Shinji Ikari, returned from Warhammer

"Hey! What's going on?! Is this machine broken? Get out here!"

Standing in front of a claw machine was a girl with long, golden-orange hair who looked to be around middle school age. She clearly had Eurasian features, with the fair skin and defined features of Caucasians and the delicate features of Asians—a girl who clearly inherited the best of both races. She was wearing only a white dress, her slender legs peeking out from under the hem, exuding a youthful charm unique to young girls.

"That's nice." Shinji Ikari took a sip of his milk tea.

But perhaps because of the hot weather, the girl's expression was like that of a first-time commuter on a crowded train, getting impatient and getting off the platform.

More likely, it was the frustration from several failed attempts at the claw machine. But for Shinji Ikari, his chivalrous spirit was subtly stirring. Seeing a pretty girl can also lift your spirits.

"How about I try? I'll pick one out and share one with you," Shinji Ikari said, stepping forward.

The blonde girl abruptly turned her head, her gaze sharp, scrutinizing the approaching boy with a rather impolite look. The icy blue eyes, sharp as they swept across his face, felt like blades cutting through the air, instinctively making him want to back away. A man attempting a normal conversation might have already cowered at this point, but Shinji Ikari approached with a beaming smile, tilting his head and revealing a smug grin.

"Whatever." The girl smiled slightly, took two steps back, and gave the claw machine control panel to the gentle and handsome young man of the same age in front of her.

A few seconds later, Shinji Ikari's smile froze on his face.

He patted his pockets and realized that he had been called away to Yokohama by Misato Katsuragi at the last minute, and he didn't even have a single hundred-yen coin in his pocket.

"What? No money and still trying to pick up girls? These middle school kids these days are really something!"

A burly, bald, dark-skinned man sitting next to him in front of the slot machine let out a mocking laugh. He shook the lever in his hand, and coins tumbled out of the machine frame.

Chapter 45: Flowers, Sun Shower, and You

Shinji Ikari wasn't angry; he simply walked straight to the side of the bald, muscular man.

"What? You want to come here and demand an explanation after I scolded you, little beauty? This isn't a school; there are no teachers here to uphold justice for you."

The bald, burly man rose from the small plastic stool, looking down at the middle school boy in front of him. He was already quite imposing sitting down, but standing up revealed just how terrifying his bulging muscles were.

But what was even more dangerous was that the burly man in front of him was not alone. Three more men stood up at the game consoles behind him: a lean man with a buzz cut, a hip-hop style man with a baseball cap and long dyed blond hair, and the last one wearing sunglasses and women's overalls, revealing a navel with silver studs.

"What? Don't take advantage of the fact that he's a student."

"I'm talking about you, Black Sauce. Be careful, or she might cry and call the police."

At this moment, the young man in the middle wearing women's overalls glanced at Shinji Ikari's expensive custom-made shirt and winked at his brother next to him. Then the four of them surrounded him from both sides, forcing Shinji Ikari to a secluded corner where there were no cameras.

This is a common tactic used by these lowlife thugs, but it's clearly effective. Shinji Ikari, like a terrified student, was completely paralyzed.

They finally realized it was time, and the burly man at the head of the group gave the boy in the corner a ferocious look.

"If you don't want your delicate skin to be covered in bruises, you'd better hand over the money, or should I crush your balls?"

The young man in the women's overalls stared in astonishment at the boy surrounded by them, because those words hadn't come from him. Instead, they had come from the boy in front of him with a smile, yet the words carried an unmistakable malice.

But in those few seconds, no one dared to discipline the brat in front of them, because the boyfriend, who had been blocking the way, suddenly and silently knelt down. This bizarre scene sent a chill down the spines of the remaining three.

Then the boy sighed, "If you don't answer, that's a yes. I'll just crush your egg. You're not really using it anyway, beautiful lady."

Before he could even finish speaking, Shinji Ikari had already made his move. His action sent chills down the spines of every man who witnessed it, because he actually and forcefully crushed the testicles of the tall, thin young man in the women's vest.

The kind of pain that could drive a young man mad surged through his genitals, yet he didn't scream. Shinji Ikari's vicious uppercut had struck his jaw, causing him to collapse unconscious before he could fully experience the pain.

