EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 127 I love it! My absolute favorite! Don't make me say it out loud, you idiot!
"Shinji-kun, here you go."

After letting everyone, exhausted from the revelry caused by Shinji Ikari's awakening, go back to rest, Kenzaki Kyoya approached Shinji Ikari alone.

He handed Shinji Ikari a sturdy, hardcore laptop that looked like military equipment at first glance and even bore the NERV maple leaf logo.

"This is…"

"Here is some noteworthy intelligence from the past few days while you were in a coma. To make it easier for you to review, I have compiled a summary of the matters that need to be reported."

Previously, Shinji Ikari would use his mobile phone to receive intelligence reports compiled by the intelligence department every day and make instructions... However, it is clear that because he was in a coma for four days, these administrative matters have piled up quite a bit.

"Oh, really... Thank you for your hard work."

Once again, I'm impressed by Kenzaki Kyoya's competence... Compared to the frivolous and unreliable Kaji Ryoji, it's definitely more reassuring to entrust intelligence agencies with Kenzaki Kyoya.

"Also—there's something else worth noting that I didn't mark in the electronic document. I hope... I can report it to you face-to-face, Shinji. I'll tell you after you've looked at the information on the computer."

As he spoke, Kenzaki Kyouya took off his sunglasses with utmost formality, causing Shinji Ikari to exclaim, "Wow... this guy actually has eyes!"

This is the first time I've seen this man without his sunglasses. To be honest... this man wears sunglasses, a black suit, and black leather shoes all year round, making Shinji Ikari wonder if he has no private life.

"It's rare to see you so serious... Don't wait any longer, just tell me now, what major thing happened while I was asleep? Don't panic, the sky won't fall."

Seemingly sensing the severity in Kenzaki's words, Shinji Ikari smiled and tried to ease the tension.

"...Excuse me...Shinji-kun, I also need...time to prepare myself mentally. So, I'll wait for you at the door. Call me when you've finished dealing with the information at hand."

With that, Kenzaki left the ward under Shinji Ikari's bewildered gaze.

"...? What's this guy up to?"

Although I don't understand it, since it's his insistence, I'll just respect it...

With that in mind, Shinji Ikari turned on his computer and began browsing the information compiled by Kyoya Kenzaki.

"The Allied Forces are making their own moves; two divisions are assembling in the Third New Tokyo City... Hey, what's going on here?"

For an organization like NERV, using two divisions of regular troops to suppress the rebellion is clearly overkill. Just looking at the regular forces of NERV's armed forces and intelligence departments, a single division could suppress the rebellion within a day.

But let's not even talk about Ultraman Tiga; just consider the five EVA units currently stationed at headquarters... They wouldn't even need five minutes of internal power to destroy the conventional armament of two divisions...

What are they trying to do with this troop strength that's stuck in this awkward position?

Never mind, we'll deal with whatever comes our way... Next one.

"Ultraman's influence continues to expand worldwide... New religions based on the worship of Ultraman are emerging in various countries... Is that true? No... Is Mr. Kaji going too far with his promotion? Tell him to tone it down a bit."

Shinji Ikari was somewhat speechless as he watched the growing number of foreign pilgrims from all over the world making a pilgrimage to Tokyo-3, solely to catch a glimpse of Ultraman. This couldn't be a good thing...

It even boosted the tourism industry in Tokyo-3, and the locations where I transformed into Ultraman to defeat the Angels have become popular tourist attractions... greatly promoting GDP growth... Damn, is this reasonable?
Oh well, let's just consider it a contribution to economic development... Next!

"NERV's First, Third, and Fourth Branches have all undergone unusual construction activities... It has been confirmed that a large number of skilled workers and unknown materials have been transported into the base... Attempts to enter and explore failed, and an operator went missing four hours after infiltrating... Confirmed dead!? Hey! Kenzaki!"

"Yes."

"Why send people to infiltrate a branch that is completely outside our control... and why didn't you tell me?!"

"I'm sorry, this was my own decision. Because I heard about a new EVA construction plan, I took it upon myself to send intelligence agents to infiltrate and explore as ordinary members."

