EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from the Dragon Clan

Chapter 164 162. Questions in Misato Katsuragi's Heart

Misato Katsuragi carefully wiped the gun.

As a major and the head of the headquarters' operations department, she certainly had her own gun, but in the past few months, she had not used it at all and only maintained it occasionally. As for her marksmanship, it was just barely passable.

This is a German designed USP pistol.

The pistol was specially designed for the needs of law enforcement agencies and the military. It was extremely powerful and not the small pistols that ordinary police officers used. Katsuragi Misato cleaned her gun, put it back in the drawer of her office, and locked it.

Today, those senior officials from the United Nations asked about the attack and annihilation of the Twelfth Angel.

When she thought about her experience at the inquiry meeting, she felt a headache.

“I really don’t know how to write the report…”

Misato Katsuragi muttered.

It's really that this battle was too outrageous.

The things in the combat report, such as Unit-01 going berserk and the Angels being annihilated, probably make normal people think "What the hell?" It's like when you play a game and use WASD to control the character, this is normal. But one day, before you even touch the keyboard, the character starts to move and destroys the enemy... Is this a scene from a horror movie? The ghost saw that you are so bad at playing games, so he couldn't help but help you, right?

But maybe...

There must be some kind of ghost living in Unit-01...Misato Katsuragi thought.

This is also the reason why those people above are concerned.

As the Chief of Operations.

He is also the one responsible for the annihilation of the apostles this time.

Katsuragi Misato took charge of the inquiry, acting as the agent of the two pilots, and faced the inquiry alone. Otherwise, it would be Ikari Shinji and Asuka who would face those people. But she could only try to pick out the good points, but after listening to what they said, she still felt a little uneasy——

“Do you think the apostles would be interested in the human spirit and heart?”

“…What’s the question?” she asked at the time.

"Just answer it."

"I'm sorry, I can't answer that, because we haven't confirmed whether apostles have a heart or spirit, or whether they can understand human thinking."

This is how Misato Katsuragi responded.

But after the inquiry, she recalled the questions from the UN officials at that time, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt that something was wrong. Shouldn't they be concerned about the reason why Unit-01 went berserk? What does it mean that "the Angels will be interested in the human spirit and heart"? Compared to the reason why the EVA went berserk, those people seemed to be more interested in the Angels.

But she couldn't ask questions to those senior officials, and those people would not be able to answer her.

So I had to suppress this question in my heart.

After locking the drawer, Misato Katsuragi stared at the unfinished combat report on her desk in a daze.

In just two days, Unit-01 was repaired.

But the so-called repair.

It was just a re-decoration of the outer armor. Katsuragi Misato was not stupid. She guessed that the EVA machine might be a replica of the Angel. There was something in the underground city that attracted the Angels. Otherwise, why did the Angels invade here every time? But there was more... Katsuragi Misato felt that she might not know as much as Ikari Shinji.

"I won't write it anymore. I'll talk about it tomorrow."

She put the operational report aside, stretched, and prepared to go out for a walk and breathe some fresh air. Having temporarily put aside her work, Katsuragi Misato felt much more relaxed.

And in the headquarters.

Two men are talking.

Shinji Ikari looked at Ryoji Kaji in front of him, feeling somewhat confused.

Since Unit-01 had just been repaired in the past two days, he didn't have any training missions - sometimes Shinji Ikari thought it would be nice if Unit-01 could be repaired all the time. When he came to the headquarters today, when he went to the beverage vending machine to buy a drink, he saw Ryoji Kaji again.

The playboy looked at the drink in his hand and smiled.

"This life is really good."

Shinji Ikari looked at the three bottles of drinks in his hand, then looked at him, not understanding the point of this sentence. By the way, Asuka also asked him to bring drinks today, saying that it was too boring and he didn't know what to do without drinks.

"Mr. Jiaji, what do you want from me?"

Shinji Ikari placed the drink on a chair nearby.

"Nothing much." Kaji Ryoji paused and said, "But Shinji, you said before that it's better to ask the person's opinion on this kind of thing, so I want to invite you to a place."

He stared at Shinji Ikari.

Kaji Ryoji's eyes were very serious, and he put away his usual dissolute look. At this moment, he really looked like a mature and reliable adult. Shinji Ikari confirmed this feeling in his heart. It seemed that Kaji Ryoji had been testing him all along... But Shinji Ikari couldn't figure out why he was testing him. Was it related to Unit-01?
But it seems that this test has finally paid off.

only……

What exactly led to this result?
"Wait for a while at the headquarters in the evening." Kaji Ryoji continued, "There is something I want you to see, Shinji. It's in the headquarters."

