Collapse, surrender to me!

Page 388

Ikari Gendo looked at the stopped Unit-01 on the screen with a grim face.

He gritted his teeth and uttered two words.

"Treason!!!"

……

Shinji slowly opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of the ceiling that was so familiar to him.

The special smell of the hospital - the smell of disinfectant mixed with cold and ruthless metal, forced him to frown slightly.

Surrounding me were the cold white wards; the roughly uniform ticking sounds of the monitoring equipment echoed in this empty environment.

"It feels so familiar."

This was the second time he woke up from a coma after driving an EVA.

The doctor's increasingly clear words in his ears forced him to return to this cold, real world.

The person who treated him was still the same doctor as last time.

But this time, that easy-going smile disappeared, like an actor wearing a mask, no mental activity could be seen, like the silence in the depths of a dry well.

The doctor sighed, his voice as dry as the desert carrying a trace of trouble: "When you were unconscious this time, you didn't call anyone's name, but you called out 'Xine' more than 2000 times! How big is the grudge?"

His words were like a cold knife, piercing through the originally harmonious atmosphere.

"Why didn't you obey the order to retreat?! Haven't you seen the video of that guy kicking off Unit-01's skull? How could you do that!"

The doctor took a sip of the coffee in his hand, his cold eyes sunken, and he spoke again: "Actually, I don't think it's appropriate for me to be your attending physician. I think you need to find a psychologist."

These words sounded like a gasp in a dark alley at midnight, distorted and distant.

The teasing friendliness from last time was gone.

"...Psychologist? Don't you just need to make sure my body is alive and can drive the EVA?"

Shinji said expressionlessly.

His weak body, like a desperate exhibit in the ward, quietly waited for people to watch and discuss.

"Shinji, you want to be a hero?"

The doctor paused, slowly put the notebook aside, and then took out a tablet.

There was an inexplicable flavor in the words.

Disdain, sympathy, sarcasm... In short, it's not a good tone.

He then handed the tablet to Shinji Ikari and left.

"You didn't follow orders and didn't execute the tactics we arranged in advance. Is this how you act as a hero?"

"..."

Shinji looked at the images playing on the tablet.

It is the record of his battle with the Day Angel.

Indeed, the Unit-01 on the screen has nothing to do with being a hero.

He ran away in fear, and then pounded the ground left and right as if he was being grabbed by the Hulk.

Most importantly, he saw how powerful Unit-01 was after he, the pilot, fell into a coma.

So what is the meaning of his existence as a driver?

The boy buried his head in his knees and no one knew what he was thinking.

……

"Shinji ran away?!"

Misato Katsuragi learned the news when she arrived at the ward.

Of course, NERV's spies are spread all over the city.

There are probably a lot of people watching Shinji.

But this behavior doesn’t send a very good signal.

"Maybe it was too much of a blow." Misato looked at the empty ward and sighed to Grayshu, "After all, he's been thinking about becoming a hero recently. His classmates and even other people praised him like that. Now that he's been beaten like this in his first battle, it's normal for him to be upset for a while."

"Do not."

Gresh shook her head.

"If that's all, he won't give up... I'll go ask him."

……

Shinji Ikari pushed open the door of the hospital, and a fierce cold wind blew. The outside world was like the sea surface blown up by a mad wind, cold and icy.

The sky was leaden gray, as if it would sink into endless darkness in the next moment.

The raindrops hit his face, freezing cold, but he did not avoid them. He let them leave marks on his cheeks, seep into his collar, and cool his burning heart.

He walked aimlessly on the street. The street lights were sparsely arranged, like abandoned night watchmen, shivering in the raging cold.

Finally, he curled up next to a dilapidated trash can.

The cold walls, trash cans, and the yellow lights around him made up everything in the world before his eyes.

These trash cans are filled with useless waste.

What's the difference between him and this garbage?

Not now. When it has no value, it will be abandoned without hesitation.

The merciless raindrops hit his thin body and soaked his clothes, but he didn't move at all.

He sat down, staring blankly at the empty street. All the sounds and colors froze into a silent gray at that moment.

Until an umbrella was placed over his head.

Cut off the continuous rain line.

This umbrella looks very cute. It is all white and very big. There are two round red eyes on the umbrella. The top of the umbrella is just a pair of cat ears and rabbit ears.

Kewpie umbrella.

Of course, people holding umbrellas are cuter.

"Misato said that you fled because you had a bad first battle and were socially dead, but I know you're not that kind of person." Gray said, "Heroes always have to go through some hardships before they become heroes."

"My father asked me to come here so that I can drive the EVA."

Shinji lowered his head and spoke to himself.

"Not only my father, but also the other people here, even...Misato-sama, are trying to use me. I know everything."

"But I still choose to drive the EVA."

Firstly, he understood that when everyone around him was trying to use him to do something, he had no choice.

Secondly, driving the EVA was the only way for him to get closer to Grayshu.

For Shinji.

Everyone wants to take advantage of him to some extent.

Even Misato Katsuragi, who seemed to be very nice to him.

But there was one person who was different.

Grayshu's pure concern, without any other mixture, is like a ray of light in the darkness, which makes people fall in love with it directly.

The humans in EVA have a wall of heart, but Graysh doesn't have it.

In Shinji's eyes, Grace is the only person who understands him. Being with Grace is like a heart-to-heart communication.

This kind of experience is far beyond what humans in this world with walls in their hearts can compare to.

Just like that old saying.

I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the light.

So, just as Grayshu thought, he would not become autistic because of the embarrassment caused by being hit in the face by the apostle.

He also knew that Gresh would not care about his misbehavior in front of the apostles.

The reason he ran away was entirely because of the last picture in the combat record the doctor gave him.

After going berserk, Unit-01 attacked Grayshu!

Even though I stopped it unconsciously.

But he couldn't guarantee that he could do it next time.

This directly caused him to have a fundamental resistance to driving the EVA, which is also the reason why he is here now.

If EVA would attack Gray Shu, he would not open it again.

No matter who says it, whether it is soft, hard, or moral kidnapping, it will be useless.

"He was attacking the apostles... not me."

Grace shook the keychain with two apostles hanging on it.

Grace has been in this world for a while, and the feeling Shinji gives her is different from everyone she has met before.

From the first Emperor of the East China Sea to everyone who came later.

Although Grayshu did have an impact on the other party's fate.

But fundamentally, Grayshu was just using her own power to achieve these people's goals.

Helped the Emperor of the East Sea heal his fracture and won the Triple Crown. Reminded Madara that he was not killed by Black Zetsu and achieved the Infinite Moon Reading. Raised the Bond Band to a higher level and helped Tallulah rebuild the true Reunion Movement...

All kinds of.

All Gresh did was to correct the tragedy.

What the people she helps will do in the future has never changed.

Everyone has his or her own meaning of existence.

Even if there is no Grayshu, it will just be one more regrettable story, but the firm goal will not be shaken.

But Shinji Ikari is different.

At first, Shinji Ikari couldn't find the meaning of his existence.

And after Grayshu appeared, Grayshu became the meaning of his existence.

This is also the reason why Misato was surprised by Shinji's answer after asking him whether he could refine copper.

This feeling has gone beyond the scope of love.

This is also the reason why it is different from everyone else Grayshu has met before.

He did not have a clear goal to achieve.