From: "Axel Terizaki" Subject: [Eva][FanFic] I just want to be your friend - First Connection X-Moderation-Queue-Date: Sat, 09 Dec 2000 10:25:28 GMT I JUST WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND Written by Axel Terizaki (aterizak@free.fr; IRCNet: #teri-chan, #slayers.fr). ASUKA's Notebook: http://www.asukanotebook.com.bi *Yawn* Hi, all! :) Sorry for the delay, heh heh. ^^; Okay, I have no real excuse, except laziness and/or other occupations... ^^; Before we start, I'd like to tell you that this fic happens at episode 19. This means, after the Toji incident, but before Shinji ran away. That's the reason for the state he's in here. Now, let's begin the show! :) CAPTION: NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: I Just Want to Be Your Friend CAPTION: First Connection--The Fall --- "Shinji-kun..." Misato Katsuragi was sitting at the table of her kitchen, her hair tied in a ponytail, and dressed (as she usually is when she isn't working) in a pair of blue shorts with a loose top. Ikari Shinji, her roommate, was sitting in front of her at the kitchen table. He was dressed in comparitively more decent clothes; he was simply wearing his school uniform. "What's with those grades?" Misato asked, calmly but obviously concerned. She was holding a report card in her hand, and took another look at it before continuing her speech in front of a rather silent Shinji. "Most of them have gone down really badly lately. It's just not like you." "I don't know, Misato-san..." the boy weakly replied. "You don't know what?" "I don't know, I mean...I'm just not like myself lately. I'd like to have some more free time, but training and synch tests take up all of it! I'm under so much stress..." "If you just need free time so you can study, I'll ask Ritsuko if you can skip some of the tests. That shouldn't be a problem." Misato smiled warmly, trying to reassure him. "It's not only that, you know..." "I know it won't solve everything, but I'll try..." "I'm not like myself at all..." "I noticed," Misato replied. She picked up her can of beer from the table and took a sip. "Is it also because of the recent incidents with Unit-01?" Shinji's reply took its time to come out of his throat. "Maybe it is. I just don't know. A lot has happened lately." "I see. Well, remember, if you have any problems you want to talk about, you know where to find me, okay?" she said with a warm smile. "I...I'm going to my room. I don't feel too well..." Another person joined in their discussion. "I bet you don't, after the punishment you got today!" The voice came from the hallway. It was Asuka's, the fiery redhead who lived with Shinji and Misato in the apartment. She was wearing blue shorts, too, with a green T-shirt. She was towelling her hair dry as she spoke. "Asuka!" Misato said in a commanding tone. "What?" replied the redhead, as she watched Shinji close the door to his room behind him. "I don't think he needs that from you now." "Why is that!? He and his friends mocked me today. I had to teach them how great I am, that's all! I just added some special punishment for the baka there," Asuka said, pointing a finger at Shinji's door. "Oh? Like what?" Misato asked, curious and angry at Asuka at the same time. Asuka took something flat, rectangular and made of metal from one of her pockets. "Hey! Isn't that his SDAT battery pack!?" Asuka nodded, with a triumphant grin on her face. Misato just eyed Asuka sadly. "Asuka, maybe you should give this back to him. His SDAT player is really important to him. I hope you understand..." "Awww, you're no fun, Misato!" "This isn't funny at all. Shinji's SDAT is something he uses when he's depressed, and if he finds out that he can't use it...I suggest you go apologize to him, and give him back his battery, young lady," Misato said, making it sound like an order. "There's no way that I'm going to apologize to that idiot! But I can still give him back his battery...tsssk!" Asuka shook her head and headed for Shinji's room. Misato took a sip of her beer and shrugged. 'Why is she so hard on him?' she thought, while looking at the ceiling. Asuka stood in front of Shinji's door, let out a deep sigh and knocked twice. "Baka Shinji? I'm coming in." When she opened the door, she gasped in horror. "DAMMIT! You idiot!!" she shouted. Shinji was standing on his desk chair, with some kind of rope in his hands, tied to the light fixture on the ceiling. He was just beginning to put the loop he made in it around his neck when Asuka entered the room. In shock, he inadvertently kicked the chair over, making it fall to the floor. Asuka quickly reacted, and ran up to him before it was too late. She tried to hold him by placing her arms around his thighs with all her strength so he wouldn't fall. However, Asuka had a hard time resisting Shinji's struggling, and she was thrown against his bed by his flailing legs. Misato came running when she heard all the noise