"I had that dream again."
Early the next morning, light spilled through the window onto Shinji Ikari's face as he slowly opened his eyes and woke from his slumber. He had dreamed of that mother of his again.
It was truly bizarre. For so many years he had barely dreamed of her a handful of times, yet ever since arriving here, these dreams had been appearing with increasing frequency.
Shinji Ikari blinked and tried to sit up, only to find that someone was holding onto him.
To be precise, at that moment he and another person were embracing, with one of his arms pinned tightly and both of his legs firmly clamped by the other's two legs.
The drowsiness of being half-asleep faded, and Shinji Ikari's vision began to clear. The first thing that met his eyes was a expanse of snowy white, and as he lowered his head, a larger expanse of snowy white came into view.
Shinji Ikari shook off the hands and legs Misato Katsuragi had pressing down on his body, finally breaking free of the python-like restraint, and sat up.
While rubbing his sleep-duffed eyes and scratching his head, he looked at Misato Katsuragi, who had crystal-clear drool hanging from the corner of her mouth.
Shinji Ikari was completely calm, because he was the root cause of everything. Of course, if this were considered a crime, then Misato Katsuragi was his accomplice as well.
He hadn't done anything else; the great god had simply loved humanity yesterday.
"Daily consistent exercise really is effective."
Shinji Ikari stretched his body with satisfaction, feeling the powerful extension and contraction of his muscles, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
As a qualified god, aside from the lofty pursuit of spiritual will, a healthy body was naturally indispensable.
Just as Shinji Ikari was secretly feeling pleased, a lazy inquiry came from beside him: "What kind of exercise?"
"100 sit-ups every day, 100 push-ups, 100 squats, plus a 10-kilometer run."
Shinji Ikari simply summarized his workout routine, a regimen he had stuck to since childhood.
Although he hadn't gone bald, it had indeed built up his body, keeping him free of illness and ailments for years.
Hearing the voice, Shinji Ikari turned his head and saw Misato Katsuragi, who was still in a daze.
At that moment, she clearly had not fully woken from her sleep, rubbing her heavy eyes with one hand while letting out a huge yawn.
Stripped of that commander's uniform and other superfluous clothing, the most genuine, complete Misato Katsuragi was laid bare before Shinji Ikari's eyes.
She unconsciously displayed the plumpness of her breasts and the rounded curves of her hips. It was not a meticulously sculpted model's physique, but rather a reality carrying a hint of life's indulgence.
At her waist was a trace of flesh and flab born from a fondness for beer and convenience foods, the lines of her back and waist were smooth and powerful, and the muscle lines of her calves were clear and sturdy.
She possessed both a soldier's upright posture and a woman's fullness-the taut lines left by training and the softness brought by lifestyle perfectly gathered into one.
Shinji Ikari just looked at her like that, growing more and more engrossed the longer he stared. That was why he loved humanity most.
Misato Katsuragi
"So sleepy, my waist aches so much. Did I drink too much yesterday...? What are you doing? Aren't your transfer procedures taking a few more days? Why are you waking up so early..."
Aching all over, Misato Katsuragi was just preparing to complain a little when the sight of Shinji Ikari made her recall something, and her voice cut off abruptly.
An eerie silence lingered for quite a while in the cherry-blush-tinted room. (Note)
With a look of despair, she buried her head between her knees and curled into a ball in the corner like a quail frightened out of its wits, only raising her head after a long while.
"It's over, I'm going to prison!" Misato Katsuragi looked at Shinji Ikari, saying with hollow eyes, "I'm definitely going to be sent to a military tribunal."
"First of all, given my age, you don't have to go to prison since it was voluntary," Shinji Ikari comforted her. "Besides, I am a god; I am not bound by secular laws."
"This..." Misato Katsuragi momentarily didn't know how to respond, actually feeling that what Shinji Ikari said made a lot of sense. Her brain must have broken.
"You're right," she convinced herself.
Right, Shinji Ikari had been willing yesterday; that was a fact.
She had just managed to convince herself when, at that moment, Shinji Ikari walked over toward her.
"What are you doing? It's true I drank too much yesterday and that was my fault, I'm apologizing to you!" Misato Katsuragi shrank her neck, somehow feeling a bit panicked.
"Where is that relentless energy you had yesterday not letting me rest the whole day? Why are you so pathetic now?"
Shinji Ikari approached Misato Katsuragi, gave a sniff, and said with an expression of utter disgust:
"Come take a bath, it feels awful and you reek of body odor. You're not planning to go the whole day like this, are you?"
"Why are you grabbing me? Wait, hey, hey, hey..."
And so, time quickly arrived at noon once again.
The two of them, smelling fragrant anew after their bath, simply heated up the unfinished convenience store food.
Of course, they hadn't learned their lesson at all; bottles of beer were still set out on the table one after another.
Just like that, the two of them plus a penguin sat at the dining table, staring at each other with big eyes.
The penguin crawled out from a refrigerator bearing the "PEN" logo, still sporting a tuft of vibrant bright red hair on its head.
"Ah, I forgot to introduce him. This is Pianpian, our roommate," Misato Katsuragi introduced.
Pianpian
The penguin named Pianpian looked over the new roommate and raised a wing.
"Quack!"
"Yo!"
Shinji Ikari responded, waving a hand as well to greet it.
He turned his gaze to Misato Katsuragi. "You let a penguin drink beer?"
"You actually know what a penguin is?" Misato Katsuragi was somewhat surprised; such creatures had all but gone extinct during the Second Impact.
"Pianpian is a genetically modified Hot Spring Penguin, and it usually likes to drink beer."
Even knowing it was a penguin felt like such a rare piece of knowledge.
To Shinji Ikari, this served as a reminder-or rather, he had actually sensed it long ago and simply hadn't cared-that this world and his past life were always similar yet different.
It was much like how in this lifetime he had never heard on television, "Hello everyone, I'm Jerry Meward" or "Spring has arrived, and it's the mating season once again," nor could he see foreigners running through portals into millions of years ago to catch prehistoric beasts.
He had never seen television programs of that sort. Just when he was wondering if it was because he wasn't in the same country as in his past life, he realized there simply weren't that many mating animals for him to watch.
"So what are your plans for today? Let me calculate, you still have two days off."
"Let's head to headquarters. I want to go see Unit-01."
"You boys really have zero resistance to mecha. Clearly you have a great beauty sitting right here, and you actually want to go to work? You really are a kid."
This sounded almost like a joke, but falling into the ears of the present Shinji Ikari, it carried a slightly different flavor, resembling more of a re-engagement invitation as a truce neared its end.
"No, I just suddenly want to see Him, but I don't want to work at all," Shinji Ikari had no choice but to reply.
"Why do you feel like a child who went out to play, couldn't find his mom, and is throwing a crying tantrum?"
"Well fine, I won't go; I'll stay home and keep you company. Though I actually miss her quite a bit."
"...You really know how to kill a conversation like that."
"There's no help for it. I've been dreaming of her lately, probably because I saw her somewhere."
"Don't scare me."
Note: Not a bug.
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