Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Waiting ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

NGE belongs to Gainax.
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Misato awoke with a start, hearing voices outside of her hospital room. She sat up a little and for the first time, looked out the window at the cityscape.
 
`It looks…..kind of the same….wait! Was that a hover-car? Those were just barely in development when I was…….awake, I gotta get me one of those.'
 
She flopped back down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
 
`I hope I can get out of here soon…….I'm sure Shinji will let me stay with him until I'm back on my feet…….won't he? It's been 20 years since I've seen him; 20 years since I've seen anyone…..I hate not knowing…..anything'
 
The last time she remembered ever being this confused was directly after Second Impact which was approximately 36 years ago,
 
`God……I hate this ceiling already….'
 
She turned her head towards the voices in the hall, one voice was the doctor's the other was……….a shaggy brown head of hair came into view….
 
`Kaji!.....'
 
She listened intently…..hoping…and praying that it was him.
 
“Doctor……how much have you told her?”
 
“I've told her she's been asleep for 20 years, I've told her about the UN, and a little about you kids, I thought it best for you to explain, but she did mention that she has subtle memories of one sided conversations, I guess her sub-conscious heard at least some of the things you were saying to her. Go talk to her Ikari-san, she needs a familiar face right about now.”
 
“Yeah……but after 20 years how familiar will my face be?.....Thanks doc. Well….here goes nothin'”
 
The door opened slowly, what Misato saw was definitely not the Shinji-kun she remembered, this was…..
 
`He still has the same eyes and the same smile……his hair's longer……and he hasn't shaved in a few days…..he's tall…..quite tall……he's got some muscle to him now too……he really has grown up'
 
Misato sat up from her thoughts, and gave him a smile.
 
“Hi Shinji-kun! Did ya miss me?” She said in her usual cheeky tone, truly glad to be seeing a somewhat familiar face.
 
Shinji's eyes lit up and a grin spread across his face.
 
`She recognizes me!'
 
He rushed over and sat on the side of her bed, wrapping her in his arms.
 
`She's really awake!'
 
`He's definitely toned.'
 
“It's good to see you kid…..well I guess your no kid anymore……your older than me even, a fact which I'm still trying to get my head around”
 
He pulled back from the embrace with a laugh
 
“I thought you'd be happy that you hadn't aged a bit, most women would kill for that. Haha. It's really good to see you, I've missed you so much.”
 
“Hmmm maybe I should market this ageless sleep. Haha. You're the best thing I've seen in 20 years, you've definitely grown to be a VERY handsome man”
 
Shinji blushed and laughed to cover up his embarrassment.
 
“You're just as beautiful as the first day I met you”
 
The door slammed open.
 
“Geez Baka, she hasn't even been awake 3 hours and you're already hitting on her, typical Baka Shinji. Misato!!! You look great! About time you woke up!”
 
Asuka stormed in the room, still clad in her UN khaki's.
 
“Asuka! You.....your a major! Congratulations, your hair looks great……both of you have grown into beautiful people. So, Asuka, you're working for the UN, and…Shinji…what are you doing?”
 
“I'm a musician Misato, the cello remember? I was working on my third album when you woke up.”
 
“Yeah if you can call what you do music, your second album was crap compared to your first one”
 
“Well I guess a lot of people liked it since it was number one for awhile, maybe you just have crappy taste in music”
 
`Shinji stands up for himself now!.....and did Asuka just….sort of…complement him? Man I HAVE missed a lot, but they still bicker just like the old days'
 
“I'm sure they're both great albums Shinji, I'll pick them up once I get out of here. Speaking of, you wanna help your old guardian out until I'm back on my feet? I don't know if my bank accounts have been frozen, or liquidated or what?”
 
“No everything is the same financially speaking, I made sure that it would all be there for when you woke up, the UN has been very helpful, especially after Asuka moved up in the ranks.
 
“Yeah, it was no big, you're still a big hero in their eyes `The Major who saved the First Child who saved the world' is what you're known as.”
 
