Shinji Ikari grabbed her breakfast quickly, popping up her toast even as she dumped out Pen Pen's can of sardines. "Wonder how long it'll be before they're up?" she young woman murmured to the penguin with amusement. Pen Pen gave her a scolding look, as if she was asking foolish questions, then the penguin went back to scarfing it's food. The kitchen itself was lit up by the rising sun, a rose glow that lit up everything with that energy. The room was it's usual mess, but at least the kitchen table was clean enough for her to eat at. "Urgl," Ritsuko stumbled towards the coffee machine, her blonde hair messy from sleep. Behind her Misato made a beeline for the fridge, getting out a can of beer. "Do you really have to do that?" Ritsuko muttered. "Yup," Misato popped open the top then slammed the beer down, her oversized T-shirt and shorts chosen for comfort, not style. "Dumb question," Ritsuko sipped with a sigh. "Good morning," Shinji said to them mildly, watching the two older women with mild amusement. Their usual morning routine had been a little startling to her at first, but she had gotten used to it over time. It helped that whatever bickering Misato and Ritsuko did was balanced out by their honest affection. Ritsuko sat at the table and nursed her cup of coffee, her battered house coat wrapped around her. "Please come by NERV after school," she sighed as she sipped, "we need to run through some simulator training." Reheating some takeout from last night Misato noted, "If you need a ride I'm sure we can ask Misato or Maya to haul you over." "I don't think you need to send officers out to get me," Shinji said, sweatdropping as the microwave binged and Misato popped it open, getting a fork and then digging in eagerly. "I can't believe you eat that in the morning," Ritsuko grumbled as she put some more nice, safe toast on, "and with beer, too." "It's a traditional Japanese breakfast," Misato defended herself cheerfully, "I'm just substituting beer for the sake, that's all." Shinji got up, smiling wryly as she headed out, grabbing her school bag from where it waited by the front door. "Have a good day," she called as she slipped her shoes on and went out the door, her uniform skirt swirling around her legs. "Thank god she didn't comment about last night," a smiling Ritsuko puffed out a sigh, "we were a little loud." "Shinji usually wears her MP3 player during the evening," Misato said optimistically, "maybe she didn't hear anything." 'It's odd enough that I'm living with two grown women who just happen to be lesbians,' Shinji thought to herself as she reached the sidewalk and headed on towards the school, 'it's even stranger realizing that they actually have sex.' After a short pause she muttered wryly, "And really good sex too, by the sound of it." The streets were still almost eerily silent in the early morning, only a small amount of traffic moving to work or carrying supplies for the city. Most of the people had left Tokyo-3 after the first Angel attack, and only a group of diehards and NERV employees were left, populating the massive city with such small numbers. "Ikari-chan," a girl's voice called. Looking up Shinji saw Hikaru waiting at the usual place, the young woman's twin brown ponytails giving her a oddly young look. "Morning," she smiled as she and Hikaru fell into step, a pattern they had developed over the past week or two. "I think Aida wants to talk to you," Hikaru looked amused as they walked on. A blush colored Shinji's cheeks, her eyes rolling. The blonde haired boy had been pretty obvious in his crush on Shinji, and in all honesty she wasn't quite sure what to do about it. It wasn't that she disliked him, but there wasn't any spark between them, either. "Toji does, too," Hikaru added, giving Shinji a thoughtful look. "Huh?" Shinji blinked. Hikaru chuckled, "Don't worry, I don't think he intends to ask you out." "That's good," Shinji sighed. She looked over at Hikaru thoughtfully, "Besides, I wouldn't want to get in your way." Hikaru nearly stumbled, the other woman was so surprised. "Is it that obvious?" she asked her a bit uncomfortably. "Not really," Shinji said quietly, "I guess that despite all your scolding of him, it seems that you care about him, too." Hikaru chuckled uncomfortably, "I just wish he'd figure it out." "Have you tried to tell him?" Shinji asked uncomfortably, glad that they were near the school. She was bad at this sort of thing, romance and all that, and felt very odd trying to give advice. Hikaru gave her a amused look, "We've been friends forever, Shinji. It's a little hard to suddenly say that you're in love with him." "Fair enough," Shinji conceded. The first bell rang out and they hurried through the main gate with the other students, rushing to their lockers then on to class. Grabbing her seat Shinji scanned the class, noting that Aida and Toji were already there, along with most of the others. Her eyes landed on Rei Ayanami, gazing forward with a oddly detached expression. Then Rei turned her head, meeting Shinji's eyes as what had happened a few nights ago ran through her mind. They had been stationed on a rise, their Evangelion ready for battle, waiting for the signal to attack the latest Angel. Oddly spurred on by Rei's silence Shinji had found herself confessing her own odd hopelessness, the sense that whatever she did was all basically meaningless. Rei's blue hair had been blown by the breeze as she gazed out at the Angel waiting for them. "I fight for the Commander," she had finally said, "that's enough for me." "Not for me," Shinji shook her head with a flash of anger. Rei had studied her, "Then find someone or something you want to fight for." The signal came and they climbed in their entry plugs. "No matter what happens, I will protect you," Rei had said just before she climbed in, "good bye." Shinji shook herself as she pulled herself back to the classroom, noticing the quizzical look Rei was giving her. Giving back a sheepish smile Shinji focused her attention on the teacher, silently glad that he hadn't called on her while she was zoned out. Slipping away with her lunch Shinji headed up to the roof, sitting under the sun as she unpacked her store bought bento. 'Good, I dodged Aida,' she thought a bit guiltily as she ate. That was not a conversation she was looking forward to... The door swung open and Shinji tensed, the frowned faintly as Toji walked out onto the roof. "Ikari," he gave her a grim look, "I want to talk to you." 'Uh oh,' Shinji thought then said, "If it's about Aida, I like him but he's not really my type..." "No," Toji cut her off, "it's not about that." A short pause, "It's really true, you are the pilot of that giant robot?" Shinji visibly winced. On her first day here, under the grilling of several students she had found herself blurting out that yes, she was the pilot of Evangelion. Not that it was too surprising that they'd figure it out, considering she had arrived for school only days after it's first appearance and that they had already deduced Rei was also a pilot. "Well, yes," Shinji confessed as he walked over to her. Toji looked down at her with a utterly unreadable expression on his face... then startlingly pulled her into a fierce hug! "Urk," Shinji squeaked even as she thought, 'God, I hope Hikaru doesn't come up here." Releasing her as suddenly as he had hugged her Toji smiled faintly. "You stopped the fight short of my family's apartment," he explained quietly, "my sister was there, and I don't want to think what might have happened..." Shinji pulled away, walking over to the fence that circled the rooftop. "Don't thank me," she said grimly, "it was just dumb luck that she was saved." A pause, "There were certainly enough killed that I don't feel very proud of it." Joining her there Toji asked mildly, "What do you want me to do, punch you?" Shinji barked laughter, "No thanks, I don't like pain." Toji shrugged slightly, "It may not help, but just think how many people that thing might have killed if you hadn't stopped it." "Maybe," Shinji said softly.
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