EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 157 Because Asuka is very important to me
“…Shinji-sensei.”

"what?"

"...If I really don't recover...would you really just run me over and kill me?"

A moment later, Suzuhara Toji, slumped in the passenger seat of the jeep, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and spoke with lingering fear.

"Heh, guess."

Looking at Suzuhara Toji's arm, which was still trembling slightly but could now move freely, Shinji Ikari smiled with satisfaction and relief.

"...Probably."

Suzuhara Toji glanced sheepishly at Ikari Shinji's expression. This guy... when he rammed into us in his jeep, he was completely serious!

If it weren't for that fleeting image of Hikari and Sakura crying while holding my portrait... and in order to prevent that image from becoming reality... I desperately reached out and managed to hold onto the hood of the car, flipping it over the jeep, and I would probably still be dead...

"How could that be, you idiot! What do you take me for...! Besides, didn't you feel the speed of that car? It wasn't at a speed that could kill someone!"

Shinji Ikari rolled his eyes at Toji Suzuhara with displeasure... Did he really think he was going to kill him?

"However, if you really... give up on yourself, then I will give up on you too."

“………Eh?”

"When the time comes, I'll have Misato delete the Fourth Child's data and reset EVA Unit-03's data... then send you, the class president, and Sakura to Second New Tokyo, far from the front lines. And then... according to the class president's personality, I'll just arrange a dry cleaner or general store for you two..."

"Shinji-san, you've already foreseen all that..."

Suzuhara Toji was touched to find that the boy in front of him had even thought about how he would spend the rest of his life. He glanced at Ikari Shinji with some emotion.

However, the undisguised contempt and disappointment on Shinji Ikari's face stifled the emotion that welled up inside her.

"You can just stay there, spending the rest of your life in endless complaints, regrets, and blaming others... We'll never see each other again."

"Shinji, sir...!"

Suzuhara Toji felt a flush rise to his face; he... was still dissatisfied with his performance these past few days.

"Shinji-san, is it because my performance disappointed you?"

"..."

Shinji Ikari didn't answer, but just glared at Toji Suzuhara with a look that said, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

"…sorry……"

"You've got the wrong person! Go apologize to the class monitor! You idiot."

He waved his hand impatiently at Suzuhara Toji, who looked guilty... His current expression only annoyed Shinji Ikari.

"I'm sorry, it was my fault... I was actually hurt by an Angel... Waaah?!" Hearing Suzuhara Toji's stupid words, Ikari Shinji immediately felt furious and simply reached out and smacked the head of this idiot who still didn't know what he had done wrong.

"What are you talking about? What do you think I'm angry about... you idiot!"

"Huh? It's not because I was injured in the battle, causing both myself and Unit-03 to be..."

Faced with such an uncooperative fellow, Shinji Ikari could only offer an explanation with a sense of exasperation.

"Idiot! Getting injured in battle...isn't that something we see all the time! Me, Ayanami, Asuka...haven't we all been hospitalized for long periods because of serious injuries? I just got out of bed a couple of days ago...how could I get angry over something like that!"

This guy seems even dumber than I thought…!
"Listen up—what makes me so angry that I want to punch you is...your attitude after you found out you couldn't use your arms! What kind of behavior was that?!"

The usually mild-mannered Shinji Ikari was truly angry this time... It was also the first time Suzuhara Toji had ever seen Shinji Ikari so unabashedly roar at someone.

"Why did you give up! Didn't I already say... that as long as humanity gives up the fight, everything will be over... It's just two arms. And yet you've become so dejected, like you're about to die... Where was your backbone when you were fighting the Apostles! Your half-dead appearance! And your constant whining to the class monitor! That's what makes me so angry that I want to run you over with my car!"

Despite his roar, seeing Suzuhara Toji's tear-streaked face... Shinji Ikari felt a pang of pity for his good-for-nothing apprentice. His attitude gradually softened...

"Sigh... But I can't blame it all on you. After all, you're not a formally trained soldier... You must have felt uneasy opening your eyes to find that your hands were unusable..."

With a sigh... Shinji Ikari wasn't entirely unable to understand how Toji Suzuhara felt back then.

After all, the moment he opened his eyes... his hands, which he had always relied on for a living, had lost all feeling... He couldn't eat by himself, couldn't get water by himself, and couldn't even open the door to leave the room... He couldn't even take off his pants to go to the toilet!
Once I'm no longer cared for by others, I feel like a useless person who can't do anything... I was originally a perfectly healthy high school student, but suddenly experiencing such a huge contrast... it's only natural that I would feel depressed and dejected due to the overwhelming blow...

"...You did a great job."

"Eh?!"

Suzuhara Toji was stunned... because just a second ago he was fiercely criticizing his own cowardice, and now he suddenly changed his tone and began to praise him... What kind of PUA is this?

"One thing at a time, I was referring to... what happened during your battle with the Eleventh Angel. I was originally going to give you a proper compliment... but you woke up looking like a dead man, leaving me no suitable opportunity to speak—I know... your hands were also being protected by Asuka... which is why they were consumed by the Angel's flames, but that idiot doesn't seem to realize that..."

Shinji Ikari suppressed his smile and solemnly bowed his head to Toji Suzuhara.

"If it weren't for you following my instructions and protecting Asuka back then, we might not be able to see her here now. So... thank you for saving Asuka!"

"No, this is...it's what I should do..."

Suzuhara Toji had never imagined that such a day would come... that he would receive such heartfelt gratitude from Ikari Makoto. Before, he still harbored a sliver of doubt—

The senseless dissatisfaction that came with thinking, "How could someone with hands that can move freely understand my pain?" vanished in an instant.

"No! Mr. Shinji... I... I am, after all, the pilot of EVA Unit-03! Asuka and Rei are fighting on the front lines... It is my responsibility to protect them! How can you bow and thank me like this??"

Hearing that Suzuhara's tone had completely lost its listlessness and dissatisfaction, and that he had fully regained his sense of responsibility as a pilot, Shinji Ikari finally felt a sense of relief.

"...No...I'm not thanking you as the pilot of Unit-01, or as the leader of the EVA pilots...but as Shinji Ikari personally. Because—Asuka is very important to me, so...thank you! For protecting her!"

(End of this chapter)