Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Where Darkness Falls ❯ Back to School ( Chapter 2 )

Where Darkness Falls

Chapter 2 - Back to School

"Well Misato, it's been a while."

Though dishevelled, Ritsuko seemed genuinely glad to see Misato. She gave the woman a slightly cautious smile, as if only now allowing herself to believe that the Operations Director was there, and offered her hand out for a shake.

Misato, who was very glad to see a familiar face, took the proffered hand and shook it with great relief. "How did you get here?" she blurted.

Several things were beginning to make sense in her mind - like how Shinji might have been able to get out of Japan. However… there was still so much she did not understand, and she fervently hoped the blonde could shed some illumination on her confusion-clouded state.

"I escaped from my cell with a little help from Maya Ibuki," Ritsuko explained, reaching into a box of shotgun shells situated on the nightstand and feeding them one by one into the pump-action Smith and Wesson cradled comfortably in her arms. "Never would have guessed her for the aiding and abetting type, but anyway, I stumbled across Shinji alone in the Kobe station, dressed in some dirty jeans and a stolen sweat shirt…" Her eyes grew far off as she remembered. "He looked so lost, Misato," she murmured softly, "with dust streaked in his hair to hide its colour and huge dark circles under his eyes. I had planned to escape on my own and go somewhere Gen- the Commander would never find me, but when I saw Shinji," she shrugged and finished loading the weapon, "I stopped dead in my tracks, like a deer in the headlights, you know? Sometimes he just has that look that I can't say no to…"

"Yeah," Misato whispered as the woman trailed off, clearly at a loss for words, "yeah, I understand."

"He told me that he just couldn't take it anymore," Ritsuko continued, her tone level and serious though her hand was shaking slightly as she rested the shotgun against her leg and leaned against the wall, "he wanted to be as far away from NERV as possible and just have a normal life, and since our goals were in line, well…" she shrugged once more.

"What exactly did you tell the landlord about him when you moved here?" Misato asked awkwardly, deciding that she would get the details of the journey to America at a quieter (and safer) time. "Did you say he was your son or what?"

Ritsuko smirked. "My younger brother actually," she said dryly, "just because I act more mature than you doesn't make me mother material."

Misato gave a weak chuckle. "Right…" she hesitated for a moment, not truly wanting the answer to the question she was about to ask… but as the silence spun on, she found that she had no choice, and the one person that mighthave some idea was in right front of her.

"So umm… what the hell is going on here, Ritsuko?"

"I have no idea," the blonde replied immediately, "everything was normal yesterday, and when I woke up this morning it was like this. It's as if everyone vanished into thin air." She sighed, hefting the shotgun onto her shoulder. "I went to look for Shinji but he wasn't in his room. I don't know where he could be, Misato - all I can hope is that he managed to find a way out of town, because this place is a death-trap." She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "I know one thing though - he is not in this building. I've searched the place from top to bottom and the only person I've seen is you…"

With a start, Misato remembered the thing that had been looming over her, but before she could speak, Ritsuko grinned. "Don't worry," she said, coolly patting the shotgun, "it's dead."

"What was it?!" Misato asked, shivering as she envisioned those rows of sharp little teeth.

"Some kind of mutated frog, I guess," Ritsuko said thoughtfully, "I didn't really spend a lot of time studying its structure."

"Thank God!" Misato shivered, "A couple more seconds and you could have studied its eating habits too."

Ritsuko gave her friend a grim smile. "We may have had our differences in the past," she said quietly, "but even I'm not that cold."

Finding no other words to express herself, Misato simply whispered, "Thanks, Ritsuko." Spotting her handgun on the nightstand, Misato retrieved it and checked the clip. "So if Shinji's not here," she said, trying to sound business like in spike of the quaver in her voice, "where could he be?"

"Well," Ritsuko murmured, "He made a few friends here but I highly doubt he would be at any of their houses, what with all the people disappearing."

"Could he be at school?" asked Misato, slipping her gun back into its holster - and deciding it definitely felt better there. "I mean, you said he wanted to have a normal life, and normal life means high school, right?"

"I can't see him heading off to school in this kind of fog," Ritsuko pointed out, pushing away from the wall and heading into the living room, "but as strange as this all is, I guess it's possible that it wasn't like this in the morning." She gave Misato a bland smile. "Today's my off day, so I slept in."