coming from the room, and gasped in horror as well. Asuka was going to stand up again, her instinct telling her to do something, when the unexpected happened. The rope broke. Shinji fell on the floor, almost crying and choking a bit. It seemed that the rope wasn't really made for this kind of thing, as it didn't support Shinji's weight. Asuka was the first to come over him, and quickly turned him over to look at his face. "You goddamned FOOL!" the redhead screamed. Misato's eyes opened wide when she saw Asuka violently slam her fist into Shinji's face. He even didn't flinch, but spat out some blood and continued to sob. Asuka was about to punch him again when Misato quickly came back to her senses and reached for her arm. "Asuka, stop that!" It was now Misato's turn to scream. "You...stupid...bastard!" Asuka breathed in rage. "Go to your room, now! I'll take care of this." Misato tried to sound as calm as possible, even if she was more than shocked by the whole situation. Asuka took one last look at Shinji, who was still on the floor, and quietly ran to her room. Misato heard her door slamming and then, just some light sobs. She looked at Shinji, and took him in her arms. "Shinji-kun, calm down...calm down...it's okay..." Misato instinctively sat on the floor next to him, put his head against her shoulder, took the now-broken noose from around his neck, set it on the floor and sat back against his bed, her arm gently crooked around his shoulders. She looked at his face, and saw the bruise that Asuka gave him when she slugged him. 'God, she probably would have killed him if I hadn't stopped her,' she thought. "Come on, it's okay now...just wait there, I'm going to get you an ice-pack..." Misato picked him up as she stood and put him down on his bed. She looked at him again before hurrying to the kitchen, where she took an ice pack from the freezer. When she came back, she let a sigh of relief, seeing that her roommate hadn't moved at all. "Here, let me put this on that bruise..." she said, in a soft, reassuring voice. Shinji was slowly relaxing a bit, and could sense that, in this voice, there was care, true care. "Mi...Misato-san..." "Sssh. Don't say anything yet," she said as she applied the ice pack to his cheek. Shinji flinched and cringed a bit. Asuka really hit him hard this time. Misato then remembered what just happened in front of her eyes and frowned. Shinji, seeing this, looked down. "What's gotten into you, Shinji-kun!?" she said in a soft, yet authoritative tone. "I...I'm sorry, Misato-san..." he softly replied. "Where did you get that rope?" Misato asked more calmly now, seeing that the bossy attitude wasn't going to get her anywhere. Shinji's reply still took time to get out of his mouth. "The...I got it from the school gym. I'm sorry, Misato-san. Please don't tell anyone..." "Don't worry. I don't intend to. But could you please tell me why you tried to do that? I just want to understand, okay? It's not for one of those NERV reports." "Well, it's just everything around me these days...my grades aren't good at all--" "Grades aren't that important. You're an Eva pilot. We're just putting you in school so you can be with people your age. Just so you can act like a normal teenager," Misato interrupted him. "But even with the Eva...! With what I did to Toji...I could never forgive myself for this!" "And? Do I have to remind you again that it wasn't YOU who did that? It's all that auto-pilot's program fault..." She didn't want to use the term 'dummy plug' in front of him. After all, he wasn't supposed to know about it, even if she supposed that he did actually know. But again, she was lying, hiding the truth from him. That didn't feel good about doing that, but she was under strict orders to keep it top secret. "But still, it's my Eva that did that..." "I understand you feel sorry and guilty for what happened to Suzuhara-kun, but you must get over it! There are your fellow pilots, too! Why don't you spend some time with them?" Misato said, innocently, even if she knew that Shinji spending some friendly time with Asuka was inconceivable, and spending time with Rei seemed...surreal. Not impossible, but not something easy, either. "I hope you're just kidding, Misato-san. A...Ayanami...we don't get to see her that often, and besides she's too different...I can't quite put my finger on it. Sometimes I feel good around her, and sometimes I just feel scared..." the boy softly said. "That's because she isn't...used to living with people, I guess. Maybe you could help her learn how to." "I don't know...I don't know how to." Seeing that he wasn't thinking clearly yet, Misato suggested the other possibility. "And what about Asuka?" Misato asked. "Now I *really* hope you're just kidding. I stopped trying to understand her a long time ago. I just...don't feel comfortable around her. She's always so mean to me..." "Asuka has her own problems too, you know. I