AN at bottom. Enjoy.

Living with Misato Katsuragi was going to be messy, Shinji quickly found out. The woman was the definition of a slob, beer cans piled on top of each other to nearly waist height, trash bags were thrown into the corners in an attempt to forget them, and the dishes…it made his head hurt how a woman in such a respected position could live like this. He'd seen

"And, done." Shinji wiped his brow of sweat and smiled at his work.

The living room was spotless, nearly unrecognizable compared to yesterday when he first came in. It took a lot of work, lots of scrubbing, lots of wiping, and certainly a few trips to the local Poppo store. Even if it did cost a few thousand yen to buy the necessary cleaning supplies. That paled in comparison to the food, or lack of it.

Misato was a heavy drinker, heavier than some of the people he knew, and her fridge was stocked full of it. Rows upon rows of cheap Yebisu branded beer took up as much space as possible. The only food in Misato's house was frozen microwavable junk that could be made in minutes. He cleared out all the beer into an ice chest and replaced it with healthier foods that he normally cooked - another few thousand yen down the drain. He stuck with things he knew, taught to him by the other kids from Morning Glory, or simple foods that weren't too complex. He even bought some fish for Misato's other roommate.

Pen-Pen the warm-water penguin was…well a penguin. He was still unsure why Misato owned such a strange animal, but he didn't question it. When he was cleaning out the refrigerator the penguin happened to hear him. The two stood in silence looking at each other when Shinji handed him a fresh fish.

"Forget about yesterday and you can have this fish." The penguin vigorously nodded, as if understanding him, and so their deal was made. They would never speak of their first encounter in the restroom again.

Aside from food and waste, Shinji went ahead and bought a suite of pots, pans, bowls, plates, and utensils. Unsurprisingly most of Misato's own were either plastic that could be disposed of or the cheap stuff that came with the apartment. He spared no expense when shopping for those, which unfortunately set him back another dozen thousand yen.

By the end of Shinji's shopping sprees he was left flat out broke. Barely a few hundred yen. All the money he had saved up from the jobs he worked flushed down the drain in a mere few hours.

Shinji groaned and flopped onto the couch, he could finally bask and take in all of his work. He hadn't cleaned this hard since the others tried their hands at baking a cake for Kazuma-san, the batter was everywhere and Shinji led the assault on the kitchen clean up. It was just his way of showing appreciation to the man who took him in, and now Misato in turn was the recipient of it

He looked out the patio window towards the horizon, the sun was starting to rise up and bathe the city in its morning glow. A quick check at his watch told him he had been cleaning for almost three hours now since 5 a.m.

"Maybe I can get some sleep." He yawned before leaning back into the couch to try and get some sleep.

He lied there for what felt like eternity before he heard it.

"Hey Shinji~," A woman's voice whispered in his ears. "It's time to get up~."

Shinji opened his eyes to see his roommate, dressed and ready to go. "Misato?"

"Time to get up kiddo, it's your first day of work!" She said with a smirk.

As Shinji was already dressed, the two of them left their apartment and went straight to NERV. When he asked why - fearing another one of those Angels - Misato quickly explained it was for training. Shinji guessed that would be necessary, he barely knew a thing about EVA Unit-01 and he was given the task to fight for humanity. If he didn't know how to fight already…he didn't dare think about the possibility.

So Misato walked him down deep within NERV to the robots (bio-robot?) storage bay. He and Misato stood in the observation room, much like his father was when Shinji first arrived. From so high up he could imagine seeing himself down there, it was incredibly small.

"Good morning Ritsuko." His roommate waved from the room's door.

Sitting in the center of the room with another woman was Dr. Akagi, seemingly going over something. As she looked up from the screen he could tell that whatever lack of sleep he was feeling wasn't nearly as bad as the doctors. Bags were under her eyes and a half empty mug full of coffee lay on the table nearby, a sign of late nights at work.

"Good, you're here. Put this on." Dr. Akagi grabbed a nearby vacuum-sealed bag and tossed it at Shinji.

The bag was nearly opaque, he couldn't see through it, but he did see some blue and black underneath. "What is this?" He asked.

"That," Dr. Akagi started before taking a swig of coffee, "Is your plug suit."

"Plug suit?" He repeated.

"Open it up." She told him, so he did.

The plastic bag opened to reveal a black and blue jumpsuit with a white chest piece. "What is this?"

"That, kiddo, is your uniform." Misato leaned in to get a better look.

"My uniform? For what?" It took him a couple seconds to realize it, "You mean when I'm piloting the EVA?" He asked.

Misato snapped her fingers, "Bingo."