"And I'm glad you did," Misato said honestly, noting with mixed thankfulness and curiosity how easily the other woman held the weapon in her hands.

"Let's go take a look," Ritsuko suggested, "we're not getting anywhere standing around-"

"Hey Ritsuko?"

"Hmm?"

Misato stared at the floor for a minute before whispering, "Why is this so important to you? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're here… but you've never really been that close to Shinji."

Ritsuko averted her eyes. "When we were on the plane over here," she said softly, "he fell asleep with his head on my shoulder." She raised her head, almost managing to meet the other woman's gaze before pulling her eyes away once more. "As I watched him sleep, I made him - and myself - a promise… that I would make up for all the pain his father and everyone else caused him."

"Oh," Misato said uncomfortably, shifting from one foot to the other.

A thick silence fell, and the two women decided that maybe it was best to leave it unbroken for now. As they stepped out of the apartment they both noticed that the corridor was perfectly normal… no blood… no grime… no monsters - nothing. Misato glanced around in confusion, wondering if maybe Ritsuko had carried her to a different floor, but the sign on the stairwell definitely read 4.

Worry about it later, her mind advised as they made their way to the foyer, best not to think about where everything went or why it's not dark anymore or what happened to the rain… just… just don't think until you're gone.

Pulling out her map, she noted that Silent Hill High was up at the corner of Bradbury and Ellroy - less than four blocks away from the Lonsdale Apartments.

"If it isn't rain, it's fog," she muttered as they started off, "man, I think I prefer our non-stop summer to this crap."

At her side, Ritsuko just smiled.

**

Wandering through the fog shrouded streets, Misato was taken again by the barrenness of the city. It's like that one town, oh God what was the name of it again? she thought, glancing idly at a car with its drivers side gaping wide open. Was it Jonestown? That doesn't sound right, but I remember reading about that one place where the whole population just vanished - dinner still on the table and everything. She shivered. They never found any bod-

"Do you hear something?"

She came up short as Ritsuko tilted her head to the side, listening intently.

Misato frowned. "It sounds like…" her eyes widened. "Flapping! Come on!!" Without waiting for a reply, she dashed off in the direction of the school, trying to look everywhere at once. "The front door's open, let's go!"

As the flapping sound grew louder, Misato put on a burst of speed, hitting the school's front door with a bang and whirling around to cover her friend's retreat.

"Come… on?"

The street behind her was empty.

"Ritsuko?"

Everything was still and quiet. The flapping sound had faded away to nothing, as had the sound of feet hitting pavement… there was only Misato's harsh breathing to break the silence. Crap! she thought angrily, sweeping the desolate street with her pistol. We must have gotten separated…

"Ritsuko you idiot," she hissed, keeping her voice low to avoid attracting any unwanted attention.

She briefly considered heading out into the fog to search for her friend, but quickly discarded the idea. She probably went around to another door, she reasoned, I would have heard her shooting if she was being attacked…

A shiver ran her spin as she considered that the woman might not have had time to get a shot off. "If that happened," she whispered, feeling horrified by her own rationale, "then it's too late anyway…"

Cold all over, the purple haired woman started to turn back towards the open door… but she paused as she spotted a dim shape in the fog. Is that…? Taking a cautious step forward, she barely contained a cry of joy.

In the school's parking lot stood an empty police cruiser with the letters SHPD emblazed on the side. Its windows and doors standing wide open, and a pump action shotgun was laying across the front seat like a Christmas present waiting for a good little girl to come play with it. Misato snatched the weapon up, still scanning the streets for any sign of movement, and popped the glove compartment open. "Must be my lucky day," she whispered giddily, finding a full box of shells for the shotgun, a handful of AA batteries, and a small, silver crucifix.

She took everything, distributing it amongst her flight jacket's numerous pockets, and grabbed the CB mic from where it was resting on the dash. As she raised it to her lips, however, she noticed that the cord had been yanked from the dash… and as she took a step back, sure that she had heard a noise behind her, her eyes landed on a rather sizable patch of dried blood on the ground next to the driver's side - unseen in her haste to find a better weapon than the one she already had.

Slowly, Misato pulled the cross out of her pocket.

"Hope you don't mind if I borrow this," she whispered, carefully stepping around the patch of blood, "but I need all the help I can get, you know? I… I have to find him."

