Returning Home By Chi-Sze Ooi, 2002 Rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion concept, story and characters belong to Anno Hideki. The NGE Manga was written by Sadamoto Yoshiyuki. The inspiration to this story came after reading the NGE manga, especially when Kaji was talking to Misato after her promotion and he was later talking to Shinji about his past. Except that I kept putting it off... ^^;; But I was so bored one night, I finally wrote it. ^^ A little bit of background for those that have not read the manga: Kaji and Misato did not meet when Kaji and Asuka were on their way to the Geofront. They only met at NERV HQ. ---------------------------------------------------------------- A neatly dressed man looked past the height of the tall non-descript building towards the sky. His blue shirt was slightly creased, a deep navy blue suit snugly fitted his tall but lanky frame, and a navy tie was drawn around his neck. A passing glance could have easily dismissed him as a government official, since he was loitering in front of a governmental building. Except that despite obvious attempts at subduing his hair, some bits were still sticking out. There was also a faint sign of day-old stubble and a dissatisfied slouch in his shoulders as he idly smoked. Ryoji Kaji took a long drag from his cigarette. He flicked at the butt with his thumb, causing ash and ember to flitter to the ground. Wisps of smoke curled and disappeared from the cigarette butt. He'd been here often enough, but it didn't necessarily mean that he had always enjoyed the experience. One did not visit the Ministry of the Interior for amusement. He sighed, a filigree tendril of smoke escaping into the air. He clenched his jaw. 'Might as well get it over with,' he wryly thought. He took another lingering drag, and as he breathed out, he tossed the butt away and grounded it into the pavement. He turned and entered the building, one hand in his pocket and another toying with the uncomfortable press of his tie, knotted to his throat. He wryly wondered what the minister had in mind for him this time. *** "Ryoji-kun, we understand that you will soon be travelling to Germany, to accompany the Second Child and Eva Unit-02 to the Geofront." "Yes, sir." >From the other side of a desk in the middle of the room, Kaji kept his eyes trained on the Minister for the Interior as he looked out of the floor-length windows of his office. The minister abruptly closed the blinds, and returned to the seat behind his desk. Kaji couldn't help thinking that the old man hasn't aged all that much, since he last spoke to him face-to-face instead of via coded reports delivered under... unusual circumstances. Kaji watched as the minister folded his hands together and dropped them to the desk. "Do I also have reason to believe that you will soon be presenting Gendo Ikari with a valuable artifact?" the minister intently pressed. 'Nice choice of words,' Kaji dryly thought, 'to describe Adam as such.' "Yes, sir," Kaji succinctly replied to his superior. "Then, I believe this would be of use to you." The minister opened the top drawer, pulled something out of it, and pushed it across the desk to Kaji. "Ryoji-kun, take this with you. You may find it useful." It was a disk. As Kaji reached for it, the minister spoke. "Study the profiles; remember them. When you are finished, dispose of it." Holding the disk between his index and middle fingers, Kaji smoothly slid it into a pocket inside his jacket. Tapping the pocket, he stood, and hid his sardonic smile as he deeply bowed. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." *** He selected another directory that appeared on the laptop's monitor from the disk. He hesitantly selected the picture file labelled with a familiar name. The chair squeaked indignantly as Kaji leant back in it. A cigarette dangled from one corner of his mouth as he roughly loosened the knot at his throat, the top button of his shirt already undone. He should've known that her profile was there. It was obvious, since Ikari Gendo; Fuyutsuki Kozou; Dr Akagi Ritsuko and the three Children were there. But that didn't mean that he still had expected it to be there. 'She hasn't changed one bit,' he thought, a smile touching his lips. He scratched the stubble at the corner of his chin, as he lazily contemplated the photo on the screen. It was a photo of a woman in her late 20's. Her eyes were, as always, beautiful, but now with a small crinkle at the corner of her dark eyes. Her hair was still as unruly and wild as ever, but was in the photo, jauntily topped off with a black beret. Her mouth, though always full and sexy, was more pursed than it had been all those years ago. In short, the years have been very kind to Captain Misato Katsuragi. He closed his eyes, and sighed deeply. That woman. She'd always confounded him. He remembered the way she would gleefully grin and laugh at the things they were up to whenever they skipped class to be together, but sometimes the smile could falter into a frown as a thought of her father came to her. The way she made him, in her arms, like he was returning home after a long exile. The way she continually forgave him, despite his many dalliances. There was something so... alive about her that enticed him. God knows how long it has been since he'd seen her. 'Probably centuries,' he mused, deeply inhaling the cigarette. He wondered how she's been. He wondered what she's been up to; whether she was well; whether she had done anything to repair the jagged scar running down her breastbone; whether she still could guzzle beer after beer, in a bid to forget everything; whether she still kissed like ... He took the cigarette hanging from the side of his mouth and tapped it on the side of an ashtray as he sheepishly smiled to himself. He closed his eyes and tilted his face upwards, squinting in the bright light above, as memories came rushing back to him. It amazed him just how much he could remember all about her, in spite of the passing years; in spite of all the women he had been with. He was constantly reminded of her, no matter where he was or what he was doing. He ruefully wondered why he couldn't find any the same happiness with other women, as he had with Misato. Was it because he was in love with her? He loudly scoffed. He couldn't be. He swore that he would never fall in love. He swore that he would never accept any emotion that could one day turn back on him and hurt him. He wasn't capable of taking on any more pain. Not from her; not from anyone. He was sure that she would feel the same, after the pain of being denied a father's love and losing her father. He let the cigarette butt fall into the ashtray, still smoking tendrils. He grimaced as he irritably rubbed his face. 'I'm just tired,' he told himself, determinedly dismissing the thoughts that came to mind. He unwaveringly got to his feet as he slowly slammed close the cover of the laptop. It beeped as it went to standby mode. Lingering at the doorway, he turned and looked at his closed laptop. He could still see Misato's picture in his mind's eye. It was going to be difficult enough, to accompany a 14-year-old girl, her Eva Unit and Adam, to the Geofront without revealing his true intentions. It seemed as if it was going to be far more difficult for him to stay away from Misato. Because he knew, with absolute clarity, that once he stepped into Nerv Headquarters, he was going to seek her out, regardless of the consequences. He flicked the light off and the door closed with a click. ---------------------------------------------------------------- THE END