"This is a second generation plugsuit, to skip a lot of stuff you don't really need to know, this gives us vital information about your body we need to know to keep you alive. Heart rate, blood pressure, if you received any injuries…the works." Dr. Akagi took another sip of coffee. "So don't take it off, not like last time." Obviously reminding him of when he took off his shirt mid-battle with the Angel. A habit he had unknowingly picked up from Kazuma-san.

"I understand." He nodded.

"Good, today will just be making sure your plugsuit works and how high your sync levels can get. Before that however," The other woman with Dr. Akagi sat up. She was much younger, she looked like she came straight out of university. "This is Lieutenant Ibuki, she will be one of three operators on the bridge that will feed you information and help guide you on missions."

The lieutenant bowed, "It's nice to meet you Ikari-kun, I'm Maya Ibuki. I look forward to helping you on your missions."

"Thank you, please just call me Shinji." Shinji bowed back.

"Likewise, please call me Maya." Maya gave a small smile, already Shinji could tell Maya was a nice person. She just gave off that kind of energy.

"Maya will show you how to enter and exit your plugsuit. Afterwards you are to get dressed in the male changing room and report to the testing chambers." Misato told him.

The next half hour was Maya walking him through how the suit functioned. Afterward he left to change. Putting on the suit was strange, he had never put on something like this before. It was a weird mix of latex and a sturdy fabric he could only assume was kevlar. He looked himself in the mirror, fully taking in his new uniform. It reminded him of those Sentai shows he used to watch with Koji, except functional.

After leaving the changing room and returning to Dr. Akagi, Shinji assumed things would go fast. They did not. The next few hours were just him sitting in the designated pod as Dr. Akagi and Maya ran their tests. It was very boring, and he couldn't sleep through it for some brain scan reasons. So he sat still and relaxed for a few hours until he was given the all clear.

"Before you leave Shinji," Maya called out before he exited his pod, "After you exit, there will still be remnants of LCL in your body, your lungs will take care of it, but I would recommend evacuating any left in your throat and stomach."

"She means throw it up." Misato said.

"Um, why?" Shinji asked hesitantly.

"Because it tastes awful." Dr. Akagi's curt reply came first.

"Oh, that makes sense. Thank you for the advice."

Exiting the LCL felt weird, he could breathe but it felt like there was something stuck in his throat. He followed Maya's advice and hurled, just as she said, the orange liquid evacuated from his throat into the water below. Which unfortunately meant he had to taste and smell it again. LCL wasn't awful, it was nothing as bad as the stench he'd smell in some homeless camps, but it certainly was not pleasant. Also for some reason, he couldn't explain why, but it smelt familiar but he couldn't pin down what.

"Congrats on your first test kiddo." Misato said as she walked toward him with a towel in hand.

"Thanks, I guess?" Shinji wiped his mouth of leftover LCL.

"Don't be thanking me yet, tomorrow you are reading up on the manual and hopefully some weapons training. You might have shown off some pretty slick moves against the Angel, but that's not all there is to piloting." Misato wasn't wrong, getting to know the EVA inside and out would help him better understand how to handle fights in the future.

"For now, clean up," She tossed him a towel, "You have to go to school."

Shinji had never been to school, in all his life he had always been tutored by one person or another. They usually lasted about a year before being replaced by someone else Kazuma-san found. He never found out why he did this, the only reason he was given was that it was for his own protection. He was no stranger to tutors, after all the first tutor was one he lived it. The man was selfish to the core, and cold to Shinji's attempts to make conversation. Shinji wondered where he'd be right now if he and his tutor didn't meet Kazuma-san on that rainy night in Kamurocho.

The idea of going to a school finally made Shinji slightly nervous, but also hesitantly excited. He had heard a lot about it from his friends at Morning Glory. Taichi said that everyone would sit together in class rooms and eat together for lunch. It almost sounded like his usual dinners at the orphanage, sitting with everyone as they talked about their day. Taichi regularly had to stay behind to clean their classrooms too, so it really did sound like living back at Morning Glory.

"1st Municipal Junior High School?" Shinji asked as he read the pamphlet.

"Yep, this is the local school." Misato said as the two stood in front of said building. It was unremarkable, Shinji would have confused it with a generic office building in Tokyo-2.

"I thought schools would look…different." Shinji was a little let down by the rather plain look of it.

"Have you ever been to a school?" She said it sarcastically, but Shinji didn't give a sarcastic response.

"Not really." He shrugged as he walked to the school, leaving behind a befuddled Misato who quickly caught up. "So I'm enrolling here?" He asked.