guess...what she just saw hurt her more than you could ever imagine," the Major sadly said. "H-how? What do you mean?" "I can't explain it to you right now. I have to check up on her now." She stood up from the bed, and picked up the battery pack that Asuka unconsciously let fall on the floor in her rage. She then turned back and handed it to Shinji. "Here you are. Why don't you listen to your SDAT now, Shinji-kun? It'll cheer you up," she softly said to him while putting the battery on the bed next to him. She then picked the rope up off the floor and took it with her. As she was leaving his room, however, she spoke. "You know, Shinji-kun, Asuka was going to give you back your battery when she discovered you there..." "When I got into my room, I didn't want to do that yet. I just wanted to listen to my SDAT...that's when I saw that the battery pack wasn't inside anymore! Asuka really didn't need to do that to me!" "I'll make sure she'll get the right punishment for that, Shinji-kun. Don't worry," Misato said, reassuringly. "But...she'll hate me even more!" "She won't. Don't worry about anything. You want to talk some more?" Misato was about to sit next to Shinji again to talk to him. "No...please, Misato-san, I just want to be alone now. You can't understand me..." "Indeed, I can't. I'm not you. But I can at least try to, just to prove you that you're not alone." "...Please leave now..." Shinji's voice was now almost a whisper. "As you wish. Just don't do anything stupid, okay?" She leaned over him, and gave him a light kiss on the cheek before running her hand over his hair with all the affection she could manage. "Th-thanks for everything, Misato-san..." "That's what I'm here for." That said, she closed Shinji's door behind her and went to Asuka's, which she obviously found locked. "Asuka? Are you okay?" Misato called from the outside of her room. "Yes, I am!!" Asuka angrily replied. "Oh, well...then that's...good, I guess." The Major let out a tired sigh, and went to the kitchen, where she sat down on a chair. Everything seemed happy and nice...only a few minutes ago. * * * "That idiot..." Asuka quietly muttered into her pillow. The redheaded pilot of Evangelion Unit-02 was laying on her stomach, on her bed. The vision of a door opening, revealing someone hanging from a rope, played continuously in her mind, much to her discomfort. "He has no right to give up..." she muttered again, this time looking up from her pillow. She then put both her hands on her eyes and felt a warm liquid. "...and he makes me cry..." * * * Akagi Ritsuko carefully eyed her friend. She and Misato were both in her office, where lots of computers were working on a list of codes, it seemed. The two women were both sitting in chairs, facing each other. "Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you look after him?!" the doctor angrily said. "Calm down, Ritsuko. I asked Asuka to look after him." "Is that *really* such a good idea, considering her temper? In his state, he should be placed in observation at the hospital." "That was the only solution I could think of for now..." Misato shook her head. A slight pause occurred in their discussion. Ritsuko looked away. "I understand..." "You don't realize how much stress we put into those kids, you know." "Their fate is to suffer for Eva, I guess," said the doctor, as she looked straight at her friend. She made it sound more like a definitive statement than a note of sympathy, though. "Poor kids...they're so young! I mean, kids at their age, they play around, dance, fall in love...but they can't." "Mostly because of their tough pasts, don't you think?" Ritsuko remarked. "Yeah. Although we don't know anything about Rei's." Ritsuko fell silent at this. "Anyway, I came to see you for advice," the Major continued. "Advice?" asked the doctor, quite confused. "Yes, you know, advice." the Major repeated, softly. "On what?" "I'd like to buy something for Shinji-kun..." * * * "Switch to another channel, will you?" Asuka asked her roommate, who was sitting on the couch, watching TV. "There isn't anything interesting on TV anyway," Shinji flatly replied. Asuka was quietly reading a book, trying to keep her mind clear of...unpleasant thoughts. "Could you change the channel anyway? I want a different kind of ambient sound while I read my book!" Asuka ordered as she looked angrily at him. "Yes, mistress..." Shinji softly said. He sighed. "I heard that..." Asuka grinned. "But I don't mind being called that..." This made Shinji sigh again. That's when Asuka noticed the ice pack on his right cheek. She frowned. "Who did that to you?" Asuka asked, more curious than concerned about his safety. Shinji lifted his head and glared at her. "You did this to me an hour ago, remember?" he said, rather flatly while turning his head back towards the TV screen. "I did?" Asuka replied, dumbfounded. "Yes, you did. Do you have amnesia or something?" Shinji turned his