EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 79 Please, Asuka [Two in One]

"Dongzhi, hello... Dongzhi! Tsk... is the communication really open?"

In the command room of Matsushiro Base, Shinji Ikari shouted into the intercom in a rather unhappy tone.

But no matter how Shinji Ikari called out, even though the communication signal was green - the other party should be able to hear what he said... Suzuhara Touji did not give any response.

only…

“Ah…ha…ha…ha…ha…”

All I could hear from the headphones was Suzuhara Touji's heavy, rapid breathing... What the hell is wrong with this guy?! I can't give the headphones to the squad leader or my sister when he looks like this!

"Shinji-kun...what's going on with Suzuhara?"

"Brother, is he... okay?"

Hikaru Tomoki and Sakura Suzuhara sensed the anxiety in Shinji Ikari's voice... and gathered around him with some uneasiness. Sakura Suzuhara, even more anxious, tightly grasped the Tiga necklace hanging from her chest.

"It's useless, no matter how much you yell at Suzuhara-kun... Ugh?!"

Nagisa Kaworu, who had just climbed out of the trash can and still maintained his elegance even though his shirt was stained, caught up with me and spoke.

But before he could finish his words, Shinji Ikari frowned, grabbed his face, and forced him to shut his mouth... and pulled him to a corridor away from Hikaru Tomura and Sakura Suzuhara.

"What do you know..."

"Really, Shinji-kun. Are you so eager to get someone you threw into a trash can with your shoulder just five minutes ago to answer your question?"

"You asked for it—I told you last time we said goodbye that I would make you pay."

When the Seventh Angel attacked... before they left the base, Kaworu Nagisa suddenly licked Shinji Ikari's earlobe... This extremely uncomfortable feeling... Shinji Ikari naturally wanted to change color.

The result was that as soon as the two met at the Matsushiro base, Shinji Ikari used a German overhand throw to knock the presumptuous guy into the trash can in the corridor to teach him a lesson.

"Aren't you afraid that I'll be angry and not tell you about Suzuhara-kun?"

"Then don't tell me. But... you looked like you wanted to tell me and enjoy my distress... How could you not tell me just because you're angry? You have a bad temper."

Angry…? Not at all. This guy with the charming smile, except for the joy of anticipation for what was to come, did not show any other emotion on his face.

"Oh... That's a misunderstanding, Shinji-kun. I never meant to cause you any distress... I just wanted to get along well with you. It's just... I get curious sometimes."

"curious--?"

Seeing that Shinji Ikari was finally willing to talk about her topic... Kaworu Nagisa smiled happily from the bottom of her heart.

"Yeah... because, before, you and I were very close... and it was hard for you to trust anyone else except me. But now, it's the exact opposite... You don't trust me, but you're willing to open your heart to the person who hurt you.

If you were someone else, it would be fine, but you are the real Ikari Shinji-kun—this change makes me both overjoyed and curious... So I want to know how you, now a different person, will react when the painful decision comes."

"........."

He chewed over every word of Kaworu Nagisa's words... but no matter how hard he tried to analyze, he couldn't understand it... After all, in Shinji Ikari's memory... he had never seen the sixth qualified person in front of him... let alone be close to him -

But his intuition told Shinji Ikari that the words of this man, Kaworu Nagisa, were sincere... There was no lie in any of his words, and he fell into a brief confusion...

Could it be that he has a clone too?! Just like Rei Ayanami, Asuka, and Makiba are all clones... This guy used to be very close to his clone?

"Oh, didn't I just tell you... I didn't say that on purpose to upset you."

Realizing that Shinji Ikari really neither knew nor trusted him, Kaworu Nagisa forced out an ugly and lonely smile and then changed the subject.

"About Suzuhara-kun, I'm sorry... I don't know what's going on with him. But—I do know... since yesterday, he hasn't responded when we called him."

"yesterday…?"

Shinji Ikari frowned. No wonder he didn't answer his calls yesterday and his messages were read but not replied.

