EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 163: The sequel to Unit-161's rampage
Asuka had rarely seen Shinji Ikari look so surprised.

The boy's face was filled with easy-to-understand surprise, and she realized belatedly what she had just said. So the German lady immediately returned to her original proud look, and only the barely perceptible blush on her cheeks told Shinji Ikari that what he had just heard was not an illusion.
Shinji Ikari was a little surprised.

This was the first time someone said this to him. In the past in the academy, the seniors were all the same kind, and no one would be surprised by things like “your eyes are actually golden, haha, mine are too, what a coincidence”, but when getting along with ordinary people here, everyone would subconsciously avoid these eyes. Perhaps only that deer-like girl would accept everything about him without a care, right?

"You saved me again Shinji."

She said, but there was not much gratitude in her words, but a sense of inexplicable loss.

If Shinji is needed to rescue her every time, she will just be a hindrance. Asuka thought, maybe it would be enough to let such a powerful Shinji defeat the enemy alone. If she stayed on the battlefield, she would only cause trouble to everyone. She didn't want to be a stepping stone!
but.

The first thing she saw when she woke up was Shinji... Her heart was slightly moved. In fact, she still liked him very much, a little bit, not too much, not too little. But when you like someone, you will think that he is good in every way. But the two of them were like two intersecting straight lines, and they went their separate ways after a brief contact. At this point, is she confident that she will no longer look for the feeling of father and mother in Shinji?
No one can know what the girl is thinking.

But now is a rare time for the two of them to be alone.

"It's not my credit, it's Unit-01's."

But Shinji Ikari answered like this.

Asuka was in a state of confusion, not knowing how to vent her emotions, but she didn't expect that the opportunity was right in front of her. She immediately looked at him with an expression that said, "What are you talking about?" Doesn't the credit of Unit-01 represent the credit of the pilot? When could the relationship between the two be separated?
For the EVA, the driver is not like the master in the game who can lead the team to victory without any effort.

Just sit on it and lie down to defeat the apostle.

How can there be such a good thing in the world?

But looking at the serious expression on Shinji Ikari's face, even she had to consider the truthfulness of these words.

correct.

Unit-01 and Unit-02 were trapped together.

Asuka finally remembered something.

After entering the shadow world, Unit-01 should have run out of power. So what happened afterwards? How did the two of them escape from that empty world? It couldn't be that Unit-01 just yelled and killed the Angel, right? That's too illogical. Unfortunately, when Unit-02 came out, she was still in a deep dream and had no idea how she got out.

Maybe the apostle was kind enough to let them both go?
Asuka shook her head.

This may be even more illogical. Either she is crazy or the apostle is crazy.

"So what's going on?" she asked.

"——It's rampage."

someone said.

Misato Katsuragi's voice rang out.

Ten minutes ago, the female major saw Unit-01 escape successfully, and she wanted to rush over in a hurry. However, the road surface was severely damaged by the apostles, and the cement and concrete from the shadow world did not return to their original positions in an orderly manner. Ground transportation was impassable, so she could only urge the helicopters that dared only watch from afar to take her over, and then she came down alone to check the situation.

Finding people in this ruin is a tough job.

Despite the presence of two conspicuous beacons of Unit-01 and Unit-02, the helicopter still circled in the sky before finding the locations of the two pilots.

Seeing that the two people were safe and sound, Misato Katsuragi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Miri?" Asuka asked with a pout.

"…Why do you look like you don't want to see me right now?"

"So rampage is?"

"Well, Unit-01 went berserk. It was able to move on its own without power supply and even defeated the Angel. It's incredible."

The female major said with emotion.

The crazy scene before is still vivid in my mind.

Compared to the apostles, the runaway Unit-01 is more in line with the setting of the apostles as mortal enemies of humans. Katsuragi Misato glanced at Unit-01 not far away, and then subconsciously looked away. It is difficult for anyone to have 100% trust in such an out-of-control thing.

Asuka was stunned when she heard her words.

Before, in that vast white world, she had vaguely imagined that Unit 2 would turn into a giant monster to save her, but because of the remaining rationality in her mind, she subconsciously denied this possibility. But is the result played out by Shinji Ikari a real-life version?

She looked at Shinji Ikari, but Shinji Ikari actually nodded, indicating that what Misato Katsuragi had just said was true.

"Will Unit 2 be like this too?"

Asuka was a little dazed for a moment.

This was an idea that she had kept in her heart for a long time.