“Huh, The UN giving me some credit, feels nice for a change. But I'm still gonna need some help getting around, the doc says I'll be needing physical therapy until my legs decide to regain consciousness. Shouldn't be in your hair any longer than a month though”
 
“Don't be ridiculous Misato, of course you can stay with us, you can stay with us as long as you want.” Shinji said as he squeezed her hand gently.
 
“Us? Are you two….oh my god I totally knew it was going to happen eventually”
 
“Eww…nothing like that, geez Misato you and your hentai thoughts sure haven't changed. I would never go for a guy with such horrible fashion sense, really Shinji, solid black shirt and jeans? Please can you get any grungier? and you need to shave for god sake you look like a hobo. Anyway, me and Shinji and Rei are house-mates, I'm only at the house occasionally, since I'm usually out on missions, but Rei and Shinji are usually there, there's 4 bedrooms so you can have your own. Speaking of Rei…….she should be here by now…”
 
As if on cue there was a soft knock on the door.
 
“That must be her….come on in Rei!” Shinji called out.
 
Rei walked in slowly, visually assessing the situation. She walked tentatively over to Misato's bedside.
 
“Hi Misato-san, it's good to see you awake” Rei said with a smile, which threw Misato completely off guard, she'd never seen Rei smile before…ever…and now she was doing it like she'd been smiling her entire li…….oh yeah…20years.
 
“You too Rei, judging by the white coat, I'm guessing your some sort of doctor? Seems like you've been doing well for yourself, I'm glad.” Misato said, truly happy that Rei had seemed to find her own.
 
“Yeah, I'm an OBGYN, I really enjoy it…..I was actually a pediatrician first….but I decided to change specialties about 5 years ago”
 
“Our Rei's made a real name for herself, completing some research on a new way to give birth using teleportation”
 
“Teleportation.. really? I remember Ritsuko was ……I heard she never came back…” Misato said her sadness evident in her voice.
 
“No, she didn't…….her and my father were the only ones out of all of us who didn't return. But everyone else did, I'm sure they'll be excited to see you!”
 
“Yeah, especially Hyuuga-san….haha. ..I guess he's too old for you now…..he'll be 50 this October. Hahaha. Hikari married Touji about 15 years ago, they've got 4 kids, and Ibuki-san and Aoba-san got married about 13 years ago, and they've got 2 kids. All these kids running around calling me Asuka-baachan has been driving me crazy.”
 
“Wow….they have kids……wow. What about Commander Fuyutsuki?”
 
“Oh well…..he was around for along time, he kinda took us under his wing, but he passed away 3 years ago. We all were pretty close to him, but it was his time to go.” Shinji said, as he remembered the father-like Fuyutsuki-san
 
“I ….I see…..I'm sorry for your loss…..”
 
“We were as well……and on another sad note…Shinji weren't you just telling me that, that one beer company that Misato-san liked so much had gone out of business?” Rei said, throwing Shinji a sly wink.
 
“What?.....oh..Oh yeah!!! Sorry Misato, no more Yebisu…owowmisato!myhand!”
 
“NO MORE YEBISU!!!!”
 
“Oh relax, the dummkopfs were just kidding, Yebisu is fine, they actually have come out with several new kinds now. I'm sure you won't hesitate in trying all of them.” Asuka said while rolling her eyes, trying to hide the laughter that was about to burst out of her.
 
“Rei…..told a joke? Wow……I really have missed a lot”
 
Shinji clenched and unclenched his nearly crushed hand.
 
“Yeah she's gotten to be a regular jokester. Right Rei?” He said with a grin.
 
“I have no idea what you're talking about Third Child” Rei said with a serious face……….trying to hold in her own laughter, but she failed miserably.
 
Laughter echoed throughout the room and into the hall. The good doctor couldn't help but smile at what he heard.
 
“There's no better sound than the laughter of a reunited family”
 
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