Kaji accompanied me to the exit, hands in his pockets the whole way, relaxed as he always was.<em>Big dork,</em>I thought.<strong>"I'm going back to my place now. Someone has to tell Shinji about this, and it might as well be me."</strong>I looked into his eyes a moment longer than I wanted to before smiling faintly and heading to my rickety, but beloved car.<em>Damn it. I always do this.</em>I berated myself internally as usual and started up the car, hearing the usual complaints.<strong>"There, there."</strong>I patted it on the dashboard.<strong>"It'll all be okay. Once we've defeated the Angels, I'll use spare parts from NERV to make you the most advanced car ever. Or... I'll make Ritsuko do it."</strong>Traffic was light, as usual, as most people tended to stay in unless they had a place they needed to go. The Angel attacks had imposed a sort of informal martial law for several kilometers surrounding NERV HQ. I couldn't blame them.