EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 97 95. Arrival, Mary Makiwa
"Ritsuko, are you going to pick up someone from Europe today?"

"Yes."

Ritsuko Akagi, wearing a white coat, was busy packing documents.

Her friend Misato Katsuragi beside her looked bored. In contrast, she was busy like a spinning top. However, her friend couldn't help her with her work. The blonde asked casually while cleaning up:
“How was your experience at the hot springs last week?”

"It's very good. I feel my skin has become much whiter."

The urban beauty touched her face and said with satisfaction that she thought she could soak in hot springs more often in the future. As she got older, women would start to pay attention to this aspect. Then she talked about something that happened that day, "Shinji-kun fell asleep in the hot spring. It was really unexpected. I originally thought that the kid wouldn't be so unreliable."

"It's normal to fall asleep in a hot spring, right?"

"If you were more careful, you would know the dangers."

"That's true."

Finally finished cleaning up.

The blonde beauty, who was about to leave, took a sip of black coffee while she was free. Thinking of her friend's opinion of Ikari Shinji, she couldn't help but ask curiously:
"But Misato, didn't you not quite trust Shinji-kun at the beginning?"

"Well..."

Katsuragi Misato gave an awkward smile.

"People always change, and you've changed a lot, Ritsuko. Why don't you smoke recently? Weren't you a heavy smoker before?"

"Smoking is harmful to your health, so it's better to quit."

Akagi Ritsuko said something perfunctorily to her, but it probably had no effect. After all, she had never seen her good friend Katsuragi Misato smoking in all these years. Then she waved goodbye and said, "I'm leaving. I'm going to pick someone up at the airport."

"What about today's work?"

"Let's leave it to MAGI for now, and check it again when we get back."

The blonde waved her hand.

MAGI.

This is the name of the supercomputer in the headquarters.

What outsiders don't know is that most of the administrative work in this city is done by this supercomputer, and the members of the government are actually of little use and have no real power.

The third New Tokyo City.

This is a city where everything is controlled by the headquarters.

It can be said that we are completely independent in this country, but after all, this is Japan, and we cannot oppose the opinions of those behind the scenes, so we just have to get by.

And in the headquarters in the afternoon.

Shinji Ikari learned that today's training and experiments were cancelled, so he had a day off and could go back to his apartment directly. Although this was good news, Miss Ritsuko was nowhere to be seen.

No blonde in sight.

It's really strange. I don't know what she was busy with today.

On weekdays, Ritsuko Akagi is a heavy workaholic. You can definitely find her as long as you go to her office.

Shinji Ikari thought that the Best Social Animal Award could be given to Ritsuko-san, in addition to him, a diligent driver. But it was also good this way. Now these trainings were basically to maintain the feeling of the hands, so that the drivers would not lose the feeling of fighting after not fighting for too long. But after getting familiar with the training, it was inevitable that they would find the repetitive training boring.

It would be nice to take a day off.

Even Rei Ayanami didn't know where she went.

So today, only Asuka was there. Shinji Ikari always felt weird walking with her alone. He was afraid that she would find a corner where no one was and kill him right there. He was really afraid of Asuka. What girl would take the initiative to see a boy's naked body in a hot spring? If he really stood up at that time, the girl would definitely observe his body without blinking. The beautiful girl seemed to enjoy the feeling of walking with him. She was very close to him. Both of them smelled of LCL blood, but there was no body fragrance. Unlike Rei Ayanami, the two of them would usually chat about some topics casually, but today Asuka was unusually silent.

The girl glanced over from time to time.

It seemed that Asuka wanted to say something to him, so he paused.

"what happened?"

The German lady did not answer.

She searched in her schoolbag for a few seconds, then hesitantly handed over an iron lunch box. A hint of shyness appeared between her pretty eyebrows. This was a rare expression on Asuka's face. She had always been a girl who took the initiative like a raging fire. Even Ikari Shinji was stunned for a moment.
"This is?"

"It's a return lunch." The pretty girl emphasized it and then turned her face away. "Don't think too much, stupid Shinji. It's not a lunch for other relationships, nor a lunch for substitutes. It's a lunch for friends."

"Thank you."

Shinji Ikari smiled and reached out to take it.

This is acceptable, but the bento made by Asuka is not as delicious as the one made by Ayanami Rei... No, this is someone else's gift, and the two should not be compared. His idea is too much and completely disrespectful to his friend.

Thinking of this, Ikari Shinji couldn't help but say sorry in his heart, and then said:
"I'll return the lunch box to you after I finish eating."

It seems that Asuka still owes me something.

he thought.

After the lunch box incident, the German lady seemed embarrassed to chat.

The two people walked in silence.

I was planning to leave the headquarters like this.

But he and Asuka ran into the head of the technical department who had disappeared today in the corridor. It was Akagi Ritsuko. Shinji Ikari's previous doubts were finally answered at this time.

Because the blonde beauty is not alone.

Next to her was a very unfamiliar woman. The two were walking and chatting. When they saw the two drivers, they both stopped.

Here at headquarters.

Shinji Ikari rarely meets strangers anymore.

Like the playboy Kaji Ryoji last time, when he appeared in front of Shinji Ikari, Shinji Ikari's first thought was strange. Later, Miss Misato proved it, and he was relieved. Besides, Shinji Ikari only met that man occasionally in the headquarters, and he didn't know where Kaji Ryoji went at other times.

For well-known reasons.

The city has been losing population.

Two women were walking towards me, one with a stern look on her face, while the other was smiling.

Their styles are completely different, but they all have the same scientific researcher temperament—after all, they all wear white coats.

The stranger woman's face seemed to be always filled with a smile, a bright, sunny, warm smile. She had two ponytails and wore a pair of red plate glasses - very few people would choose such a bright color, and could not control it, but it matched her smile very well.

She looked Asian, but clearly had some mixed blood, with long brown hair and two ponytails swaying as she moved forward.

After noticing Shinji Ikari's gaze.

She looked over.

(End of this chapter)