Night fell over Tokyo-3, and the neon lights along the streets a little farther from the city center began to come on.
Just as Misato Katsuragi had wished, the nighttime streets of Tokyo-3 were filled with flamboyantly dressed women and men in garish clothes.
The drunken haze gradually deepened.
Meanwhile, four bowls of curry and rice sat on the long table at Misato's home, surrounding plates of sashimi, tempura, grilled chicken skewers, pork cutlets, and okonomiyaki.
They were all fairly simple dishes. Tonight, the household's head chef, Rei Ayanami, had prepared them herself. They might not have looked as "fancy" as food from a Michelin-starred restaurant, but they certainly made for a lavish spread.
The head chef had once... all right, she had spent the past few weeks studying under Master Shinji Ikari, the household's resident culinary maestro. Tonight was her chance to try her hand.
Rei Ayanami had taken particular care today, but Shinji Ikari thought all that painstaking attention was entirely unnecessary.
Everyone in this house was pretty uncultured. It was already impressive enough if they could tell good food from bad. They weren't food critics straight out of Iron Chef.
Besides the usual Family of Four, Ritsuko Akagi was there too.
Ever since the Rain Angel's invasion had ended, she had often dropped by for a free meal. After the Horror Angel's invasion, in particular, she came almost every day unless she had to work late.
"You've learned to imitate him pretty well, but I still feel like the flavor is missing something." Ritsuko Akagi sounded quite professional, pretending to be a food critic on television.
Being able to eat Rei Ayanami's cooking without any qualms felt like personal growth to her.
Her mother really had died a miserable death. She had abandoned her husband and daughter