head towards her again. "Of course not, you idiot! But I don't remember hitting you today. Maybe you wanted me to hit you so desperately that you hit yourself instead and told yourself that I did it so you could feel some kind of pleasure from it. I didn't know that you were like that, Shinji." She grinned widely at the end of the speech. Shinji eyed her carefully before replying. "What you're saying is really stupid, you know..." "Naaah, it's real, baka Shinji! A famous philosopher, whose name I don't remember right now, made a speech about this. I didn't get my college diploma from a lucky bag, you know!" she said rather angrily, as if Shinji had put her cultural knowledge and intellectual skills in doubt. "Whoever said that, I believe it's stupid." "You seem limited in your ability to understand, Third Child," she added, disdainfully. Shinji just ignored her, thinking that, if they went further in this discussion, they were going to argue again, or worse, fight. Asuka was going to say something else, when, much to his relief, he was saved by the sound of the front door opening and closing. "Hi, kids!" Misato called out cheerfully. The two teens could hear her setting something heavy down on the kitchen table, and didn't really notice her walking into the living room afterward until they heard her soft footsteps. Misato sighed with relief when she saw Shinji watching the TV, and cleared her throat. "Shin-chan, I have something for you!" she said, in a joyful tone. This made both Asuka and Shinji lift their heads from what they were doing, almost at the same time. "Ah? What is it?" Shinji found himself asking instinctively. "Come into the kitchen and you'll see!" Misato then walked toward the kitchen, and Shinji got up and followed her. Asuka, curious, stood up as well, and followed them. When Shinji stepped in the kitchen, his eyes widened in surprise. "This is a..." "Why can't you always finish your sentences, Dummkoepf?! It's a computer!" exclaimed Asuka, while looking at the words written on the box. Misato threw one of her death glares at her before continuing. "This is for you, Shinji-kun! The best of the best!" Misato said, gesturing at the big box on the table like a model on a game show. The two teens exchanged looks and wondered how she managed to carry it to the apartment by herself. "Let me see what it's composed of!" Asuka said, while taking off the printed piece of paper that was taped onto the cardboard box. "Since when do you know enough about computers to judge them only from their components?" Shinji weakly asked. "You're only trying to put my extensive knowledge in doubt again!" she replied. She then began to read the piece of paper describing the computer. "It comes from the 'AXL's Computer Center'? What's this?" Asuka asked. "Ritsuko told me about this shop. They have a lot of nice guys...errr, computers there!" Misato replied with a weak smile. "Anyways, let's see what's in there...A Megatron(tm) 21" transparent monitor...A 1 gigabyte Woohoo5(tm) chipset video card... hmmm...that's a nice Extranet card you have. Why did you buy a computer with that, Misato?" Asuka eyed Shinji while asking that question, then Misato. "I thought it would be good for Shinji-kun to make some friends over the net. What do you think?" She looked at Shinji when she finished asking her own question. Shinji just looked back at her, taking his time to reply. "I don't know..." he weakly said while looking down. Seeing Shinji's hesitation about the matter, Misato quickly changed her tone of voice from serious to cheerful. "Anyways, we'll see that later! Now, we're going to set this up in Shinji-kun's room!" She was going to take the box in her arms when Asuka interrupted her. "Hey, wait a minute! Where is that shop?" asked the redhead. Misato picked up the box, while Shinji tried to help her. "Errr...one block away, next to the hairdresser's. It just opened last week." "Give me some money. I'm not going to let Shinji have his own computer while I don't even have one myself! That's not fair!" Asuka was complaining yet again about feeling left out of something with any modicum of status, which irritated both Misato and Shinji. "Okay, okay. Take my credit card out of my jacket pocket. And don't buy the most expensive computer in the place!" Misato said, mostly wanting to get Asuka out of there so she could be alone to talk with Shinji. The young girl went to her room to quickly change clothes, took the credit card and went out of the apartment. 