfect and if the author reaches out to ask me to delete the story I'll do so. Warning, I have added some embellishments because of either being confused about the terminology being used and a lack of detail, both the result of using google translate. This is why Jocasta hasn't posted in a bit. You will get a new chapter soon.
Here's a direct translation of the description. If you want to check the story out for yourself, look for it on the MisaShin Pixiv novels section:
"This is a reprint of the SS contributed to the Shinji Ikari x Misato Katsuragi joint magazine "Adult Kiss Completion Plan" published on August 13, 2022. Since we received permission from the organizer, we decided to post it here today, December 8th, which is Misato's birthday. We have also posted an all-ages version that excludes adult depictions, so if you don't like sexual depictions, please read that version.
In terms of story, it is a continuation of the last scene of Shin Eva, and is a sightseeing (?) road novel about Yamaguchi Prefecture, which is also the author's hometown. Although there are many depictions that remind us of real places, this is a work of fiction and has no relation to any real people, organizations, or places."
Enjoy!