"You deliberately didn't tell me because you knew you'd be rejected if you reported it to me, right...?"

"No, absolutely not! This happened on the day Shinji fell into a coma. It was an emergency, so I..."

"…Alright, it was my fault for losing consciousness and being unable to make decisions. Don't do that again." "I understand."

Shinji Ikari sighed... and once again lamented... that even Ultraman is not a god.

It is impossible to consider every corner of the world in a comprehensive and thorough manner.

Looking at the two blurry photos obtained at the cost of an operator's blood... the only thing that's legible is the identification number on the material...

EVANGELION MARK NO.6
EVANGELION MARK NO.13
"EVA Unit-06 and...EVA Unit-013..."

They deliberately chose to build branches far from Japan...the United States, Britain, and Germany...are these strategic locations SEELE has chosen this time?
Logically speaking... it's likely that SEELE created this new toy after discovering that with Gendo Ikari's disappearance, all EVAs were out of control...

But Shinji Ikari's intuition told him that these two junks were inextricably linked to that old man, Gendo Ikari.

Ugh, my head hurts... We haven't even finished fighting the Apostles yet, and they've already started creating artificial Apostles over there... All I want is for everyone to be happy, right? Why is this old bastard contradicting me?

...I don't want to think about it anymore, let's watch something lighthearted...

"Asuka's phone has uploaded new photos to her cloud and set them to private...?????? What?! Wait, are you sure this is information I need to see? I mean, Kenzaki-san?? I know it's a bit abstract to expect an intelligence agency to respect personal privacy, but... you! If Asuka finds out, she might just send Unit-02 over to stomp on you. I might not be able to save your life."

"I'm sorry, I wouldn't have told you about a regular photo, but that photo was taken inside your hospital room, so I made a special note about it. Please rest assured, I just copied the document over and didn't open it to view it. No one else saw it except you."

"Oh, about last night...it was the middle of the night. She filmed it right here. I need to see what she filmed while I was sleeping."

Thinking that since it wasn't in his private space but in a hospital room with him, he couldn't blame anyone for seeing him, Shinji Ikari clicked on the picture named "Daisuki".

Then—Shinji Ikari… saw himself, still peacefully sleeping in his hospital bed, eyes closed. In the lower left corner of the photo, there was half of Asuka's head, looking rather cute.

It would be one thing to just take a picture of yourself sleeping, but the real problem is... this guy also used yellow fluorescent marker to draw cat ears and whiskers on his face, and his head was covered in writing—

"So cute!" "My favorite!" "I won't tell you!" "I like it!" "Don't make me say it!" "My absolute favorite!" "I love you the most!" "If you don't wake up soon, I'm going to kiss you!" "Silly, silly~ My little silly~"

...Then each sentence was accompanied by a cute little circled arrow pointing to Shinji Ikari's face.

"Tsk smack—"

Even Shinji Ikari, a veteran of countless battles, had never seen such a scene in his previous life... He stared in disbelief for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and closing the image.

Yabai—!
No, no, no, no!

This is really... bad! Something terrible is going to happen!
Unable to suppress the upward curve of his lips... He felt the girl Asuka's heart so directly and clearly, making Shinji Ikari unable to contain his silly grin... But... he absolutely couldn't reveal it!
If Asuka finds out she saw this photo... her fate would be, to put it mildly, "chopping wood," or to put it mildly, "committing suicide for love"... she can already picture her being too ashamed to face anyone, killing her and then taking her own life!

She absolutely mustn't know... Just let it go, pretend it never happened—

That's what they say...

However, when the mouse hovers over the delete button...

Shinji Ikari, however, discovered that there was something he was a tiny bit... reluctant to delete.

After all, no matter how capable and elite Shinji Ikari is, he's still a pure and innocent virgin at heart. Such a beautiful, girlish photo... it's only natural to want to keep it as a memento.

"...I'll just save it secretly."

As long as Asuka doesn't see it, everything will be fine... right?

Thus, this time bomb was preserved by Shinji Ikari himself—and a few months later, it successfully sent Shinji to the hospital once again.

(End of this chapter)