Getting acquainted, restarting and freezing, the new and the old, Special Unit X! (Thanks, Mom)

Misato's House

All three of them carried bags of every size. The moment they opened the door and stepped inside, Misato kicked her shoes haphazardly toward the shoe cabinet. Without checking whether they landed where they should, she went straight to the fridge and pulled out a whole case of beer.

Shinji Ikari looked at the clean, tidy interior, and his first impression of Misato improved a little.

Looks like Miss Misato usually keeps the place pretty clean.

Huang Zhetian came out after changing into casual clothes. Seeing straight through Shinji Ikari's thoughts, he curled his lip and said, "You're overthinking it. It's just my turn to clean this week. When it's Misato's turn, she puts everything off until the last day."

The warmth Shinji Ikari had just felt abruptly turned ice-cold. Right... so Miss Misato wasn't just careless in how she acted. Her daily life was a complete mess, too.

Misato laughed and scolded Huang Zhetian, lightly patting his head. "All right, all right. I'll clean ahead of time from now on, okay? You little brat!"

Huang Zhetian answered while opening the instant-food packaging. "That's the third time you've said that. I'm still waiting to see whether you'll keep your promise."

Shinji Ikari sat across from them, watching them laugh and joke. He felt like an outsider.

But that feeling soon disappeared. Huang Zhetian handed him the calendar hanging on the wall and said, "Starting tomorrow, you're on cleaning duty for seven days. Also, when it's Misato's turn, don't help her. Otherwise, she'll keep drinking herself to sleep every day without doing a thing."

Shinji Ikari looked at the calendar in his hands. The circles and crosses followed a fairly regular pattern, and the latest entry was marked with a square.

That marked the day Shinji Ikari would start