'I hope I can get it in something other than that horrible purple color,' the redhead thought, frowning. * * * Asuka passed through the automatic glass doors of the shop Misato told her about and walked in. She then was greeted by a man with brown hair. She estimated him as being in his mid-thirties. She also noted that he needed a good shave, just like her Kaji-san... "May I help you, young lady?" the man asked her. "Errr, yeah, I want to buy a computer. Could I have a list of components?" The man nodded. "Sure. We can make a customized model for you in less than 10 minutes," he said, proudly. "That's good. I'm in a hurry." she said, grinding her teeth. The man typed a few commands on his computer, and the printer next to him spewed out ten pages in two seconds. He then handed them to Asuka, who looked at them carefully. "Uh, pen, please?" she said coldly to the man. "Oh, sure. Sorry about that, miss." The man, happy that he was going to sell another computer, took a pen from a drawer at the counter and handed it to Asuka. The girl then carefully scrutinized each page, underlining the names of some components, checking their prices. "Okay, I want that in my computer," Asuka said, almost like an order, to the man at the counter. "Hmmm..." he said, while looking at the papers. "You certainly know what you want, young lady," he added, while typing commands into his computer again. "Which color would you like?" he gently asked. "For what?" "The casing of your Central Unit. We offer a choice of color when you purchase a system with the SZ Engine in it." he added. "But I never asked for that!" The man looked at the papers again, and put a hand on the back of his head. "I'm sorry. I thought you wanted the SeiZebehn Engine, but I was wrong, it seems. Look, I'll put it anyways, for free. Still, you pay for the colour option, okay? That's 1200 yen. What colour would you like, again?" "Oh...hmm...red!" "Nice choice." "What is this damn SZ Engine, anyway?" Asuka asked, surprised that there was a component she didn't know anything about. "It's new. We just received it today, in fact. It's a device which, in case of an extended power outage, allows your computer to stay active so you can save files you're working on. Unlike all other similar systems, it doesn't use an external power source." "I didn't know about this, but what the hell. I'm in a hurry!" "Okay. It should be ready soon." He took the sheets of paper and walked off somewhere. Asuka took a look around her while waiting for her computer to be assembled. She took this time to think more about what Shinji did earlier this morning, and how the scene looked...too familiar. A few minutes passed as she was lost in her thoughts. "It's done!" called out the man, while reappearing behind the counter. Asuka hadn't noticed that there was a door behind him earlier. He was holding a large red box in his arms, which he put down on the counter. "Here you are, miss. Do you want it delivered to your home?" Asuka sighed, while giving him Misato's credit card. "Yes! Please hurry up! I don't have much time!" "You got it," the man said, while processing the card, then gave it back to Asuka and set down another printout in front of her. "Could you please sign here, miss?" he said, indicating a line at the bottom of the form. She signed it, and then looked up at him again. "I guess I should thank you for that offer. That box looks a bit too heavy for me to carry," Asuka said. "Don't worry about it. Delivery's free, so why not? Excuse me." He turned to the door behind him. "Julie! Could you come down here, please?" he called out. A woman, also in her mid-thirties, opened the door behind the counter and walked up to him. Her brown hair rested on her shoulders, and her eyes were as blue as Asuka's. "Yes, dear?" she softly said. "I'm going to make a delivery for this young lady. Take care of the shop, okay?" "Sure, dear. You take care, too," she smiled. "If you see Sakura-chan, tell her that her friend called earlier," he said, while passing through the glass doors, followed by Asuka. "Okay! Don't worry!" * * * "So, you see, Shinji-kun? It's really easy to use. Doors2015 is a little buggy, but I guess it's the only thing we can install for now. Anyway, it's very popular. We even use it for the computers at NERV." Shinji's computer was proudly standing on his desk in his room. Misato was sitting on a chair next to him, while reading the instruction manual and showing Shinji what to do when the prompts came up on the screen. He seemed as gloomy as ever, and slowly nodded to each of Misato's teachings. "Are you okay?" Misato inquired. "Huh...I guess..." "You won't do anything crazy again, will you?" she added. "N-no...I don't think so," the boy weakly replied. His reply didn't really reassure Misato, though. "That's good to hear. You don't know how valuable you are..." "Is that all I am to you? A tool?" Shinji sadly asked. Misato stopped what she was doing and turned back towards Shinji. "I guess...in a way you are...But you must learn to be proud of what you are. Just like Asuka. You're just as worthy as her, you know. You're Evangelion pilots, but you're also the two kids I always dreamed of having." she said through a smile, which Shinji didn't see, as he was looking at the floor. "Really?" he asked. "Yes. Because of you, billions of people still live almost