Misato shook her head. I'm talking… to a spot of blood, she thought, quickly checking the shotgun's breech. Time to get going…

With a final glance at the squad car, she slung the shotgun up on her shoulder and strode into the high school.

**

Misato wandered aimlessly through the school, looking through the classrooms and offices for any sign of her misplaced charge. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, she thought tiredly as another room proved empty, no one in the convenience store… no one in the apartment building… no one on the streets - where IS everyone? Did those… things get them ALL?

She wondered suddenly why there were no bodies. If they are all dead, she thought uneasily, pausing to look into an open locker, where are they? I mean, those things DO look like they could eat a person alive - hell, they tried to eat me! - but shouldn't there be something left? Bones at least? And this isn't the biggest town, but there's probably at least a few thousand people here - I don't think those monsters could have killed EVERYONE that fast…

Misato frowned, biting her lip as she considered this situation further. "And Ritsuko said everything was quiet when she woke up," she muttered, "if they killed everyone in that apartment building, someone would have screamed - and even Ritsuko doesn't sleep that deeply!"

She shook her head angrily. I can't be wasting be time thinking about this now! she told herself, Shinji could be here and he might need my help!

Misato made her way through the rest of the school, finally finding herself at the exit to the roof. "He wouldn't be stupid enough to go up here," she muttered, laying a hand on the doorknob, "not if he saw those monsters running around and caught a glimpse of all this fog - he'd go somewhere safe, right?" She sighed, pushing the door open and stepping through nonetheless. "Better safe than sor-"

Suddenly, an unearthly scream pierced the air - rising so high and so fast that Misato clapped her hands over her ears and cried out in surprise and fear, instinctively closing her eyes. Abruptly, the scream was silenced, replaced by the soft patter of-

"Rain…?"

Misato opened her eyes… but nothing could prepare her for the sight she saw.

The metal on the fence was rusted, even though she swore it was not in that condition a minute ago, and she barely contained a scream of her own as she turned back towards the door… for on the fence, less than three feet from her, was a corpse. Misato covered her mouth as she felt her gorge rising, unable to look away from the horror before her.

Is it a man… or a woman??

This was the first thought that flew into Misato's head, for honestly… she could not tell. The face and genital regions - as well as the rest of the body - had been so badly traumatized that she could hardly even identify it as human. The worst aspect, however was the thing's mouth.

Someone had shorn the lips and eyelids from the face, leaving a leering, skull like grin comprised of bloodied and cracked teeth and vacant, muddy blue eyes.

With a sharp cry of disgust, and the horrifying feeling that the corpse was somehow accusing her with its dull, lidless stare, Misato darted back into the school, slamming the door behind her resting her back up against it. "Oh God," she sobbed, "oh God, I just want out of here!"

Get a hold of yourself! she thought firmly, If you go all to pieces, Shinji's as good as dead! Ritsuko too! Now take a deep breath… stop whining… and go find them, damn it!

Taking her own advice, Misato pushed back from the door… but she came up short as she realized that she was standing in pitch darkness. "What the…?"

She clicked on the small flashlight, her jaw falling open as she found the stairwell in the same state as she had first seen the Lonsdale apartments: grimy, rundown, and smelling strongly of, blood, death, and decay - a total opposite to the clean, if empty, hall she had left when she opened the door to the rooftop.

What the hell is up with this place!? Misato wondered, her grip on her gun tightening as she realized that she now had to trust her life to the narrow flashlight beam and a pair of guns with limited ammunition.

Against an army of demonic monsters, in a place of total darkness where the air reeked of death and decay personified… she did not give herself very good odds.

"No use standing around," she told herself, wondering why she was not screaming at the top of her lungs.

Must be getting used to it, she reasoned, edging carefully down the stairs. That or I've finally gone off the deep end.

Peering around the corner, Misato found herself face to face with one of the small child-like creatures. For several seconds, the two stared at one another, too stunned to move… then the creature hissed and raised its right hand, revealing a large butcher knife - and Misato was moving.

Throwing herself to the right, she brought the shotgun up, firing it point-blank into the creature's chest and taking a certain amount of cruel pleasure from the dismayed squawk it uttered as it fell on its back and began writhing around, clearly in agony. "Nice try," Misato whispered, getting shakily to her feet and drawing her pistol, "but I think you're going to have to let Hell know I won't be joining you for a little while, my friend."