Ikari Shinji hesitated.

If he were outside, he might refuse. But in the headquarters, this is a fairly safe place. While he was thinking, Kaji Ryoji quietly waited for his answer, without a frivolous look. Ikari Shinji could not help but nodded.

He thought he might get some unexpected surprises.

At this moment, they heard footsteps approaching in the corridor, and they both looked over.

"What are you talking about?"

Misato Katsuragi, who was passing by, came over and was stunned when she saw the two people here. She had just come to buy a bottle of drink, but she didn't expect that her ex-boyfriend was leading the child astray again - out of her keen intuition, she immediately stared at Ryoji Kaji with a vigilant look.

Facing her look of looking at him as a bad person, Kaji Ryoji smiled.
"Nothing, just a date."

He also winked in Shinji Ikari's direction.

Ikari Shinji: ...

Can you please not use ambiguous words like "date"? I like girls, preferably those with the last name Ayanami and the first name Rei.

Shinji Ikari had no choice but to perfunctorily say, "Nothing."

So when Misato Katsuragi saw that the two of them were hiding something from her, she became extremely angry.

While the two were enjoying themselves, she had just attended an inquiry meeting and wrote a combat report of several thousand words, which was even sent back for rewriting, just like a miserable college graduate who had to face the pressure of defending a paper. But now she asked about the situation with concern. Shinji, who was so reliable, was now in such a state. Misato Katsuragi felt as if her home had been robbed.

I really shouldn't let Kaji and Shinji get together, she thought.

So in the next few minutes, Katsuragi Misato kept an eye on Kaji, and even if the two wanted to say something, they had to be under her gaze. Ikari Shinji, who rarely learned to be smart, quickly fled with the drink in his arms.

"Hey, what do you mean by date?"

After Ikari Shinji left, Katsuragi Misato asked with concern. She didn't really care if her ex-boyfriend Kaji liked another girl now... She just cared a little bit.

But Kaji Ryoji waved his hand and did not answer.

Misato Katsuragi seemed to be thinking about something.

late at night.

The central area of ​​the headquarters.

This is the center of the underground city. Even Katsuragi Misato rarely comes here. Or rather, Katsuragi Misato doesn't have the authority to come here. Because there are security doors everywhere that require identity verification. It's already late, and there should be no one here. But a figure is moving forward.

It is a blessing for good governance.

He stared at the closed door in front of him. Although identity verification was required, he happened to have an ID card in his hand that could pass through. However, he was not in a hurry to go in, as if he was waiting for something.

"--do not move!"

Misato Katsuragi pressed the pistol to the back of his head.

She had long felt that something was wrong with her ex-boyfriend, who was idle all day and didn't know what he was doing. She knew that Kaji Ryoji belonged to the special supervision department of the headquarters, which could be said to be a military supervisor sent by those people above. However, according to the information she had investigated, Kaji Ryoji was also a member of the Investigation Department of the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs, an investigator from those local people. A double agent? Such a person would not have a good ending.

She asked her doubts.

"A spy? It's easy to get killed this way. You'd better not do anything stupid."

"…Commander Ikari is going to continue to use me."

While having this conversation, Ryoji Kaji turned around. Misato Katsuragi never fired a shot, and he seemed to believe that Misato Katsuragi would not shoot, and was very relaxed.

The man's eyes were looking behind her, as if he was waiting for someone.

"You don't think you can fool me with this little trick, do you?"

Misato Katsuragi sneered.

But at this moment, clear footsteps were heard behind him.

Any accomplices?

Misato Katsuragi subconsciously turned the gun around, and the person behind her quickly raised his hands, but there was no panic on the boy's face. Instead, he looked at Ryoji Kaji, as if he was confused about something.

It's Shinji Ikari.

"Shinji? Why are you here?"

Katsuragi Misato immediately lowered the muzzle of the gun to the ground and asked a question. But she suddenly remembered something and turned the muzzle of the gun to Kaji Ryoji's head.

This should have been a good opportunity to grab the gun.

But Kaji Ryoji did not take any action, but instead greeted him.

"Hey, Shinji." The prodigal said with a smile, "I'm sorry to have you see such a tense scene."

"Mr. Kaji asked me to come."

Said Shinji Ikari.

(End of this chapter)