peacefully all around the world. And because of you, I have someone waiting for me when I come back home after a hard day at work..." Shinji eyed her carefully. "Do you really mean it?" Shinji continued to tell himself that this was all just a scheme to make him stay and continue the duties that did nothing but hurt him and the people he knew. "Of course I do! You're very important to me, like you are to Rei, to Asuka, as a teammate, as a fellow pilot. You see, I'm sure that if you were to die, Asuka would be sadder than you may think. Not because she's sentimental or anything like that, but she's still a teenager, and she needs someone your age to be with her everyday. As a friend." "Do you really expect me to believe that crap, Misato-san? After all the things she does to me, you think she sees me as a *friend*?!" Misato took a deep breath and resumed typing on the computer's keyboard. "Maybe not as a friend, but at least as someone she can relate to in her surroundings. Someone she can talk to. Just by being around, you fill her needs, I think. I don't know her well enough to know if that's for sure, but, well..." She smiled at him again. "I'm not used to dealing with people..." Shinji concluded after a pause. "Neither is Rei, or Asuka. What about we all go to a restaurant tomorrow? You, Asuka, Rei and me. And maybe some other NERV staff? A big party! What do you think?" "A...party?" "Yeah! Why not?" she said, while typing more commands into Shinji's new computer. "I don't know if it's a good idea..." "You'll see that tomorrow!" She entered a few last commands before hitting the "enter" key forcefully, showing that she was finished. "Okay, I'm finished the setup...I guess," she said, with a chuckle, hoping that it would work. "Come over here and create your profile," she added, before getting up from the desk chair. Shinji complied and sat where Misato was earlier. He looked at the transparent screen in front of him, and at the form he had to fill. "Since this is supposed to be personal information, I'll leave you alone now so you can do this." "No, that's okay..." Shinji muttered, while beginning to type in his info. The nickname he chose caught Misato's attention. "'Third'? Why use a nickname like that, Shinji-kun?" she chuckled. Shinji blushed in response. She tried to make Shinji smile and enjoy the whole thing. "Well, that's what I am, right? That's what everyone regards me as. The Third Children...only an Eva pilot. I mean, look at Asuka. That's what she calls me most of the time!" "Well, it's not that bad, all things considered." "You think so?" he asked, not so sure himself. "Yep!" The sound of the front door opening and closing could be heard from Shinji's room. 'Asuka's back,' Misato thought. The two of them entered the kitchen, and were surprised that Asuka wasn't carrying anything, like Misato was. However, the man next to her was doing that for her. He finally put the red box down on the kitchen table. "Here you are, miss, thanks for buying one of our comput..." The sentence stopped there, as he turned slightly and saw Misato. "Hey, you bought a computer from me earlier, right? I see that the family is equipping itself!" he said, with a big grin. "Errr, yeah, sort of," Misato said, with a weak smile. "Okay, I'm going now. Take care, and make good use of all this." With that said, the man turned around and walked out, to head back to his shop. Asuka turned to Misato and smiled proudly before handing her credit card back to her. "This is MY computer!" she beamed, putting both her arms around the large red box, as if to mark her territory. "Sure, Asuka, sure," Misato quickly nodded. "Oh, and there was only this guy at the shop, Misato. Where were the other 'nice guys' you were talking about?" Asuka asked, narrowing her eyes. "Huh...? Well maybe they were out. There was at least three of them when I was there." She narrowed her own eyes before continuing. "Maybe they didn't find you as attractive as me and decided to stay in the back." She knew this was going to wake up Asuka's true self. Indeed, the young girl frowned. "Well, if you think that you have a chance with that guy, I don't want to discourage you, but he's already married," Asuka said, as if it wasn't any importance to her. "What!? I never..." Misato blurted out. "And, what's more, they already have a daughter. I heard them talk about her..." Now, she was grinning, and when Asuka grins, it can be dangerous. Misato crossed her arms over her stomach and faked a pout. "Fine, young lady! Since you seem so smart, you can set up your computer by yourself!" She looked down at Asuka with a mean grin on her own face. Those women were definitely taking a malicious pleasure in teasing each other. The whole exchange between his two roommates kind of amused Shinji. He smiled inwardly, thinking about the two women who lived with him. In a way, he was really lucky, he thought. The man from the computer store said it best. They really were a family. 