EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 125 Why not just do what you want to do?

Suppressing his drowsiness, Shinji Ikari gazed at the vast, empty sea in the distance.

"Even though Asuka's world... the ocean has turned blue again... I never imagined that my own world would still be red."

The spiritual world... the aftermath of the Tenth Apostle, I never imagined that after that battle... it could continue to affect me.

Is it because I've been so tense lately and I'm just too tired... or is it because my whole body has been twisted into a pretzel and suffered too much damage?

In the real world, he had no idea how many days he had slept... Shinji Ikari's mind was still immersed in a deep sleep.

"...Ah, here it comes."

Just as I was about to fall asleep leaning against the station sign... with the wail of the whistle, the old and withered tram finally slowly pulled into the station.

—Instinctively, he realized…In Shinji Ikari’s inner world, only this train was real…The road back to reality.

"Ah, you're still alive!"

There was a hint of surprise in his voice... because he saw the thin boy huddled up in the corner of the only carriage.

This was truly unexpected... I thought that the timid Shinji Ikari who remained from the past had been killed by me when I shattered the world depicted by the Tenth Angel.

But, unexpectedly, I could still see it on this tram, which means...

Without any hesitation, he walked over and sat down next to the boy who refused to look up.

"You're the one who kept me from waking up, trapped in my inner world? What, do you have something to say?"

"...?"

Outside, while the two Shinji Ikari meet in their hearts...

"drop----!"

The testing equipment emitted a mechanical sound... which startled Asuka, who was lying on Shinji Ikari's hospital bed, so much so that her entire spine arched as if in a stress reaction.

It was only then that they realized it wasn't a camera... but rather a medical device on Shinji Ikari's body... indicating that Shinji's previously calm and peaceful brainwaves... experienced a momentary surge.

"...Shinji?! You're awake?!"

Thinking it was a sign that Shinji Ikari had woken up, Asuka quickly blushed and backed away from Shinji.

Just now… I… cough cough! I didn’t do anything! I just slept for too long… and wanted to release some pent-up emotions! So I borrowed… that idiot Shinji’s hand! Yes! That’s all…!
That's all!! Nothing else!!
Asuka comforted herself with these words as she adjusted her skirt again.

"That idiot, why didn't he choose a better time to wake up...! Honestly!"

Suddenly realizing that Shinji Ikari's hands and arms were still wet, Asuka looked embarrassed and shy... Oops, did I go a little too far?

It's all Kaji and Misato's fault! First, they said they would bring a positive influence to that idiot Shinji... then they moved that idiot Shinji into their room... and they even deliberately emphasized that no one would see what they were doing!

This, this, this...isn't this deliberately tempting myself?!

Forget it, stop thinking about it... Hurry up and go to the bathroom in the isolation room to get a towel or something to wipe him down.

"...?"

Inside the train, Shinji Ikari felt a little out of place and scratched his right hand with his left...

Why does the back of my hand feel itchy and a little damp?

"…Why."

After a long silence, Shinji Ikari finally spoke... and Shinji Ikari stopped caring about the awkwardness of his right hand.

"What do you mean, why... How am I supposed to answer this question when you suddenly throw it at me without any context?" Unlike previous conversations, where Shinji Ikari was always facing imminent monster attacks when he spoke to his past self, Shinji was in a situation where monster attacks were imminent.

This time it was after the battle... the next enemy hadn't appeared yet... I could have a good chat with this dejected guy.

"...Aren't you scared?"

The past self still didn't raise its head... but there was an uncontrollable fear in that voice.

As his voice rang out, Shinji Ikari felt that nauseating and suffocating pressure surge through him once again... It was the feeling of being gripped in the hands of a mass-produced EVA unit... almost crushed.

"Ah, you mean this..."

Shinji Ikari grinned; so that's why she came to complain to him...

"If I had stayed with my parents and Ayanami... I wouldn't have suffered like this. I would have been so happy!"

Hearing a hysterical scream filled with sobs... as the crying intensified, Shinji Ikari's pain grew even stronger.

Shinji...!

With a splash, the basin full of water brought back from the bathroom overturned on the floor...

Asuka stared in disbelief... Shinji Ikari's body on the hospital bed was floating in mid-air... and his body began to twist once again!

This is simply... this is just...!
Is it exactly the same as when I was held in the hand of that strange EVA in the world of the Tenth Angel?
"...!"

Asuka immediately ran to the bedside... to the emergency button that Misato Katsuragi had mentioned...

In her panic and haste, she even slipped on water she had spilled on the floor and fell hard against the headboard with a thud…

The impact was severe—my right forehead swelled up instantly, and my entire right-side field of vision turned pink… I felt a slippery sensation slowly dripping from my forehead…

But none of that matters! In fact, her excessive eagerness made Asuka completely unaware of the slightest pain.

"No... idiot... no!"

Clutching at a straw, she frantically pounded on the emergency button that Misato Katsuragi had indicated.

"I haven't said... I still have so much to say to you... so please don't..."

Amidst the urgent alarm sounds... Asuka could only kneel before Shinji Ikari's sickbed as if in supplication, helplessly grasping the boy's rough right hand.

"Why... even though choosing this place wouldn't bring anything good... only countless painful and bad things... why did I come back?! I really don't understand! I just don't understand!"

The person from the past finally stood up, her eyes flashing with resentment and ferocity... staring at Shinji Ikari.

"...This time they're quite tough, huh."

Even after experiencing the excruciating pain of being gripped tightly by a colossal beast once again, Shinji Ikari remained calm and disdainful of his own impotent rage.

"I just can't understand why... you think that abandoning Asuka and the people who trust you is happiness."

"That kind of thing doesn't exist at all—! Neither Dad nor Miss Misato trusts me... They just want me to pilot the EVA! I don't want a world like that..."

Listening to the endless complaints of the immature kid... Shinji Ikari could only let out a long sigh.

This is what I used to be like... It's infuriating.

"Then—why not just do what you want to do?"

(End of this chapter)