I participated in the development of EVA

The reason why Misato Katsuragi helped her so much, besides because of their friendship and because she felt that Ritsuko Akagi was about to have a mental breakdown, was that she saw the shadow of her past in Ritsuko Akagi.

What’s more…

She is an outsider after all.

If the plan succeeds, and something really happens between him and Ikari Fumihiko, and after successfully rescuing Akagi Ritsuko's mother, Akagi Ritsuko will still have a chance to choose love or family affection. If Akagi Ritsuko is allowed to continue to go crazy, let alone this opportunity to choose... There is a high probability that things will develop into a situation where both Akagi mother and daughter will go to extremes because they are too ashamed to face each other.

"Actually, even if I don't help you, I'm a little lonely... I'm going to find a boyfriend, and the director himself is one of my choices."

Ritsuko Akagi struggled for a while but finally shook her head.

"Still... no need..."

Misato Katsuragi frowned.

"This is the best plan. If you come and really complete the rescue, let alone choosing between love and family affection, my aunt may commit suicide because she cannot accept the reality."

She deliberately exaggerated the consequences.

Naoko Akagi cannot accept the reality. Apart from committing suicide, she can also choose to inject her soul into EVA again.

The reason why the matter was described as serious was naturally to make Ritsuko Akagi realize the seriousness of the problem.

"..."

These words exploded in Ritsuko Akagi's ears like thunder.

Before this, she had never thought that if she completed the rescue in that way, her mother would choose to commit suicide because she could not accept the reality.

"I'll do this. After rescuing your aunt, you'll have a chance to choose."

"..."

Yes--

If Misato does this, there will be room for maneuver.

Ritsuko Akagi was moved but shook her head again.

"This is so unfair to you."

"Didn't I tell you? Even if this didn't happen, I would have already found a male companion... This man is the director, so I can feel more at ease and don't have to worry about being infected with some messed up disease."

Ritsuko Akagi knew that Misato Katsuragi said these words purely to convince herself.

but……

She still believed it a little bit, no! To be more precise, she wanted to grasp this life-saving straw.

But I couldn't say the words of agreement.

"..."

Misato Katsuragi said this in a nonchalant tone.

"Wait a minute, call and invite the director to have dinner together."

Ritsuko Akagi responded in a soft voice.

"Um……"

Misato Katsuragi sighed in her heart and comforted herself at the same time.

If you can succeed...just treat it as a tool to relieve your physiological needs.

The two changed their clothes, got up and left the hotel. Then, under the supervision of Misato Katsuragi, Ritsuko Akagi called Fumihiko Ikari.

The phone rang only briefly before Fumihiko Ikari answered the call.

"what's up?"

"Let's have dinner together later."

"Oh."

Ikari Fumihiko didn't think much about it.

No... no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out what happened between Ritsuko Akagi and Misato Katsuragi.

Time passed quickly and before I knew it, it was dinner time.

Fumihiko Ikari came to the dining table in the lounge.

Seeing that Misato Katsuragi was there too, he was a little surprised, but didn't care.

However, when red wine appeared on the table, he realized something was wrong. Then, when Ritsuko Akagi left the table with a strange look on her face and said she wanted to go to the bathroom, he reacted.

Uh……

Well, the reason why he was able to react so quickly was not because of these details.

But Misato Katsuragi had taken off her high heels and her little feet were rubbing against his legs.

"Captain, can you have a drink with me?"

Ikari Fumihiko is not some innocent boy, how could he not know what Katsuragi Misato is hinting at after hearing this! ? ?

If she doesn't want anything to happen, why would a woman take the initiative to invite a man to drink?

"I have some research to do later, so I can't drink. If you feel bad, you should wait for Ritsuko to come back and let her drink with you."

"Oh."

Misato Katsuragi didn't care.

Although the other party refused his wine, he did not refuse his feet, which means there is hope.

Ikari Fumihiko was a little irritated by this secret teasing, so he ate a few bites quickly and left the table.

After he left, Ritsuko Akagi came back.

I asked with mixed feelings.

"How about it?"

"got rejected."

Misato Katsuragi was worried about hurting Ritsuko Akagi, so she didn't tell the truth.

After secretly putting on her shoes, she added.