The nine millimetre's report was muffled and somehow flat as Misato aimed it at the creature's head and pulled the trigger, but as she always said, results are what mattered, and since the thing immediately stilled, she was not about to complain.

Not pausing to savour her victory, Misato glanced around at the rusty grating and filthy, rotten wood that surrounded her. Better get out of here, she told herself, Shinji's not…

She let the thought trail off, afraid of where it might lead her, and peeked into one of the classrooms, grimacing as she found it decrepit and foul, with the chairs and desks in such a state of disrepair that they seemed 100 years old. Even the bars on the windows (cause enough for raised eyebrows) were rusted, lending to the atmosphere of decay and abandonment.

Misato let the door close and shook her head. "Just get out," she commanded herself, heading for the stairwell, "don't… think."

She managed to make it to the front door with only minor difficulty, encountering and finishing off a handful of the child-like creatures along the way… and counting every spent shell and bullet like a nail in her own coffin. At this rate I'll need to use one of these, she thought grimly, stooping to pick up one of the child-monster's butcher knives.

"Damn it," she muttered, her shoulders slumping as she beheld the heavy chain that had somehow managed to find its way around the school's door levers. "Guess I need to find the back door."

She glanced at the small windows around the door, but sighed and turned away as she realized that even if she could pry the bars off of them, she would never be able to force her body through the small opening. Maybe Rei, she thought suddenly, but not me.

Misato frowned as she started off down the corridor. "Now why did I think of-"

She whirled around as a footstep echoed behind her, but her eyes found nothing in the darkness. Shaking off the impression that if she had just been a second faster she would have seen the First Child, Rei Ayanami, Misato hurried off in the opposite direction, wondering where she would go after she got out of the school.

**

"Damn, this place is a nightmare," Misato said, her voice shaking and unsteady as she pulled her newest weapon from the throat of another of the beak creatures she had killed in the convenience store. It had come at her from nowhere; not giving her the chance to bring her shotgun to bear, and it had only been a stroke of luck that she had been examining the knife's odd handle when it had pounced.

Wincing, she kicked the creature - more out of spite than the idea that it might still be a danger - and brought her left arm into the flashlight's beam, taking stock of the small injury the creature had managed to inflict.

My jacket took most of the hit, she thought critically, rolling up her sleeve to get a better look at the thin cut in her skin, but better safe than sorry - who knows what kind of infections these things could carry??

Misato looked around, blinking as she found herself less than five feet from a door marked simply 'infirmary.'

"Well how do you like that?"

Trading the knife to her other hand and readying her pistol, she pushed the door open and let the flashlight illuminate the small room. Immediately something caught her eye, scrambling across the floor and under the bed. Misato pulled the trigger three times, cursing as each shot dug up a small chunk of linoleum, passing wide of her intended target.

"Guess we do this the hard way," she muttered grimly.

Unslinging the shotgun from her shoulder and cocking it with one hand, she dropped to her knees, bearing down on the trigger even as she brought her eyes in line with the creature under the bed.

"NO!!"

Misato was so surprised at hearing another human voice that her whole body jerked, the shotgun going off with an angry bang, as if frustrated that it was denied its pray. "H-hello?" she called cautiously, unclipping the flashlight from her pocket and aiming it under the bed.

The beam played not on a creature, but on an ordinary little girl, her brown eyes wide with shock and fright. "N-no!" the girl cried, cringing away from the light. "Don't… don't come near me!!"

"Hey, hey!" Misato said quickly, setting the shotgun within easy reach and holding out her hand. "I'm not going to hurt you… promise."

The girl's eyes widened as she looked into Misato's face, and as the realization that she was looking at a fellow human, she scrambled out of her hiding place and dove into the woman's arms, sobbing hysterically. "I thought you… and I… we were… oh GOD!!"

Misato just gaped. How did she stay alive? she thought incredulously, pushing back a bit to get a better look at her. She estimated that the girl was about 14 or 15 years old, with short brown hair and scared, but clear brown eyes. At a guess, Misato pegged her at about 100 pounds and five foot four inches. She's gonna be tall, she thought idly.