"Well, apart from normal training... in his free time he just sits in the corner of the lounge and doesn't say a word. No matter who tries to talk to him, he doesn't respond at all—"

"Then why continue the experiment——Ah, I can probably guess..."

If Katsuragi Misato was in charge, she would have probably stopped today's experiment for the pilot's sake... But the person in charge of the Matsushiro base wasn't Katsuragi Misato, but this guy directly...

"Unit 3's live test launch is in three minutes! What are you...still doing here?"

The cold and unreasonable commander who disregards the driver's physical condition makes a perfect appearance.

Ikari Gendo was walking in front with a serious face, followed by Akagi Ritsuko... and a young man he had never seen before?

Where's Ayanami... Where's Rei Ayanami?
"What's happening here…"

As soon as they entered the command room, Ikari Gendō's gloomy eyes swept over Hikaru Doki, Sakura Suzuhara, and Asuka like a wolf. The terrifying aura he exuded made Hikaru Doki and Asuka speechless... Suzuhara Sakura was even on the verge of tears.

"This isn't a nursery!"

"...Those are Suzuhara Touji's girlfriend and sister...the family of the Fifth Qualified Person. I brought them here to ensure a smooth start of the experiment and to ease the pilot's stress...I've already consulted with Colonel Misato Katsuragi, who's in charge of pilot management. Is there anything I can do?"

Now that the real protagonist has appeared, Shinji Ikari no longer chats with Kaworu Nagisa... He takes the initiative to step forward, stand in front of everyone, and bear the pressure from Gendō Ikari for them.

"..."

"..."

A father and a son, confronting each other with eyes devoid of even a trace of affection... Their sharp and resolute eyes radiate a demonic power!
"This is against the rules... I will hold Katsuragi Ichizo accountable for this misconduct."

Realizing that his own momentum was being suppressed by his own son, Ikari Gendō turned his eyes away and stopped questioning the three tourists.

"Prepare for the experiment! Release the fixation system! All cooling systems activated! Insert the bolts to secure! Make first contact!"

Looking at Ikari Gendō who started the experiment, Ikari Shinji did not say a word... He naturally knew that it was impossible to convince Ikari Gendō to stop the experiment by using the reason that Touji was in poor health.

"...Asuka."

I walked up to Asuka, and before I could say anything... I saw a pair of anxious eyes.

"Idiot, what are you looking at?"

I can only smile bitterly and comfort this girl first——

"Stupid Shinji... I hope nothing happens. I... I have this growing feeling of foreboding..."

"Of course, not as long as I'm here..." Ikari Shinji was just going to give her a meaningless but reassuring answer as usual... But, Ikari Shinji's words froze because he realized... this time, he couldn't do this.

"Asuka. This time, things might be very bad."

"Eh--!?"

Asuka's pupils instantly dilated... because, this was still okay. In her memory, this was the first time Shinji Ikari showed weakness in front of her...

As Asuka's eyes grew more anxious as she continued to question—

"So, now... I can only ask you for help, Asuka."

"!!"

———These are the words Asuka wanted to hear...

In the darkness brought by the Eighth Angel, facing himself, unable to do anything... and only able to cry helplessly... Ikari Shinji said to Ayanami Rei... "I'll leave Asuka to you."

From that day on... I desperately wanted to be trusted by Ikari Shinji just like Rei Ayanami had been. Even though she knew... her abilities might not be able to help Ikari Shinji at all.

I didn't expect it to happen so soon...

"Ahh... I get it. No...!"

Asuka took a short, deep breath and adjusted her mood... When she opened her eyes again...

The "uneasiness" in the blonde girl's eyes has been replaced by the "joy" brought by Shinji Ikari's trust and the "awareness" she has made to respond to Shinji Ikari's trust.

"...Leave it to me, idiot Shinji! What do you want me to do?"

"do not know."

"………ah??"

I've finally made up my mind, determined to complete my orders even if it means my death... and you're saying, "I don't know what the hell you're doing! Stupid Shinji!?"
"I might leave for a while... to see what's wrong with Touji. I'll leave the squad leader and Sakura to you. I don't know what happened here, but... I don't want to see anyone cry when everything is over. So, I will help Suzuhara, and you help me protect the squad leader and Sakura - when the dust settles, we must reunite this family of three."