She nodded, "That means you are responsible for all your school work, I expect you to keep them up while you're here."

"Not to sound ungrateful, but I would have thought this would be unnecessary. NERV already has me piloting the EVA, wouldn't this interfere with that?" It did seem odd for Shinji to go to school while piloting a robot to defend humanity.

"It was the Vice-Commanders idea, what are you going to do when all this is over? You still need an education." The two of them entered the building, the first room was dedicated to lockers with numbers printed on all of them.

"I mean…" He sort of already had many jobs under the Tojo, including another personal job which didn't exactly pay him due to his age, but it wasn't like he didn't have a future. "Sure." He agreed with Misato.

Misato guided him to the principal's office where they met the principal. He was a small rotund man, well into his age as his head was full of gray hairs with few black strands. He greeted both him and Misato before establishing the rules of the school and how his situation would be handled.

FIrst, his school work was mandatory, as reiterated by Misato. Despite being hired by NERV he was to make sure to complete every task assigned to him to the best of his abilities, barring any extenuating circumstances. Next, his status as a NERV employee was only known to the school staff, and he was to refrain from telling his class members. Misato said operation security was necessary for his protection, in case any crazy person had ideas. He didn't argue, he knew when to be tight lipped. Lasty, he would be assigned to Class 2-A, where he would meet with the class representative Hikari Horaki to get caught up with the school's lessons. As the class rep Hikari was told only a little about Shinji's situation, that he was a NERV employee and may leave class when summoned. But other than that she was in the dark.

Because it was already the end of the week, Shinji would be officially joining school next week, so he still had a few more days until school started for him. Along with the school lesson plan, he was also given a student pass for the train station. It was a free pass for anyone going to and from school, very helpful for his already light wallet.

With all that done, the duo left the school and went back to Misato's apartment. If he was going to school he'd have to dress appropriately.

"Aah, nice couch." Misato groaned as she kicked off her shoes and jacket and face planted onto the couch.

"No more work for today?" He asked as he walked to his room.

"That's future-Misato's problem. Present-Misato is using the excuse of showing you around to get out of work early today." More shuffling from the living room told him that Misato was getting more comfortable on the couch.

As Shinji entered his still boxed belongings he started searching through his clothes, a lot of them were his casual clothes he'd wear out and about, nothing really screamed 'School' to him. "I guess this will have to do." Shinji said as he took out the last of his clothes.

Misato meanwhile laid on the couch thinking, normally she would be drinking or sleeping but the continued oddity of Shinji kept her from doing either. The kid never went to a school? His papers said differently, an above average student in one of Tokyo-2's many schools. Shinji didn't seem like one to lie about something as small as going to school, much less lie at all. The inconsistencies started to worry her, maybe she should ask Ritsuko to look into things.

"Hey Misato, this isn't much, is it?" Shinji asked.

Misato pulled her face out of the cushions to look at Shinji, to say it was overkill was an understatement.

Shinji wore a two piece suit, the jacket was a dark black that was opened all the way with matching trousers and shiny black shoes. The inside was a blue dress shirt that was a few shades darker than cobalt, the collar popped out from underneath the jacket giving a sharp appearance.

Overall, the kid looked like a freaking stereotypical yakuza member.

"I didn't have much semi-formal wear and this was the closest I had. What do you think?" Shinji turned around for her, showing off the backside of the outfit.

Beside her, Pen-Pen (who she didn't even notice) gave a squawk of approval, with a thumbs/claw up.

"Thanks Pen-Pen." Shinji smiled at the compliment.

As Shinji threw some punches and kicks for Misato, all she could think about was needing another beer.

To Become A Dragon

"And that covers the manual, you've done well Shinji." Maya said.

"Thank you."

"Okay Shinji, next we're going to test your marksmanship, this should get you acclimated to the EVA's personal armory." Ritsuko spoke into the console in front of her, Maya stood beside her already spinning up the combat simulation.

"Marksmanship?" Shinji hesitantly asked, "You mean guns?"

To any normal adult, a child being afraid of guns wouldn't sound crazy. But Misato knew better. Misato knew this kid wasn't scared of much, he didn't even hesitate fighting a building tall monster with no training. Hell, his hand-to-hand combat was so good he'd give Asuka - who was given military training - a run for her money. So seeing the kid be afraid of a gun was definitely a break in Shinji's otherwise cool personality.

"Is everything okay, Shinji?" Misato asked.

In the simulation, EVA Unit-01 stood in an empty Tokyo-3, facing the third angel Sachiel. Unit-01, instead of engaging the angel, stood looking at the gun in its hands. Shinji carefully handled the weapon, as if at any moment it was going to jump out and bite him.