Sensing the girl's thoughts, Shinji Ikari thought there was no need to worry. The control system of Unit 02 was exactly the soul of Asuka's mother. Perhaps as long as she called out "Mom", Unit 02 would rush to save her regardless of its own safety.

"Unit 2 will also protect Asuka." He said seriously.

The two pilots were discussing the problems with the EVA machine, but Misato Katsuragi keenly noticed something was wrong.

What Shinji just said was protection...?
It looked so scary, and the action of devouring the apostle was so bloody, but Shinji actually thought that this was a protection for him? Did this child know something that even she didn't know?

Misato Katsuragi had such a thought.

The three of them did not stay in the ruins for long.

After Misato Katsuragi reported her location over the phone, a helicopter from the headquarters soon arrived and took the three of them back to the headquarters and took them to the hospital to check their physical data.

Being trapped in the Apostle's world for so long inevitably takes a toll on the driver's body and mind.

As for Unit-01 and Unit-02 that are still there?
That is the pain of those who work overtime.

They didn't know how they could get Unit-01 and Unit-02 back to the headquarters for repair from the hundreds of meters of ruins. Katsuragi Misato seemed to be having a headache with this problem as well. After making sure that both of them were fine on the plane, she returned to her work station after the plane landed.

Only he and Asuka walked together.

However, as soon as he returned to the headquarters, Shinji Ikari saw Rei Ayanami.

The girl was wearing a white combat uniform, sitting on a chair like a melancholy white flower, and when she found out he was back, the flower immediately blossomed and came to greet him. But when she saw Asuka, Ayanami Rei's steps paused visibly, and Asuka next to her snorted and walked away without saying anything.

Ayanami Rei didn't know how long she had been waiting here, but she finally saw the person she was waiting for.
"Ikari-kun."

"I'm back." He smiled.

“…Welcome back.”

She smiled softly as she handed him a lunch box filled with his favorite dishes. Shinji Ikari realized that his stomach had been growling with hunger. The most urgent thing was to fill his stomach. As for the Unit-01 going berserk, that would be left until tomorrow.

And in the headquarters.

Two more people are working overtime.

Misato Katsuragi stared at Unit-01 buried in a pool of water in the hangar.

It took several hours to transport it back. Most of the outer armor of Unit-01 was shattered beyond recognition. The appearance of the living tissue inside could be clearly seen. That was definitely not what a robot should have. There were no mechanical parts or electronic circuits inside. On the contrary, it was full of human-like signs. On its lips, the broken purple armor still had blood from the apostles, which had dried up and turned black.

And the eyes...

The eyes of Unit-01 are slightly golden.

This is something that can only be discovered by careful observation. For a moment, Misato Katsuragi thought she was just having an illusion. In the past, Misato Katsuragi had never looked at the giant so closely and carefully. After all, its size was so exaggerated, but she was sure that the eyes of Unit-01 were still normal at that time. She thought of Shinji Ikari. Was the change in the boy's eyes due to the erosion of these monsters, as Ritsuko said?
"Are you frightened by the terrifying appearance of Unit-01?"

Someone asked softly.

Hearing this, Katsuragi Misato nodded subconsciously, and then when she realized that the question came from Akagi Ritsuko behind her, she immediately showed a very awkward smile.

"It's not that scary. It's just..."

When she said this, her tone was a little hesitant.

"Humans are always afraid of the unknown, Ritsuko, I feel like you've been hiding a lot of things from me."

"It's no good knowing that stuff."

Ritsuko Akagi took a sip of coffee.

"You look like an adult teaching a child with such earnest words, you are not treating me like a child, are you?"

"Who knows."

Raising her coffee cup in a toast gesture, Ritsuko Akagi smiled and said.

Katsuragi Misato was irritated by her friend's riddle-like appearance and snorted in dissatisfaction, just like a long-term German lady, living together for a long time, they will always pick up some of each other's habits. Then Akagi Ritsuko ignored her, but sat in front of the computer and worked overtime, and it seemed that she had no intention of telling her the secret.

So she looked at Unit-01 again.

What secrets are hidden in the EVA body?
How much had Ritsuko and the two commanders been hiding from her? Katsuragi Misato thought to herself that as the director of the Operations Department, she was really incompetent for not knowing anything about this.

Although initially he just wanted to avenge his father who died in Antarctica fifteen years ago.

But for the first time.

Misato Katsuragi wanted to get to the bottom of the matter.

(End of this chapter)