'Yes...a family. I'm not alone.' Shinji's lips turned upward into a smile as he watched the two women arguing. This would have normally irritated him, but when he thought back on how he'd been feeling and what he'd tried to do earlier, and remembered Misato's words as she set up his computer, it made him feel much happier. * * * -jERC Build 413. Booting up Extranet Subsystem. Please wait...- Shinji waited for his chat program to start. He wanted to try communicating with other people who didn't know him as a person without having to see their faces or show them his. 'That's what the net is for,' he thought. Strangely, he felt happy to try this. New experiences didn't normally appeal to him, but he had a good feeling about this one. -List of channels available: 25472- A list of channels sorted by alphabetical order then popped up on the screen. Shinji clicked on one at random. ***You entered #teri-chan*** ***Topic for that channel is "What's the color of the universe?"*** ***Modes for that channel are +tn*** ***People present are @Solbianca @Karine @AxelT @J-Asuka lelex lilins shogouki*** Nah, that's not it. I went to Cartoonist 2015 this weekend. Hey I'm searching for MP7s for that new anime... Shinji began to type something on his keyboard. Errr...Hi. Hey, there's a newcomer here! :) Hi Third! AxelT >> Listen, I can't do everything at once. I can't take care of the fan club for a while! Shogouki >> But we still need your page on her life for the club! He then noticed one of the names in the list on his right... J-Asuka. Could it possibly be...? J-Asuka >> Is that you, Asuka? What are you doing here? There's a lot of Asukas in this world, you know! I'm surely not the one you want ^_~ He didn't know if he should have been pleased or not. He felt a bit lost here among those people. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all... Oh, sorry. I'm leaving. Come back when you want to! :) ***Third has quit ERC (signed off/dinner time)*** ***Closing link (~Third@ppp-145-189-54-12.nerv.co.jp)*** ***Thanks for using Japan Extranet Relay Chat server erc.nerv.co.jp*** "Shinji-kun! Dinner is ready!" Misato called out from the kitchen. Shinji closed the connection, even though he was hesitating to choose between eating Misato's cooking and continuing to explore this new world. 'What a bunch of weird people. I'm sure Kensuke would be pleased to meet them, though. I'll try another channel after dinner.' he thought, while looking at the ceiling. * * * Meanwhile, inside Commander Ikari's office... "So that's what happened," Gendo flatly said, while putting his glasses back in place. "That's all you have to say about it? This is your son we're talking about!" Ritsuko remarked, in a manner that suggested that she'd rather be stabbing him than talking to him. "That doesn't really matter. His suicide attempt wasn't in any of the scenarios scheduled. Why hasn't he been restrained and placed in a hospital room for observation?" he coldly asked. "Major Katsuragi didn't want him to go through that. She said she felt that it would be better if he stayed at home for a while, and that she'd take care of him, since it's part of her job." "What do you think of this, Dr. Akagi?" Ritsuko sighed. "I think the only thing we can do is trust her. She's been taking better care of him than you ever have, I suppose," Ritsuko said, frowning. This silenced Gendo for a while. Ritsuko took advantage of the silence to start asking questions herself. "So what are you going to do?" "Nothing for now. I'm sure Katsuragi will know how to handle this particular...situation." he paused for the last word, unsure of which one he should use. "If anything unscheduled happens again, I may have to take drastic measures, trough." "I see. Anything to add, Sub-commander Fuyutsuki?" "I have nothing else to say on that matter, Dr. Akagi. I'm sorry if I disappoint you." The old professor shook his head. "Well, then, I'll be leaving. Don't forget our appointment tonight, Commander," she said, before turning back. Before Gendo could say anything, she had passed through the door of his office, and was now out of sight. 'We're too hard on these kids...' the young doctor thought. * * * "Why isn't Asuka eating with us?" Shinji asked, while putting his chopsticks into his bowl of ramen. "She...she needs some rest, I guess," said Misato, through a forced smile. "Is it because I hurt her today, as you told me earlier? It seems like all I really know how to do is hurt people..." Misato shook her head, and resolved herself to tell him the truth. No, she couldn't...telling him the real truth would make things worse. She had to make up something that sounded true. "She must have had her period...you know?" Misato said, casually. "Oh...ah, I see. Aren't girls usually in a bad mood at this time of the month?" Shinji didn't realize yet that he was discussing this subject with