At Zero's repeated insistence, Shinji bashfully asked Misato to apply to NERV for a salary on his behalf.
"Fighting monsters is my duty as a member of the defense force, but you shouldn't be working for them for free, Shinji."
"Especially not for that old bastard."
Misato covered her mouth and laughed when she heard Shinji's request.
"You're finally catching on, huh? Sure, I'll put in an application for you later."
At noon, Misato brought Shinji his payroll card.
"This is your pay for this month. From now on, they'll deposit it every month."
Zero and Shinji both stared in disbelief at the amount.
"This much in one month?!"
"Dan Moroboshi would have to work for months to earn that much..."
"Shinji, you're a little rich boy now."
"How did that old bastard agree to this?" Zero asked, utterly baffled.
In truth, Gendo Ikari had been searching all over the world for traces of the giant lately. The giant could introduce far too much uncertainty, and he couldn't afford to gamble with his plan.
As for Shinji, the people Gendo had sent had seen him going out to train last time. Combined with Shinji's earlier flying kick, it had made Gendo somewhat wary of him.
He didn't want to introduce any new variables, so he had agreed to Shinji's request.
"Come on, Shinji. Let's get you a new outfit."
Zero had wanted Shinji to change his clothes for a while. His Palaj Bracelet was broken, so he couldn't store the glasses inside it anymore. Shinji could only keep them in his trouser pocket, which had left him constantly on edge about hiding them.
Toji and Kensuke had already asked several times about the bulge in his pocket alone.
Not to mention the time someone had felt the glasses through his pocket. Shinji had spent ages explaining that they were a toy before finally getting out of it.
That was why Zero thought Shinji needed a jacket with an inside pocket.
When they reached the clothing store, Zero fell silent at the dazzling array of clothes.
A suit like Dan Moroboshi's would certainly be nice, but the problem was that it was always summer in this world. Wearing one would be far too hot, and Shinji was still a student, so he abandoned the idea.
"Which one should we pick..." Zero pondered, troubled.
Shinji browsed as he walked, but nothing particularly caught his eye either.
He wasn't very particular about what he wore...
As they walked on, Zero caught sight of a garment out of the corner of his eye. It immediately grabbed his attention, and he cried out excitedly:
"I think this one looks great."
Before them was a black trench coat. It looked thin, just right for the weather.
As luck would have it, the size suited Shinji's build pretty well.
Shinji felt it over and found that it had a fairly roomy inside pocket.
Looking at the coat also reminded Zero of an old acquaintance.
Shinji thought it would look good on him too.
Shinji took the coat to the fitting room, grabbing a hat along the way at Zero's suggestion.
After Shinji put them on in the fitting room, Zero was stunned by the air he gave off.
"The resemblance... it's uncanny."
"To whom, Zero?"
"A junior of mine. He's a wanderer who travels all over the universe. What sticks in my mind most is how often he plays the harmonica."
"And... he likes soda. Especially ramune."
"He's an outstanding Ultra Warrior too. We've fought side by side many times."
"Oh, right. My dad and I trained him once, and then he turned around and used our powers like he'd been doing it for years to defeat the enemy."
"Wow! He's that amazing?"
"Let's go, Shinji. This outfit really suits you."
Shinji paid and left wearing the trench coat and Wanderer Hat.
The school didn't enforce a uniform anyway, so there was no problem with Shinji going to school dressed like that.
When Shinji returned home that evening, though, Misato exclaimed in surprise.
"Shinji, you look pretty sharp like that!"
When he went to school the next day, Shinji's trench coat caught the other students' attention too.
"Wow, Shinji! You look seriously cool in that!" Toji praised him.
"That outfit must've cost a lot. Did Miss Misato buy it for you?" Kensuke asked enviously.
Shinji breathed a sigh of relief. With the Zero Glasses tucked into the coat's inside pocket, no one could see them at all.
Vroom!
At the sound of a car engine, several students rushed to the windows to find its source.
