It was finally time to go to school today. Shinji made breakfast and three boxed lunches, left one lunch behind, and headed out.
Shinji put on his coat and openly checked the Ultra Glasses.
"I'm heading out!"
"Why go so early? Classes don't start for ages..." Asuka rolled her eyes as she picked up her chopsticks.
She planned to take the bus later.
Before long, Shinji's booming voice rang out.
"Rule one: never go to school on an empty stomach!"
Asuka looked downstairs and saw Shinji running along, shouting a slogan she didn't understand.
"He can already turn into a giant. Does he still need to train like that?"
Asuka didn't understand. Shinji's synchronization rate had already reached 65, and he could even transform into an Ultraman who overwhelmed Angels, yet he still never let up on his training.
"He really is an idiot..." With that, Asuka started eating breakfast.
"So good..."
Shinji ran all the way to school. After Zero's training, that distance was a breeze for him.
"Morning, Shinji."
Toji and Kensuke greeted Shinji.
"Morning."
They had become very close friends by now.
Kensuke and Toji walked over to Shinji's desk and started showing off the photos Kensuke had taken.
"Look, Shinji! My photos have gone viral!" Kensuke held up a cool shot of Zero he'd taken aboard the battleship.
"The one where I fired my beam and burst out of the water. That's a cool shot!" Zero's spectral form leaned closer and praised it.
"And here's one of him posing!" Kensuke pulled out a photo of Zero flashing a peace sign.
"This one's so cool. It really captures my style!" Zero confidently flashed another peace sign.
"Hahaha, this one's the funniest!" Kensuke pulled out a third photo.
"Ah! How did you get a shot of that too?!" Zero's face instantly went red, and he covered his eyes.
Right in the middle of the frame, as Zero flew toward space, was his... backside...
"I zoomed in just to take this. It looks so funny, hahahaha."
"Aaaaah! Why would you zoom in to take a picture of that?!" Zero fumed.
"You could've photographed anything else, but you picked that! And here I was praising your photography!"
Zero was a little more sensitive than other Ultramen.
"Oh, right. I got some top-secret information from my dad," Kensuke said mysteriously.
What was it? Shinji and Toji leaned closer.
"Let me in on this." The class representative, Hikari Horaki, squeezed in too.
"The United Nations named the giant 'ULTRAMAN'! In other words, Ultraman!"
Zero and Shinji were shocked once again.
Once it sank in, Zero smiled faintly.
Looks like humans in every world use "Ultraman" as the name for our race.
"After my second uncle, Professor Manny, returned from Earth, we began calling ourselves the Ultra Race."
"Why that name?" Toji and Hikari Horaki were very curious.
Apparently, they'd used the word "ultra" to distinguish it from "superman."
"Hahaha, exactly the same reason as in our world!" Zero laughed, clutching his stomach.
The other two were satisfied, but Shinji showed little reaction. He'd known about it for ages, after all.
"Do you remember that pilot on the battleship?" Kensuke asked.
"What kind of person is she? I'm a little curious too," the class representative said.
"Of course I remember. She's pretty, but her personality isn't likable at all."
"To be fair, with the childhood she had, it's a miracle she didn't go crazy..."
"Man, how come those three pilots don't have a single pair of normal parents between them..."
"Wait, I don't think I'm in any position to talk about other people..." Zero caught himself, his eyes darting down to the left.
"Ah... sorry, Shinji... I'm really sorry... I didn't mean it."
Shinji looked at Zero in displeasure.
Because of their degree of fusion, Shinji could already get a faint sense of what Zero was thinking.
Being talked about like that was a little more than Shinji could take now.
Zero immediately apologized.
"Sorry, sorry, Shinji! How about this? To make it up to you, I'll take you to Dragon Country when we get the chance. It's beautiful there, okay?"
"Promise?"
"Promise!"
Suddenly, Toji shouted.
"Ah! Why are you here?!"
Zero took one look and covered his face.
"Oh, boy!"
Asuka stood imperiously in the classroom doorway.
She walked straight to the blackboard and began writing her name.
"My name is Asuka Langley Soryu. I'll be transferring here starting today. It's nice to meet you."
"Sh-she... what's she doing here?"
