EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 143 141. Preparations for the Death Anniversary

The three EVA bodies have been repaired.

Shinji Ikari returned to his daily life, and nothing seemed different from before.

But some things have changed.

Ayanami Rei, who was calm in the face of everything, became extremely clingy after he learned the truth. She probably wanted to cherish their time, so the two of them spent almost every moment together. Asuka's relationship turned into an ordinary friend, and they would greet each other when they met, that's all.

This German lady seemed to have completely moved on from what happened before, and there were no more ripples from it.

Shinji Ikari no longer paid attention to Asuka.

Rei Ayanami needs him more now.

On the way to and from school, he and Ayanami Rei always walked together, while Asuka staggered her time with the two of them. It seemed as if he had returned to the time when Asuka had not yet come to Japan.

No. 3 Shin-Tokyo City Municipal No. 1 Middle School.

On the podium.

When the get out of class was about to end, the teacher announced something.

"Thank you for your hard work. We need to clean the entire school before the end of the month."

There were no complaints from below.

For the students, although they would be doing free labor in the school on that day next week, the day of spring cleaning was equivalent to a day off. Compared with classes, spring cleaning was indeed more popular.

Shinji Ikari didn't have any opinion on this.

After all, even during normal classes, he was doing his own thing.

But spring cleaning... was a common activity during my school days. When I think about it, I didn't experience this in the other world. I was more likely to study dragons in a pile of complicated and obscure textbooks, or to have an exciting and tense free-for-all shootout. Spring cleaning was completely left to the muscular men in black clothes and sunglasses in the school.

"Shinji, you haven't been with us recently. It's really unethical of you to just be with a beautiful woman."

The two boys came over and Suzuhara Touji complained.

In the past few days, Ikari Shinji always stayed with Ayanami Rei in school. Normally, boys and girls would hang out together, and the two should be clearly separated. This is how the relationship between boys and girls in middle school should be. But Ikari Shinji didn't follow the rules and left them to walk with Ayanami Rei.

Thus.

This is equivalent to publicly declaring that the two people are in a relationship.

They used to walk to and from school together, and they could barely get away with it by saying they were going the same route, but now they even walk together in school, and there is no way to explain it. Before, Ikari Shinji told them that they were just good friends.

"Sorry sorry."

Ikari Shinji said quickly.

It was also impossible for him to explain Rei Ayanami's current situation to his two friends at school.

"Forget it, Touji, stop complaining. Shinji and Ayanami are developing their relationship, and this is the critical time." Fortunately, Kensuke Aida rescued him.

"Aren't girls just a bunch of troublesome creatures? Shinji, you're actually able to get along with them."

"That's a bit biased."

Kensuke Aida pushed up his glasses and asked, "Have you forgotten Miss Misato?"

"…Miss Misato's words are completely different from those of these childish girls."

Suzuhara Touji said as expected.

Shinji Ikari suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Miss Misato for a while. She hadn't been seen in the headquarters recently. I don't know what she was doing, just like Ryoji Kaji who stayed in Tokyo-3. These two people are just as elusive.

He pretended not to understand their hints and talked about other topics until school was over.

Shinji Ikari stood up, smiled apologetically, and walked towards Rei Ayanami.

The two of them walked out of the class openly. The classmates had gotten used to seeing this over the past few days. Occasionally, some people would make a fuss. Probably every couple in middle school would encounter this phase of being made fun of. Fortunately, Shinji Ikari managed to get away with it every time.

It was just that squad leader Dong Muguang's eyes were clearly somewhat unfriendly.

She was looking at me and asking why Ikari Shinji and Ayanami Rei were together, and what was going on with her friend Asuka, but unfortunately there was no chance to chat. And Asuka was unwilling to tell her the truth.

The two of them arrived at the headquarters.

After parting with Rei Ayanami at the fork in the corridor, Shinji Ikari changed into his combat uniform in the men's locker room and came to the corridor. He was about to go straight to the simulation training ground when a middle-aged man came over from the opposite side.

The middle-aged man was wearing his usual brown glasses and walking hurriedly.

It is Ikari Gendo.

For some reason, Shinji Ikari always felt that this bastard father's attitude towards him seemed to be a little worse than before.

In the past, when the father and son met, Ikari Gendo would at least glance at him, but this time he didn't even look at him, as if he didn't care that there was someone here. Ikari Shinji quickly realized that although he didn't care about the relationship with Ayanami, others might not think so.

But how did Ikari Gendō, who usually seemed to pay no attention to his son, know about this?
Could it be that Miss Ritsuko told him?

Shinji Ikari shook his head in his heart and rejected this speculation.

And the weird thing is.

Commander Ikari did not comment on this.

Shinji Ikari thought he would come over and scold him, but he never did. It seemed that not communicating with his son was more important than this.

But there was one thing facing the father and son.

That is the anniversary of his death at the end of the month.

Looking back, it happened three years ago in this world. The last time it was the anniversary of the death, the father and son parted ways unhappily and went their separate ways. They hadn't gone to pay their respects together for three years. This time, after learning the truth about Unit-01, the two of them were in the same place, so they had to go together no matter what.

"I have something to tell you." Ikari Shinji called him.

Ikari Gendo stopped in his tracks.

He turned his head and the middle-aged man's face was as cold as hard steel.

"It's the anniversary of his death at the end of the month...do you want to go together?" Ikari Shinji asked.

"..."

This was probably the first conversation between father and son in the past one or two months.

The atmosphere was stagnant for a moment.

Ikari Gendou seemed to have not heard what he said, and just stared at him straight, his sharp eyes did not seem to be looking at his son, but rather at something that needed to be carefully examined. The two of them just kept staring at each other in a stalemate. If he was a normal teenager, he might not be able to bear this pressure, but Ikari Shinji was not afraid of it.

Five or six seconds later.

Just when Ikari Shinji thought that the man in front of him would just leave, Ikari Gendo finally spoke.

"...I'll take you there when the time comes."

Ikari Gendo said.

He left only these words and walked towards the door, no longer paying any attention to Shinji Ikari.

(End of this chapter)