"I thought I was all alone," the girl sniffled, starting to get herself under control, but quickly losing it again as something somewhere in the building howled. "Ma'am, what's happening? Where is everyone? I'm scared!!"

"I don't know," Misato confessed, mentally cursing her poor English skills. "Things were like this when I got here."

Poor kid, she thought sympathetically, she's as in the dark about what's going here as I am - and she can't be a day older then 15, either! Looking into the girl's tear-streaked, terrified face, Misato came to a conclusion. I need to get her out of here too… I don't think I could live with myself if I just left her to die…

"I'm Misato," she said, speaking carefully to be understood, "Misato Katsuragi."

"I'm Amber…Amber Donnelly," answered the girl, wiping briefly at her tears and taking deep, hitching breaths to calm down. After several moments she gave Misato a timid smile. "Um…you're Japanese right?"

"Hai," Misato replied, giving the girl a small smile.

Encouraged, the girl finally released her. "We just got a new transfer student in a little while back," she said, seeming thankful to have a mundane topic of conversation, "His name is Shinji Takeuchi - he's Japanese too."

"Yes!" Misato cried out, making the girl jump, "I know him - I'm looking for him! Do you know where he could be? I figured he might be here, but I can't find him anywhere…"

Amber shook her head. "I don't know, ma'am," she said sheepishly, "I've been wandering the school for hours, and everyone's gone… I'm sorry."

Misato sighed. Well this was a big bust! she thought sullenly. Ritsuko's pretty resourceful, so I'm sure she's ok… but this girl…

"Are there any other ways out?"

Amber nodded. "The doors won't open - I tried - but there's a fire exit in the gym…" she blushed suddenly. "I heard something moving around in there, so I… I couldn't go in. I'm sorry."

"That's nothing to be sorry about," Misato said, rising from her crouch and reaching out to take Amber's hand, "Hell, I almost couldn't bring myself to come in here to look for some alcho-"

Before she could finish her thought, the tiny window in the infirmary burst in, showering them both with fragments of glass. Amber took one look at the squirming thing on the floor and tore her hand from Misato's, uttering a terrified scream as she dashed out of the room.

Don't, Misato thought, bringing her shotgun to bear as she barely checked herself from chasing after the girl, let her go for now or this thing will tear you BOTH apart.

She cocked the weapon and began backing towards the wall, looking in vain for a head of some sort… but there was none - instead, the thing's chest was split, rows of jagged teeth, glistening with unspeakable saliva gleaming dully in the light from her flashlight. In the seconds before it roared, Misato noted that it vaguely resembled a huge dog… though instead of fur, it was covered in brown, rotten looking flesh, like a canine zombie that was all mouth.

Misato felt her sanity slip as its mouth gaped wide open and it let out a terrible, bone-jarring cry - like a razor blade on a car's hood.

"Bad dog!"

Without even thinking, Misato did what you do with bad dogs - you discipline. Only her discipline was manufactured by Smith and Wesson in 12 gage doses, and she delivered them directly into the 'dog's mouth.

As the creature uttered another howl, Misato turned and bolted. Play dead, she thought hysterically, praying that she had at least incapacitated the thing, roll over… bad dog - BAD DOG!!

She sprinted down the dark corridors, cocking the shotgun as she went. "Amber!" she cried, glancing around wildly for any sign of the girl… but she was alone.

Great, she thought, taking the next corner at a dead run, God, please let the girl have enough sense to head for the gym - we have GOT to go!

Taking her own advice, she dashed down the hall and into the gym, slipping on the tiles and falling on her rear with a breathless thud.

"Tile…?"

Somehow, impossibly, the centre of the gym was occupied by a huge, rippling pool, its exact dimensions hidden in the dark, but clearly not 'Olympic standard.' I don't… smell chlorine, she thought, far past the point of being surprised by anything as mundane as having a pool in the gymnasium.

Misato rose carefully to her feet, feeling her stomach turn over as the dark water lapped fitfully at the edges of the pool. Whatever fluid was in the pool… it was not water, and she had to fight to keep from throwing up as she realized that the liquid had a dimly red tinge to it, as if it was full of-

"Don't… think…"

Skirting the pool as best she could, Misato kept repeating this simple mantra over and over again. No thinking, yes, she thought, keeping her eyes straight ahead as she made her way towards the far side, best not to think. Don't think if you want to stay sane, don't think if you want to live, don't think if you… what was that…?

