EVA: Shinji Ikari Returns from Tiga

Chapter 165 Shinji Ikari's Strategic Operation Meeting! Part One!

"what…"

They had just returned home together when Asuka came out of her room as soon as she opened the door.

Perhaps because she had just returned from the beach, Asuka was still wearing her red and white striped bikini swimsuit, with only a jacket over her upper body, and was running around in the corridor.

Clearly, she hadn't expected Shinji Ikari to return home at such a convenient time... She froze on the spot, her small eyes darting awkwardly between her feet and Shinji's face, her cheeks turning bright red almost instantly.

"That...that photo...! It was Hikaru who insisted on..."

"Besides me, Toji also lives here now, so it's best not to run around in just your underwear..."

"…………what?"

I was just trying to find an excuse to cover up my shyness... and then muster up the courage to ask Shinji Ikari what he thought of my swimsuit, but this idiot... only gave me such a casual sentence?

"Ah! Shinji-nii...! Welcome home!"

Sakura Suzuhara, who was petting penguins in the kitchen, heard Shinji Ikari's voice and ran excitedly towards him, jumping into his arms with a joyful expression.

"Oh dear, Sakura... you got out of school early today. Also... you can't just jump around in the apartment, okay?"

Shinji Ikari gently caught the lamb that pounced on him and softly stroked Sakura Suzuhara's hair.

"Yes! I understand... Oh right! Shinji-nii! Listen to me, today I... didn't ask you or Fuyuki-nee to pick me up! I ran home by myself after school!"

"Wow, that's really brave... Wait, shouldn't Toji and the others be picking you up from school? They..."

"I don't know! I go home by myself after school!"

As she spoke, Suzuhara Sakura puffed out her small chest and proudly boasted to Ikari Shinji.

"I told you a long time ago that I didn't need my brother to pick me up! But he wouldn't listen, so I ran home by myself without waiting!"

Shinji Ikari shook his head with a wry smile. So this girl was left behind by Toji Suzuhara, huh? No wonder those two idiots haven't come back yet; they must be going crazy with worry.

"Hey Sakura... it's brave of you to go home by yourself, but... you should also tell your brother that there might be danger on the way..."

"No way!"

Faced with Shinji Ikari's words, Sakura Suzuhara snorted, turned her head away, and crossed her small arms...

"There won't be any danger! Brother is just worrying unnecessarily... Because Ultraman Tiga will protect us! So... there won't be any danger at all!"

"...!"

At this moment, Shinji Ikari wanted to say something to the child like... Tiga is not someone we can rely on so much... Humans still have to walk on their own two feet... and other similar profound truths.

However, explaining these things to a primary school girl is a bit too abstract...

Secondly, the children of this world... all live under the shadow of a calamity called the Apostles... even young children may be separated from their loved ones by death at any time...

Therefore, the lack of security and the awareness of death... are something even elementary school students can deeply understand. They all live in constant anxiety... and now, a miracle called Ultraman Tiga has appeared... it's inevitable that they want to rely on him.

After all, she's just a child... let her rely on him a little longer. After all, just seeing that pure smile that he has successfully protected... no matter how much pressure Shinji Ikari has accumulated in his heart... it will all vanish in an instant.

"Yes, you're right. Tiga [I] will definitely protect you..."

He continued to gently stroke Suzuhara Sakura's hair, his eyes flashing with an incredibly strong determination...

"..."

At this moment, Shinji Ikari noticed that Rei Ayanami and Asuka Langley Soryu had not returned to their rooms... nor had they said a word... they had been standing there blankly listening the whole time.

“I said, Asuka… it’s fine for you to eavesdrop. But in front of little girls… please don’t walk around in the hallway wearing just your underwear… the negative influence on children is immeasurable…” “…!!! You!! You big idiot!!!”

After a brief moment of surprise, Shinji Ikari responded with a full-force spinning kick.

That evening, after dinner—

I said... the situation might be very serious!

In Asuka's bedroom... Asuka sat cross-legged on the bed with a serious expression. Beside her sat Rei Ayanami, who was sitting elegantly and dignified but looked bewildered... Mari Makinami lay back in Asuka's swivel chair, looking quite interested... and Hikari Horiki sat properly in the corner, somewhat afraid to speak.

Just after dinner, Asuka, using the excuse that what you said hurt a woman's feelings, threw all the dishes and chopsticks to Shinji Ikari to wash... and grabbed Rei Ayanami, Hikari Toki, and Mari Makinami and took them back to her room... to hold a strategy meeting.

"Meow? Princess? Did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

Mari, who wasn't present, observed Asuka's terrified face and, recalling Asuka's reaction to Shinji Ikari earlier, could roughly guess what was going on... Her face practically screamed "I'm going to have some fun."

"Yes... What happened? Asuka... Could it be that your body is acting up again..."

On the other side, Rei Ayanami was completely confused. She didn't know which aspect of the serious situation Asuka was referring to... and even suspected that it might be related to EVA or even the Angels.

"Haha... Lingbo-kun... Xiaoxiang probably wasn't referring to that kind of thing..."

As Asuka's best friend, Hikaru Toki naturally understood what Asuka was thinking.

"Yes, it's about Shinji-kun... right?"

"Yes! I was wondering about it before... but I thought it was a man... but now it seems that my guess was wrong."

Asuka spoke with an extremely serious expression, leaving everyone bewildered.

"Princess... what you're saying is completely confusing, meow! What do you mean by 'thought it was a man'... Ah! Could it be that Wang-chan is actually a girl?"

"Eh!?"

"What nonsense...! What I mean is, I suspected before—that idiot, maybe he likes men!"

"Huh!?!?"

"real or fake?!"

"Otherwise, there's no way to explain it... How could he ignore such beautiful young girls several times, spending every day either with Mr. Kenzaki or Mr. Kaji... just hanging around in the office all day... Even when he finally has some free time, he runs off to the intelligence department to hang out with those sweaty, muscular guys for combat and shooting training... He never even invites us out!!"

Asuka pounded her poor mattress with loud thuds, as if venting her dissatisfaction on it as if it were Shinji Ikari.

“But… I feel this is just because Shinji is very dedicated to his work. After all… he’s the de facto leader of this base now, right…”

"Yes! I thought so before...! Until today...!! He, he, he... he actually completely ignored me, a bikini-clad beauty! He completely ignored me! He patted Sakura's head with a look of blissful affection! Could it be...!! He's not gay! But a lolicon!?!?"

"Huh?!?!?!"

"Hikaru, don't keep yelling 'Eh eh eh' every time I say something! It's because I'm unsure of what to do... that's why I asked you guys to come and discuss it with me!"

Asuka's voice was tinged with a hysterical sob; it seemed that losing to Suzuhara Sakura in her swimsuit today had shattered her pride as a woman.

"I said... Princess... it's pointless for others to analyze this kind of thing."

"Then what do you suggest we do?!"

"Why don't you just ask Wang Jiang directly? Wang Jiang's personality... if you ask, he won't refuse to tell you, right?"

(End of this chapter)