Shinji Ikari strode over the fallen youth's body, striking the thug on his right like a cannonball, elbowing him in the stomach. Then, just as the last thug tried to escape, he tripped him, his knee slamming into his chin before gently catching his head.

"Alright, alright, go take a nap first."

Shinji Ikari gently stroked his eyes, then took a handkerchief from his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth and the fallen teeth to prevent blood from splattering onto his shirt.

It took very little effort to do all this, and there wasn't even a sound. To onlookers, it simply looked like a few thugs had cornered the boy against a wall, and then they suddenly collapsed to the ground. The boy, still looking clean-cut, walked out from inside.

What truly surprised Shinji Ikari was that the blonde, half-blood girl was still standing in front of the claw machine. She didn't take advantage of the beating to run away, nor did she come to help. She simply crossed her arms and coldly stared in his direction.

"Did you borrow the money?" The girl tilted her head, her faint smile delicate yet proud.

The girl was like a proud princess with sharp words, her long golden hair tinged with a deep red in the sunlight. Even when she looked directly at you, you could feel that you weren't really in her eyes. But as Shinji Ikari emerged from the corner with a plastic box full of coins, she smiled and truly gazed at the boy her age before her.

"My friends are kind-hearted and quite willing to take care of this skinny student," Shinji Ikari said, shaking the red plastic box full of coins with a faint smile.

This was the first time Shinji Ikari had ever seen such an arrogant and disdainful girl in Japan. Even her haughty smile was very similar to his own. It was just that his own was hidden deep inside, while hers was outwardly displayed.

But for her, the boy in front of her was the same. In fact, the moment he appeared at the game console, the girl noticed Shinji Ikari. Holding the milk tea, he looked like a good student skipping school for the first time to play games, and even had a kind smile on his face that made people want to bully him.

As for now…

Ten minutes later, the blonde mixed-race girl watched as the mechanical hand holding the claw machine dropped a pink leopard plush toy from the dispenser. She quickly crouched down and retrieved the toy.

"Hmm, actually I wanted that rare blue frog from before, but it's okay too!" The girl hugged the pink panther, showing her usual smile. But the next second, she saw the boy reach out and pull the pink panther away from her arms.

"I said it's half for each of us, the next one is yours." Shinji Ikari shook the Pink Panther and winked at her mischievously.

Just as the girl was lost in thought, a patrolling policeman, who usually remained silent even during fights, suddenly burst into the arcade. She glanced sharply at Shinji Ikari, realizing that someone might have called the police.

But Shinji Ikari calmly got up and waved his hand.

"It's alright, I have plenty of connections here." Shinji Ikari put the remaining coins into his pocket and smiled smugly.

"Are you the son of a local tycoon?" The blonde girl stared at Shinji Ikari's shirt; she could tell it was expensive.

"No, it's because I'm good at running."

The girl stared in astonishment at Shinji Ikari, trying to tell if he was joking. But the next second, she saw him grab her wrist and run into the depths of the arcade.

The sudden commotion alerted the police to the two fleeing individuals, but by the time they called out to them, Shinji Ikari had already led the girl away through the back door.

…………

…………

I can't remember which places I've been to.

But the girl was certain that she had run at full speed for at least ten minutes.

When I came to my senses, I had already run out of Chinatown and into an unknown street. I was completely exhausted, and my legs ached terribly. I looked at the July sky, dyed red by the setting sun. Although I didn't know the exact location of my current situation, the street I was on should be considered high ground, and I could see the shimmering sea in the distance, as well as the vague outline of the United Nations fleet.

Coming to her senses, the girl angrily kicked off her sandals and curled up on the bench, complaining.

"Why should I run with you? You're the one who hit me, you're the one who took out the coin, and you even stole my Pink Panther!"

"But I beat up those thugs for you, so we're accomplices." Shinji Ikari smiled and handed over the drinks he had just bought. "Spring Water Hall, Gong Cha, and Coco. Which one would you like? You can choose first."

"No, these are all mine." The girl took all the drinks without any hesitation, seemingly sulking, but also seemingly venting her anger on Shinji Ikari.

