EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 184 182. A Night with Ayanami Rei

"Here are the notes from class, Ikari-kun."

Rei Ayanami handed over the notes.

After all, he had taken three days off from school. Although Shinji Ikari was studying on his own in class, he still had to pay attention to where the course was.

He took it and carefully read the contents.

I just got out of the hospital today, so I don't have to go to school or train.

After completing the discharge procedures, Ikari Shinji and Ayanami Rei returned to their apartment. Even though he had not been in the apartment for three days, Ayanami Rei still kept it in good order. The apartment was filled with a homely warmth. The sun was setting outside, and the furniture in the apartment was covered with a gentle golden color. The warm-toned style did not change much from before he was hospitalized.

"Ayanami didn't come to the hospital to accompany me before. Was it because of Asuka?"

At this time, Shinji Ikari suddenly spoke.

"……Um."

Ayanami Rei probably didn't expect him to be so straightforward.

She subconsciously hummed softly, and after seeing Ikari Shinji's calm face, the silly girl lowered her head guiltily as if she had thought of something, covering her red eyes with her short blue hair, not even daring to look at him. Ikari Shinji was speechless at her reaction. Ayanami, you only run away when you encounter problems! It was the same last time!

Ayanami Rei had a bad feeling.

The last time this happened was when Ikari-kun learned about his clone identity, but this time Ikari Shinji only asked this question and then said nothing more. Ayanami Rei thought he would blame her, but it seemed that the hospital matter was just a problem that didn't need to be paid attention to.

Shinji Ikari didn't say anything more about this, so her anxious heart gradually calmed down.

Ikari-kun is so nice, Ayanami Rei thought.

After putting down the notes.

Shinji Ikari glanced at the idle cello.

The girl had obviously taken good care of it, so it wasn't covered in dust. Rei Ayanami noticed his gaze and took the initiative to say,
"Ikari-kun, do you want to play the violin?"

"Well, let's get back to the feeling."

Taking the bow, Shinji Ikari casually played an introductory cello piece.

Rei Ayanami listened quietly.

He was playing the cello leisurely, and the girl was looking at him with her face propped up in the sunset. It was so beautiful that it was worth a separate page in a comic. Ikari Shinji thought that this scene should be made into a photo and played on a loop at the wedding in the future, but could Rei Ayanami wait until then? When he thought of this, he felt that it was not so beautiful. Besides, playing the cello today was just a side job. Ikari Shinji had not forgotten his previous idea of ​​teaching the girl a lesson.

After he finished playing the piano, the girl clapped as usual.

After he kissed Ayanami, they both started to prepare dinner. It didn't take long to finish cooking, eating and cleaning up. He and Ayanami Rei read in the living room.

"I still need a TV after all."

Ikari Shinji thought.

Last time I went out to buy a TV, I failed to buy it after many twists and turns, and then it was delayed because of the invasion of the apostles. It would be nice to have a TV at this time. It would be nice for two people to curl up on the sofa and read books, but what kind of atmosphere is this to study hard and make progress every day? Do I have to do a test paper every day to check the progress of absorbing knowledge?
Ikari Shinji complained in his heart while silently finishing reading the biology book in his hand.

The night is getting darker.

After taking a shower.

The two of them crawled into the quilt.

The quilt bounced back and forth like a caterpillar, occasionally revealing its soft, jade-like belly.

There was a siren sound coming from outside the apartment window, as if there was an accident. The public security in Tokyo is now completely under the responsibility of the headquarters, which barely maintains a general stability. The moonlight from outside flowed in, making the caterpillar more dazzling, as if it were covered with a layer of white velvet carpet.

After a long time, hot air came out of her mouth.

The wind made Shinji Ikari's hands hot.

There was still some afterglow in her body. The beautiful girl's cheeks had a faint blush, which took a long time to dissipate. She was motionless like a doll. Ikari Shinji poured her a glass of water. Ayanami Rei drank some as usual, then hugged him like a sloth. Ikari Shinji stared at her face with a serious look.

"Ikari-kun, aren't you going to sleep yet?"

She was so sleepy that she could hardly open her eyes and murmured.

"I have something to say."

"..."

Ayanami Rei forced herself to cheer up.

Seeing her like this, Ikari Shinji couldn't help but feel sorry for her, but if he had said it before, he felt that he didn't have enough time to prepare these words. Now that she looked sleepy and had to listen to his nagging, it was the biggest lesson for the girl!

"Ayanami likes me, right?"

"Ah."

Rei Ayanami spoke very naturally when she said this, but her face still blushed.

Ikari Shinji paused for a moment before speaking out his inner thoughts: "I like Ayanami too, so if I see Ayanami chatting with others and ignoring me, I will feel jealous. I want to be with you all the time. When I eat delicious snacks, I will wonder if you will find them delicious too. When I see nice clothes while shopping, I will wonder how they will look on you. When I go out to play, I will also think it would be nice if you were by my side."