She froze as a soft 'splish,' echoed in the darkness five feet from her.

"No," she whispered, half horrified, half angry, "oh come on! I'm five feet from the damn door!!"

The thing rising up from the pool did not seem to pay her mad complaint any mind. First one tentacle rose from the surface of the murky liquid, feeling blindly around on the rim, then another joined the first, helping it hoist the remainder of the creature onto the 'shore' with a disgustingly wet thump. It looked almost human, Misato decided, if you tilted your head to the side and pretended that it had arms and legs instead of tentacles.

Maybe it was once, she thought deliriously, bringing the shotgun up as the tentacles where the head should have been swayed in her direction, as if scenting the air to find her location.

"Fuck it."

Pushing away from the wall, Misato pulled the trigger, feeling elation wash over her as one of the tentacles was vaporized… the feeling vanished as two more tentacles took the place of the ruined one, all of them darting out in an attempt to catch her.

"Ahh!!" Misato let out a dismayed scream as one of the tentacles found her, wrapping around her waist and bearing down. "N-no," she gasped, struggling in the thing's grip and bringing her shotgun around as another tentacle found her left leg.

Trying to… pull me apart… she thought dizzily, feeling more breath leaving her lungs as the thing increased the pressure of its squeezing. Not… gonna… die here!!

Forcing her lungs to draw in more breath, Misato screamed, levelling the gun at the thing's waiting mouth and pumping off seven shots in rapid succession. Her effort seemed successful as the creature's tongue disappeared. Making a gurgling screech, it released her, dropping her on the floor with a sharp thump and falling back towards the water. A moment before it hit, however, a bright light flashed behind Misato's eyes, blinding her.

Gun, she thought desperately, fumbling to get her pistol free of its holster as she drew deep, thankful lungfuls of air, can't let it… get me…

Misato blinked as she realized that the floor under her hands was indeed floor… and the horrid stench that had filled her nostrils was replaced with the dull fragrance of dust and floor polish. Slowly, the world swam back into view, and as she freed her weapon she finally grasped the fact that she was in a gymnasium - a real gymnasium, complete with hardwood, basketball hoops, and a wonderful, glorious… exit sign.

Quickly, she got to her feet, gathering up the shotgun from where she dropped it and racing too the exit.

Better safe than sorry, after all.

Once outside, she allowed herself a few steadying breaths, taking the time to slide more shells into the shotgun. "Four…?" she muttered, reaching into her pocket and finding only one left. "Damn it - they must have fallen when I was-"

Fighting a demon? she thought as her mouth snapped closed. Which one? The octopus one, or the dog from Hell, hmm? Well at least the other stuff is still there… but still no Shinji - where else could I look? Think, god damn it, THINK!!

"Police station!" It was as if a light bulb went off over her head. "He'd go to a police station," she told herself firmly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the map, "He's got to be there! It's the only place that makes sense… and since this is a police shotgun, I can probably get some more shells for it - and they probably have a first aid kit for this scratch! It's perfect!" She noted the location of the police department and slipped the map back into her pocket.

I'm coming, Shinji…

It being full night by now, Misato had no choice but to rely on the flashlight once more, though now that she knew what to listen for, she was able to avoid several more of the winged creatures and two of the beaked monsters, making it to the police station without incident and (thankfully) without coming across Ritsuko's mangled body.

Silver lining to every cloud I guess, she thought, slipping into the police department's front door with a sigh of relief. Though there were no police officers around, it was still comforting for her to be in a building dedicated to fighting crimes and righting wrongs. I could have been a cop, she told herself, looking around for any sign of her wayward charge, who knows, maybe I still can be after I reti-

A soft rustling from the squad room drew her attention.

"Shinji?" she whispered hopefully, starting towards the room as stealthily as she could - just in case it was not him… or human.

Peering around the corner, she spied a man sitting at one of the officer's desks. From where she stood, Misato could see that he wore heavily tinted glasses and had short dark hair and a beard, other than that, the only other detail she could make out was the old-fashioned pistol in his right hand… and the dead child-monster at his feet.

She gave a start as he abruptly raised his head, taking note of her for the first time.

After a moment of staring, the man cleared his throat. "Good evening."

Staring into his eyes, Misato thought that it most likely… would be anything but.

TBC