Driving her sports car, which still had thirty-three installments left to pay, Misato drifted neatly into a parking space at the school.
The students instantly shifted their attention from Shinji to Misato.
"Wow, it's Miss Misato!"
"She's so beautiful, and she's NERV's operations director too! She's amazing!"
Kensuke and Toji began swooning over her.
"Uh... they really are visual creatures. One pretty face and they can't move another step."
"If they knew how much of a slob she usually is, and that she can turn dinner into a biological weapon, I wonder what they'd think..." Zero grumbled indignantly.
Shinji felt the same way. He was usually the one taking care of Misato.
At noon, Shinji took out the extra lunch he had deliberately made that morning and handed it to Rei Ayanami.
"Thank you." Rei smiled.
Zero had warned them not to call each other brother and sister in public, lest Gendo Ikari grow suspicious.
"How come Shinji's so popular with girls?" Toji said jealously.
"Uh... Zero, have they misunderstood something?"
"Just ignore them."
Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari was aboard a plane.
He was on his way to a meeting about the budget.
The cabin door opened, and a NERV official from Dragon Country entered.
"Excuse me. May I sit here?"
Gendo nodded slightly. The Dragon Country official sat beside him, and they began discussing the budget.
"I have some good news."
"All the council nations except Eagle Nation have already allocated funding to Unit 6."
"I think it's only a matter of time before Eagle Nation agrees too. They're extremely sensitive about unemployment right now, so they won't pass up this opportunity."
"And your country?"
"We're constructing Unit 8, as the Second Rebuild Plan is currently underway."
"At present, a pilot named Huang Zhetian has passed our screening. He still needs further training."
"If everything goes smoothly, once Unit 8 is completed, we'll be able to send both it and its pilot to the NERV base."
"We really don't want to experience another Second Impact."
The Dragon Country official opened a small bottle of liquor and took a sip.
"Let's discuss the giant."
"Our country currently recommends leaving him alone unless he displays aggressive behavior."
"We could also attempt to communicate with him depending on the situation. If we share the same goals, we might even bring him over to our side."
"We have an old saying in our country: unite all the forces that can be united."
"Your country really is naive in that regard," Gendo Ikari scoffed.
"It's merely our recommendation. Whether to adopt it is up to NERV headquarters."
"And I imagine NERV wouldn't want another enemy capable of annihilating the Thunder Angel in under two minutes."
"I believe we should end this discussion..."
"..."
That evening, while cleaning, Shinji found a crumpled, battered invitation in the wastebasket.
"The Japan Heavy Chemical Industries Association cordially invites NERV personnel to attend our product launch. We especially hope that the Eva pilot will honor us with his presence."
It also came with a report on their product-the JA Drone.
Zero took it out and flipped through it, instantly captivated.
"Say, Shinji, since they've invited you... why not try asking Misato to take you along? You don't have school tomorrow anyway."
"I need to gather intelligence."
The real reason was that Zero was terribly curious about what this big robot actually was.
He was a young man, after all.
Shinji frowned. "I think I'd rather go out and train with you, Zero."
He wanted to become stronger more than he wanted to see this.
"You need a balance between work and rest. You're getting tomorrow off."
"Please, Shinji! ^o^"
Unable to withstand Zero's relentless coaxing, Shinji went to find Misato.
Misato was curious. "I thought you wouldn't be interested in this. But since you've asked, I suppose I can take you tomorrow."
"Still, I should warn you: their attitude will probably be worlds apart from what's written on the invitation."
"Nobody knows how to handle people with bad attitudes better than yours truly."
The next day, Misato put on a formal dress, and Shinji slipped on his trench coat. He had wanted to wear the hat too, but Misato yanked it off and gave him a scolding.
The two boarded the helicopter. Ritsuko Akagi, who had been waiting for quite some time, was surprised to see Shinji.
"What's Shinji doing here?"
"He insisted on coming. I tried talking him out of it, but he wouldn't listen."
"Silly boy."
The three of them took the helicopter to the JA Drone's launch venue.
Before you continue