“…Leave it to me!”

After witnessing the fire of enlightenment burning in Asuka's eyes, Shinji Ikari turned around and left the command room with peace of mind.

“…This way.”

Under the guidance of the intelligence department staff, Shinji Ikari came to the underground hangar of the base... and Ryoji Kaji, who looked tired, was waiting for Shinji Ikari's arrival there.

"what's the situation."

"Hey, Boss—well, I've already calculated the retreat route and even acquired an infantry fighting vehicle, which is popular with the military. It's not particularly large, but it should be more than enough to carry about ten people."

As he spoke, Kaji Ryoji knocked twice on the army green armored vehicle behind him... the cold gleam of the machine gun could be seen on it. This guy... really has some skills. He can even get something like this.

But before Shinji Ikari could praise him, Kaji Ryoji controlled his rapid breathing... took out a cigarette and lighter from his shirt pocket, lit it, took a few deep puffs... and then continued with a frown.

"However, this base... the situation is more complicated than I imagined..."

"What's wrong? What did you see?"

"Unit 5."

"…………ah?"

Shinji Ikari was stunned for a moment, and recalled it to himself... He, Asuka Ayanami and the other two were number one, zero and two, then Suzuhara Touji was number three... Kaworu Nagisa was number four... and Makiba was number eight.

Who is Unit 5? Where did it come from?

"…Unit 05. It's a completely different machine from any other EVA… It's not modeled after a Titan replica… It's the first and only EVA… that's purely mechanical."

"Giant? What do you mean...?"

Mention Titans, and Shinji Ikari's first reaction is Tiga—what does it mean to be based on a Titan clone? And... when did you bastards actually copy him?! They're pretty quick!
"Ah... not the giant you're thinking of."

Looking at Shinji Ikari's expression as if he had eaten shit, Ryoji Kaji knew that Shinji Ikari was wrong.

"It's the First Angel... the culprit of the Second Impact... the giant of light, Adams, who was dug out from Antarctica. It was based on him... that humans created the EVANGELION series."

Realizing that the situation was urgent, Ryoji Kaji had no time to file a lawsuit... He simply told Shinji Ikari all the information he knew.

"The original Unit-5, piloted by Makiba, perished alongside the Third Angel at the NERV branch in Russia... I never imagined Commander Ikari could move Unit-5 here without a trace. Also, I discovered... Units-3 and 4 are equipped with unfamiliar devices..."

Watching Ryoji Kaji talking a lot of information that was indeed important but completely irrelevant to the current situation, Shinji Ikari could only stop him first.

"Let's wait and talk about that later... First, tell me the information related to Unit 03 and Suzuhara Touji. We're about to start the actual start-up test of Unit 03! ​​And Suzuhara's condition is very strange! I suspect Unit 03 will have a serious problem..."

"About Unit 3!? But I didn't find anything about Unit 3...——!?"

Kaji Ryoji's words were interrupted by a strong tremor, and along with the tremor... a piercing alarm echoed throughout the entire Matsushiro base.

"Warning! Warning! Unknown high-energy reaction detected!"

"Warning! Warning! Unknown high-energy reaction detected!"

"The identification code is - BLUE!!!"

"Lan... isn't that an apostle?!"

Kaji Ryoji was dumbfounded. Why did the apostle suddenly appear...

Ryoji Kaji was about to run towards the command room when he was pulled back by Shinji Ikari.

"Get in the car! The armored car! Meet up with Ayanami, Asuka, and the others immediately... and evacuate as far as you can!"

There was no time to leisurely check the situation—because Ikari Shinji could actually feel… that extremely high unknown energy reaction, the same light fluctuations as the heat rays used by the apostles! Right above his head—

He didn't care whether Kaji Ryoji would see it or not...he already knew it anyway.

He immediately pulled out the petrified spark prism and, using the light within him, ignited the divine light rod.

"Diga!!"

(End of this chapter)