"I don't like guns." He simply stated.

In a bizarre act, Shinji dropped the gun, instead deploying his Progressive Knife and charging the monster. Shinji fought the Angel much like he did last time, except this time using his knife expertly.

"Cut," Ritsuko said as the simulation stopped, "Pilot, we're here to test your aptitude in shooting, not hand-to-hand combat. Pick up the gun and do it again."

The simulation rebooted, and Shinji stood opposite Sachiel with a gun in Unit-01's hands. Again Shinji hesitated. Ritsuko looked like she was going to reprimand him again, but Misato spoke first.

"Shinji, what's the problem?"

The pilot held the gun tentatively again, "I don't like guns, I'm sorry but I prefer if I don't use them. I'm much better with my fists."

Ritsuko shook her head in annoyance and leaned into the console, "This isn't a choice pilot, you will learn how to use that rifle. You're not getting out of there until you do."

Shinji was silent for a moment, "Yes ma'am." He said dejectedly.

The rest of training went on with little hiccups, Shinji followed instructions as he learned how to use his standard issued rifle and handgun. As Shinji practiced, Misato looked off to the side to see a monitor focused on his face. Shinji had a frown on him she now realized she never saw. Pulling the trigger on that gun, it looked painful to him.

"Simulation complete, Pilot Ikari shows a 32.35% accuracy rating." Maya reported from her station.

Ritsuko shrugged, "That will have to do, for now, next time let's try and push for at least 50%." Maya nodded before inputting the data.

Misato stood up about to leave when Ritsuko grabbed her arm, "Hey." She started.

"I know," Misato sighed, "I'll talk to him." Ritsuko nodded and let her go.

"That'll be all for today, Shinji-kun." Maya told him, which was received with a 'Yes ma'am.' from Shinji.

Misato waited outside the male changing room, it took him a bit but eventually Shinji stepped out in a plain t-shirt and slacks.

"Got a minute?" Misato asked as Shinji finally noticed her.

"Oh, Misato, sorry I didn't see you." He gave a small bow of apology which Misato waved off.

"You wanna talk?" She asked, causing Shinji to look away in discomfort.

"It's about the simulation, isn't it?" Misato nodded.

The two of them walked out to the cafeteria, at this time of day it was clear of the usual crowd getting their lunches in. Misato inserted some yen into the nearby vending machines and got Shinji a bottle of water and her a soda. The two of them sat apart from each other, drinks in hand. Misato waited for him to speak, but Shinji silently drank his water. It seemed like she was going to have to be the one to start this conversation.

"You know the situation you're in." It wasn't a question, just a simple matter of fact.

"I know Ms. Misato." Shinji said.

It was strange to see Shinji like this, he looked meek in comparison to just a few hours ago.

"You know what's at stake." Shinji nodded, "So you know that we can't afford to not take every advantage we can get. So if that means using a gun, you will have to use a gun." Shinji once again wordlessly nodded. "So what's the problem?" She asked.

Shinji fumbled with his fingers, "When I was young, my sensei at the time was a gambler." He looked at Misato, wondering if she'd interject. She leaned in, listening. "He was paid to take care of me after father sent me away. At the time I didn't realize how far he had gotten, but looking back he was obviously in debt. Which he could only pay off by tutoring me."

"Did he harm you?" She asked.

Shinji shrugged, "He was cold, not very friendly. It was like he was only there for the money. But no, he didn't harm me. Never raised a hand to me."

"Makes sense, that quickly after Second-Impact…people were desperate for money. What happened next?" She asked.

"I don't know when, but he started buying less and less. He looked worse over time, disheveled, coming back late, sometimes drunk and angry." Shinji recalled, every time he looked back he spotted another small hint of how bad things had gotten for his sensei.

"Sounds like he was getting into some big debt." Misato reasoned, Shinji agreed.

"Mhm, eventually one day some men came to the door. Probably there for the money, he didn't have it so they beat him up and took what they could. Sensei couldn't pay off the debt unfortunately, so he gambled more thinking he could win big."

Misato nodded, "That's how they get you, you start spiraling and the only way you can get out is gambling more, hoping you can get a jackpot."

"Sensei gambled more, until one day the men came back. He had one more day to get back the money, the next day he took me out. We went to Kamurocho, where he usually gambled."

"Kamurocho, huh." Misato thought back to what she remembered of the small district. Before Second Impact it was a hotbed of yakuza activity, but was now pretty much a dump. "What did he do?"

"He gambled, and when that didn't work," Shinji rubbed his hands, "He used me as bait to rob people."