He added, "If Ayanami gets a little closer to other boys, I feel like I'm going crazy just thinking about it. Does Ayanami feel the same way?"

"…Of course I have, Ikari-kun."

Rei Ayanami said in a shy tone, her red eyes looking at Shinji Ikari shyly.

This is... love talk.

She thought. "So if Ayanami likes me, why isn't she jealous of me and Asuka getting close?" Ikari Shinji continued to ask without noticing Ayanami Rei's twisted thoughts. If this was a game, he felt that his words were like an arrow shooting straight through the enemy's heart.

"…Ikari-kun, don't you like the pilot of Unit 2?"

But Rei Ayanami remained silent.

What kind of death question is this?
It was Shinji Ikari who was asking her, why did it become her turn to ask herself? But when your girlfriend asks you if you like another girl, the answer to this question is already a formula, you just need to answer it that way. But Rei Ayanami in front of him seemed to want him to have a different answer.

Damn, do you have any special hobbies?

"I don't like it... I don't like it that much."

He repeated it, as if to deny the germination of something.

Rei Ayanami remained silent.

Shinji Ikari thought she was thinking, but after waiting for half a minute there was no response. He looked over and saw the girl with her eyes closed, looking as if she was already asleep.

Pretending to sleep?

Is this the only way girls can act naughty?

If you don't want to answer a question, just use trickery to solve it. Ikari Shinji gently pinched her face, his fingers sliding from her lips to her earlobe, which was turning red because of his funny gesture. He knew that Ayanami's stubborn side had started again.

Really, he said he wanted to teach the girl a lesson, but in the end he just beat the girl up.

Forget it, go to bed first.

Shinji Ikari spared her for the time being and soon fell asleep in drowsiness.

The next day, he hesitated for a moment, but decided to go to the hospital to visit Asuka. After all, he had agreed to this before he left, and going back on his word was not Shinji Ikari's style. Ayanami Rei was originally going to go with him, but after hearing that he was coming to visit, she decided not to come.

I guess he's up to something bad again.

He had just made love with a girl last night, but the next moment he went to the hospital to visit another girl.

Shinji Ikari always felt that this behavior was weird.

It’s just that Asuka is such a pitiful person, and she doesn’t have many friends. If you see a small flower growing firmly on a steep rock wall, you would think that it is doing well, and it would be nice to be a passerby to watch it, but now this flower seems to be dying, so everyone has to help it - this always gives Shinji Ikari a sense of déjà vu, because he fell into a deep pit because of helping others before.

But we can't make the same mistake again this time.

When the young lady saw him coming to visit her, she looked surprised.

"Aren't they all discharged from the hospital?" she asked with raised eyebrows.

"I told you I would come back to visit you. Have you forgotten everything?"

"Humph."

Asuka wanted to say that her memory was not that bad and she was not a forgetful old woman, but she only responded with a light snort. If she said thank you, she always felt that it was weird and not in line with her personality; if she said she was angry, that was not the case either.

The air conditioning in the ward was turned up a bit too high.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly. It was still hot outside, and even an iron man couldn't stand the temperature change in an instant. This guy was really not afraid of pain even though he just finished his menstrual period. Ikari Shinji frowned, picked up the remote control and pressed it, then asked:
"How's it going? Are you feeling better?"

"almost."

Asuka twisted her neck to prove it. Because of the big movement, some whiteness was revealed on the girl's collarbone. She didn't care at all that he was a man. "It doesn't take half a month at all. I feel I can be discharged in two days." When she said this, she seemed to have completely forgotten the painful days before. Ikari Shinji still clearly remembered Asuka mumbling on the hospital bed.

"There's no candy if you're discharged early," he said.

"Are you treating me like a child?" Asuka glared at me and complained, "It's too boring to be hospitalized here. I might as well go out early and fly Unit 2..."

When she talked about Unit 2, her tone became hesitant.

"Hey, Shinji, EVA..." Asuka whispered, her voice so soft that it seemed as if she was not asking the boy in front of her, but herself. What exactly is the EVA? Why can the Angel parasitize it? Under the armor is not a machine, but flesh and blood similar to humans.

Could it be that all along...

Is this what I drive and am proud of?
"What happened to the EVA?" he asked.

"I just can't figure it out." Asuka lay flat on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, "How can I improve the synchronization rate..."

“Just accept it and believe it in your heart.”

"what the hell."

She said dissatisfiedly,
"That doesn't sound scientific."

Apostles are unscientific things.

Ikari Shinji didn't say anything. He looked at the calendar and saw that the month number was already in two digits.

"It's November."

Asuka transferred here a long time ago. Normally, it should have cooled down this month, but Tokyo is still hot today. Ikari Shinji searched his memory and confirmed once again the terrible fact that Tokyo is summer all year round.

"New Year's Day is just over a month away, and it will still be this hot then." Ikari Shinji sighed.

"…Before New Year's Day, it's Christmas."

She suddenly added.

(End of this chapter)