a woman, it seems. "Errr...well, it depends on who you're talking about, you see," Misato said with a weak smile. This conversation turned out to be quite embarrassing... "Sorry for asking..." Misato quickly reverted to her serious self. "It's all right. You're a guy, after all," she said dryly. Shinji looked down at his bowl. "...I'm finished..." Misato then looked at his bowl, too, and saw that he really wasn't finished yet. In fact, he had barely eaten any of it. "You haven't touched your dinner..." "I'm not hungry, that's all." "I don't believe you," the Major quickly added. Shinji ignored her and silently turned around, walking towards his room. That's when he felt two slender arms enveloping him. "You know, I care, Shinji-kun. Don't let yourself get like this. If you need to talk, you can come see me, okay?" Misato whispered into his ear. "I'll remember that, Misato-san...thank you," he weakly replied. "Don't let Asuka get you down all the time. Don't let your father make you feel like you're just a tool. Don't get so depressed that you think that no one cares, Shinji-kun. And don't ever do anything stupid, because, if you do, *then* you'll hurt people more than you may think." "I...I think I understand..." "You sure you don't want to talk right now? Really, I'm ready to listen and help you out..." "N-no...I don't think..." "When I said you hurt Asuka, I meant that. She probably hates you for a lot of reasons, and yes, a lot of them probably are just in her own mind, but believe me, she would be sad if you were to disappear. You're the only person around her who's the same age. I know that she and Rei aren't on good terms, so this means that you must be here, at least for me, and for her. I know that I want you to live, Shinji-kun, and I'll bet that Asuka really wants that, too." "Is that all I am to you two? Company? You think that that's all I'm useful for?" Misato took her time to answer Shinji's question. "Yes and no. I know that you're not used to living with a family, but that's what we all are. You, Asuka, and me. We're a family. You're my children. Not charges to mind, or soldiers to keep in line. Just children." She hugged Shinji from behind as she said those last words. "Misato-san..." "Time to go to bed now. Or do you want to try your new computer system some more?" she said as she released him from the hug. He turned to face her. "I already tried it, but I ended up in a weird Extranet chat room." "Just learn to be careful, Shinji-kun. There are many dangers on the Extranet, but there are also many wonderful surprises. I just want you to meet some new friends, that's all." She stopped and thought for a second. "And you could communicate with Suzuhara-kun on it as well." "T...Toji? Does he have a computer in his hospital room, too?" he said, his eyes brightening a bit. "Not yet!" Misato replied with a playful wink. Shinji's expression softened and he actually smiled, making Misato smile as well. "That's great! I mean, can you do that for him!?" "Of course! I'm a Major, not a stupid technician!" "You had this plan in mind from the beginning, right?" Misato just nodded with a grin. Shinji then asked her another question. "When will it be ready?" "Probably this weekend. I might be too busy for it to be ready that soon, but if I am, I'll do it ASAP after that. Now, go to bed, Shinji-kun! There's school tomorrow!" "Hai, Major!" the boy replied, before going back to his room and getting ready to go to sleep. The day had been very eventful, and, while it was mostly really bad, at least it ended with a nice touch. --- TO BE CONTINUED... --- WATCH OUT FOR THE NEXT PART: A Friend I Never Thought I Had. Author's notes: This new fic starts really well, don't you think? I think I finally regained my will and the pleasure to write, like when I was writing Child of Love... Also, you'll notice that I'm working on another multi-part fic. It's been a long time since I wrote one of those, ne? At first I thought I was going to write a long long fic, but eventually, decided that the multi-part would be the nice thing to do :) On a final note, I'd like to say that this is not going to contain only WAFF, like my other previous works. It'll be more like TCoL. This means angst, humour, Angel attacks, etc. Be prepared! :) (And NO, there won't be any pregnant 14-year-old redheads this time! ^^;) (well, not for now...:P) Special thanks to all my pre-readers. I'll give the Really Special Thanks in another draft! ^_~ What, we're already in another draft??? :) Okay, then, Really Special Thanks to Alain Gravel, for finding a good nick for Shinji and various other useful comments about the whole story (with some help from Godsend777, too :) ). Jeremy Mullin was a big help, too, along with EBJ, Dave Watson and David Templar! Good work, everyone! Also, my English might be a bit rusty from all this time, but I hope you'll all forgive me for that! :) See you soon, Axel Terizaki