"Huh!?" Misato stood up in anger.

"Please Misato, calm down." Shinji's pleas sat Misato down, "He made me cry for help, and he'd come out with a gun he had. He did it a few times but still wasn't enough."

"Is that why you hate guns?" Misato asked.

Shinji shook his head, "No. After my sensei robbed a few people, we headed into an alley for him to count it all. But apparently we were noticed, and some men came. Sensei didn't have the money so they beat him up again, badly."

Misato let him talk, not wanting to interrupt his story.

"When they were walking away with the money, Sensei stood up and shot one of the men. The other ran to stop him but was shot too, but Sensei only shot his leg. He didn't expect him to get back up and beat him more."

Misato could not reckon with the information she was told, she was aware that the Commander sent his son away years ago but she didn't realize it was in such bad hands. The idea of Shinji staying with that man for years made her blood boil. She also started to see how murdering a man in front of a child his age was traumatizing enough to make Shinji hesitant about using a gun. "Your sensei, what happened to him?" She asked.

"Major head trauma, he was declared dead at the hospital." He said it so morbidly it sent a chill down Misato's spine.

"So he died. Then who took care of you since then?"

"It was the man who freed me, the man who beat up my sensei."

Misato sat there a moment, letting the information pass through her. "Excuse me?"

"He took me in after finding me, and he treated me well. I was grateful to him for everything he did for me. And he asked for nothing in return." Shinji had a smile on his face, like he was remembering a good memory.

"Wait, hold on, back up. The man who beat your sensei to death, took you in and raised you?" Misato asked.

Shinji happily nodded, "He ran an orphanage, where a bunch of other kids like me stayed. He took care of all of us, made sure we all ate well, got us a good education, gave us advice…there was nothing he wouldn't do for us."

Misato couldn't help but be skeptical, it must have been written on her face because Shinji continued trying to convince her, "I swear it, one time when we went fishing a big shark tried to overturn our boat so Kazuma-san dove in and beat it up!" He mimicked some punches to really sell it to her.

Misato was even less convinced of this man Shinji brought up, "Ignoring the fact that sharks have been an endangered species since Second Impact, nothing on your file said anything about a Kazuma-san."

Shinji shrugged, "Kazuma-san said he took care of it, said that if Father ever needed to get in contact with me he knew where to call. He never did."

All of this was red flags for Misato, hell even red flags wouldn't be enough to describe just how much she didn't like what she heard. But she put that all aside for now, she was here for a reason.

"We'll talk about this later, right now we have to get back on topic." The previous conversation slipped from Shinji's mind, having forgotten why they were talking.

"Oh, right." He deflated a little.

"I'm sorry about what happened to you, but right now you have a duty to protect the entire world. And that duty means we have to do everything in our power to stop the angels from destroying humanity, if that means you need to use a gun…I'm sorry Shinji but you have to."

Shinji deflated, "You're right, I'm being selfish."

Misato reached her arm across the table and laid her hand on his, looking up he saw her give a smile, "You're the most selfless boy I've met, not just anyone would be willing to pilot a giant robot to save the world. You're pretty brave to boot." Misato said with a smirk.

Shinji waved his hand, "I owe it all to Kazuma-san, he taught me everything. He's much braver than me, stronger too."

"He seems like a very strange man," Misato had met her fair share of awful and strange men, so she felt qualified in this topic, "But if he taught you everything you know, he must have done something right."

Shinji nodded vigorously, "Kazuma-san is the pinnacle of what a man is. He's strong, loyal, doesn't break promises, never compromises, and most of all he is very kind."

Misato looked into his eyes and could see them almost sparkle. It just hit her just how much the boy in front of her idolized this Kazuma guy, and not just in a passing sense, no, Shinji wanted to be like Kazuma.

"...and then he took a whole bottle of wine to the head and didn't flinch!" Shinji said, having fallen into some story she wasn't paying attention to.

"Sounds like a hell of a story, but I think it's time you started heading home, it's getting late." Shinji looked down at his watch, finally noticing the time.

"Oh man, it's late! I don't want to miss the last train out, I gotta go! See you tomorrow Misato!" Shinji jumped out of his seat and ran for the exit.

As he left Misato thought about Shinji's idol, Kazuma sounded like an interesting person. A little too interesting. She was pushing it off, but now she had to look into Shinji's caretaker.

A few things, first is a quick apology. This was meant to go out yesterday but I forgot so..whoops! At least it gave me some time to iron out some things. Secondly, the outfit described halfway through the chapter Shinji wears is basically an inverted color scheme of Kiryu's outfit (black and blue instead of white and red).