"Don't worry, take your time."

Ritsuko Akagi responded with mixed feelings.

"Ah."

……

Fumihiko Ikari subconsciously wanted to go back to the bedroom and use the photo of Naoko Akagi to strengthen his faith, but after taking out the photo, he stopped when he saw the printed date on it.

Has it been two years?!

time flies.

While he was sighing about these things in his heart, an idea came to his mind.

It's time to...resolve the issue between Naoko and I.

The reason why he suddenly had this idea now was not because he could not control his desire, but because Akagi Ritsuko's move of dragging Katsuragi Misato into the game today made him unable to remain silent any longer.

He stood up and entered the virtual warehouse.

He logged into the dream and came to the locker room where he had the initial conflict with Naoko Akagi, and then blocked his location information.

He wanted to replicate the original Naoko Akagi, but failed.

This failure was within his expectations, so he immediately prepared to change the candidate. The first person that flashed through his mind was Akagi Ritsuko! Because theoretically, the one who could give Akagi Naoko enough stimulation was naturally Akagi Ritsuko, but he gave up this choice after just a moment of hesitation.

no way……

Doing so would be a bit too exciting for him.

Of course, the main reason was that he was worried about the bad consequences of doing so.

Naoko Akagi is currently unconscious. If she takes the dream seriously, even if she is rescued, she will choose to escape again because she cannot face the present situation, or she may choose to commit suicide as in the original book.

The second one is Katsuragi Misato...

The reason why Misato Katsuragi was the second one was naturally because she had just been stimulated by the other party.

This... No way—

The stimulus is definitely not enough.

After pondering for a moment, he found a suitable candidate, that is Kana Fuyutsuki, who has the aura of an ex-girlfriend.

The dream was very real and vivid.

There's just a slight sense of unreality.

as well as……

The plan failed.

Although it was a dream, he still made the same mistake as his father in his previous life. However, even though he did such a thing, his core was like a dead person whose heart had stopped beating, with no response at all.

This shouldn't be a lack of excitement...

But Akagi Naoko's current state allows her to distinguish between the real and the fake to a certain extent, that is to say, Akagi Naoko can distinguish between real people and fake people.

The reason for this thought is naturally because if it were not the case, the core would not have no reaction at all.

20:47:56

751. No, no, no, no… We can’t do that…

Does it have to be a real person?

Fumihiko Ikari silently exited the dream program, his mind returned to reality, and his physiological reactions remained the same.

I still had to solve the problem manually, and then I lay down on the bed.

Taking a break from reality again after a long time, he had a dream.

It was still a summer with the noisy sound of cicadas and the sultry weather. It was a seemingly peaceful but not dull day... He just dreamed that after returning home from school, he walked into the room and saw his father in front of the safe. He woke up from his sleep with horror, holding his chest in pain and gasping for breath.

That scene hasn't appeared in his dreams for a long time.

When he came home from school, he saw that his father didn't have the key to open the safe, so he took out the safe key that his mother had hidden like a treasure.

He was in the first grade of primary school at that time and had no idea what he had done. It was not until his parents divorced that he overheard other people talking about it and realized that his father had taken the money from the safe and went out to gamble and whore, owing a lot of debts. It was when his mother found out about this that she decided to divorce his father.

He has always felt extremely guilty and still cannot let it go.

It took him a long time to calm down, and he realized that it was his previous behavior that awakened the memory buried deep in his heart.

Even if there is a reason, or even if it's not a real person...

But betrayal is betrayal no matter how you whitewash it.

He stood up from the bed and took a sip of water before he reacted.

Ritsuko Akagi is not by his side tonight.

For the past two years, there was always someone by my side every time I woke up, and now it’s suddenly gone... I feel a little uncomfortable.

But he didn't dwell on it.

After putting on his clothes, he stood up and left the room, went to the laboratory and stood in front of the Type 02 prototype.

Nothing was done, nothing was said.

Just watch.

It’s not that I want to be in a daze, but I want to say something, but I don’t know what to say.

Not long after, Ritsuko Akagi appeared beside him.

"Why did you wake up suddenly?"

"nothing."

Ikari Fumihiko replied subconsciously, and then asked a question to change the subject.

"Why haven't you rested yet?"