Zero glanced at Rei Ayanami, who was sitting alone by the window, and remarked helplessly.
"I'm seriously starting to think this school is an Eva driving school..."
Asuka looked around, spotted an empty seat beside Shinji, and went straight over to sit down.
"Huh?" Shinji was puzzled.
"How does Shinji get so lucky with girls... That's three already..." Toji and Kensuke were green with envy.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm keeping an eye on that idiot Zero. I'm worried he'll do something to you."
"But..."
Asuka cut Shinji off.
"You should count yourself lucky to get to sit beside me."
"I'm the captain of Ultimate Force Zero, and even I've never been as full of myself as you!" Zero shot back.
That successfully silenced Asuka. Though she didn't want to admit it, anyone strong enough to team up with Zero had to be incredibly powerful.
During class, the lesson was so boring that Shinji and Zero hid their heads behind a book and chatted in secret.
"When Ultramen fight monsters on Earth, they love wrestling~~~"
At first, Asuka had no interest in their conversation. But she couldn't read the Japanese textbook very well, and the lesson was incredibly boring, so Zero's amusing stories about the Garrison slowly caught her attention.
She hid her head behind a book too, then addressed Shinji and Zero with a slightly haughty air.
"What are you talking about? Mind letting me join in?"
"Let me tell you about the time Zoffy, the captain of the Space Garrison, went to rescue another senior of mine, Taro. They were fighting a huge bird called Birdon that could breathe fire and had venom in his beak."
"The fight was going well, and Zoffy had the advantage, when Birdon suddenly breathed fire."
"Zoffy's head caught fire in an instant."
"Zoffy lost his footing, and Birdon kicked him into the water."
"Birdon cunningly waited until Zoffy was getting up, then injected venom into his body with his beak. Zoffy went down."
Zero was so engrossed in his story that he didn't notice the two below him snickering.
"How did this Zoffy guy become captain of the Space Garrison if he's that bad? Hahaha." Asuka couldn't help snickering.
"You wouldn't think that if you took a hit from his M87 Ray," Zero said seriously.
"Captain Zoffy's beam reaches 870,000 degrees. He could've defeated Birdon back then, but there was a hospital nearby, so he didn't dare use the M87 Ray. Combined with the lack of intel, that led to his defeat."
"Later, he fought Birdon again on an abandoned planet and beat him in no time."
"The captain put himself in danger because he valued human lives."
"He's an outstanding warrior and commander. The medals on his chest are the best proof of that!"
"I can vouch for that. The captain's chest is covered in medals," Shinji added in Zoffy's defense.
"Huh? Why are you calling him captain too?" Asuka caught the telling detail.
Shinji blushed, and Zero answered for him.
"Shinji counts as a member of the Space Garrison now, so it's perfectly normal for him to call him that."
"Tch. Two idiots."
"Especially you, idiot Shinji. You're actually taking orders from a bunch of aliens."
Two pieces of chalk arced through the air and struck their heads. When they looked up, the teacher's face was red with anger.
"I've been watching you two for ages! Are you done chatting?!"
"Sorry, sir!"
At noon, Asuka opened the boxed lunch Shinji had made.
"Mmm... that idiot Shinji made this... It's so good..."
She glanced at Shinji, only to see him handing a boxed lunch to Rei Ayanami.
She gritted her teeth in anger and nearly snapped her chopsticks.
"Idiot Shinji..."
She didn't know what was wrong with her. All she knew was that she was furious.
While she was still fuming, Zero floated over and spoke with a roguish air.
"What's wrong, miss? Jealous?"
"Go away!"
"Hey, don't get so worked up. They can't see me, you know..."
Asuka came to her senses and realized the whole class was staring in confusion at her after she'd shouted at thin air.
"This is so embarrassing! Zero, you idiot!"
Asuka buried her face, refusing to look at Zero.
"Oh, by the way, Rei Ayanami is Shinji's little sister. You're getting jealous over the wrong person."
"Huh?! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Asuka glared furiously at Zero's spectral form.
"All right, to make it up to you, I'll give you a surprise after school today."
"What kind of surprise could an idiot like you possibly give me?!"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore. It's a secret for now." ~(＾◇^)/
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