Chapter 46: Fragrance, the Front of the Heart

"Here, have this one."

The blonde girl sitting on the bench tossed one of the Shunsuido cups, clearly with a straw, at Shinji Ikari. She had no interest in playing a game of indirect kissing with a man. Actually, she was also staring blankly at the whirring wind turbine blades. Perhaps she was a little resentful because she felt she was always being led by the nose by this man.

She rubbed her slightly sore ankles and ran for ten minutes in her sandals. Even though she was physically very fit for a girl her age, her toes were red and swollen, and her skin was marked with deep red welts from the sandals.

I didn't feel anything when I was running, but now the pain is starting.

"...I always feel like once I accept these drinks, I'll really go from being a bystander to an accomplice." The girl with long golden-orange hair shook the ice at the bottom of her glass, looking at the sunlight reflecting off the ice.

"Then how about giving it back to me?" Shinji Ikari stood beside her.

"You wish! And don't block my sunlight!" The blonde girl raised her foot to kick him away without thinking, but the next second, he gently grabbed her ankle and pinned her against the bench.

Looking at the man so close to her, the blonde girl felt a little flustered. Her own reflection was in his dark brown eyes, and a tuft of hair in his thick, black hair fluttered in the wind.

"What are you going to do?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring angrily, looking like a wildcat with its fur standing on end. But Shinji Ikari completely ignored her, simply taking out the Shunsuido that she had just thrown back and sticking it to the girl's ankle.

Was he just trying to relieve her pain? He had noticed her earlier actions. For a moment, the girl quieted down.

Shinji Ikari spread his right thumb and four fingers and pressed back and forth on the soles of her feet. This was the most common method of applying pressure with a palm push, and the girl did not feel any pain. In fact, as the other person's palm pushed against the soles of her feet, the pain was quickly relieved.

Then she saw Shinji Ikari pick up the Shunsuido glass and gulp down the lemonade inside. He then cut off the seal and poured out some of the ice.

It was only then that the girl realized that his drink was a special edition with extra ice. He hadn't just noticed his feet; he had been paying attention to them from the beginning.

"It might hurt a little, so bear with it," Shinji Ikari said, looking down.

"Just kidding, do you think I'm afraid of pain? Oh, hehe!"

With a smile, Shinji Ikari bent the interphalangeal joint of his index finger and placed it against his palm, while making a fist with the other four fingers. He then inserted the thumb of his other hand into the bent index finger and used the first joint of his index finger as the point of force to suddenly stimulate the acupoint on the sole of the girl's foot.

But the girl was completely unable to speak; the shock overwhelmed her body more than the pain. She writhed like a shrimp whose vein had been removed, but Shinji Ikari held her firmly to the bench by her legs. All she could do was clutch her skirt tightly to prevent herself from being exposed.

"Don't get angry yet. Do you still feel pain? Get down and walk around for a bit."

Shinji Ikari caught her other foot as she kicked him, gently put on the purple sandals that had fallen to the ground for him, and said with a smile.

The girl gritted her teeth as she looked at the boy putting shoes on her, wanting to say something nice, but in the end she just snorted and pulled her other foot away from his grasp, not wanting him to take advantage of her anymore.

She put on her other sandal, stood up, and spun around. The pain was definitely gone. However, it was just a soreness from running too fast, not a sprain. Actually, this level of massage technique wasn't anything special.

The key is the right time, the right age, and the right atmosphere.

An elder in the family once told Shinji Ikari that girls are actually easy to pursue. Treat them like comrades-in-arms, maintain respect for women, and ambiguity will naturally grow and spread between men and women.

Besides, what girl wouldn't like a noble knight?

The enormous red sun was about to sink below the sea, its last rays turning the clouds in the sky a fiery color in the ever-deepening night. Shinji Ikari was bathed in the last rays of the setting sun, and the girl, as if sensing something, abruptly turned her head away, unable to look at him any longer.

Seeing this, Shinji Ikari knew that he had already secured half of the victory for tonight.

"Let's go, I'll take you to get something to eat." Shinji Ikari stood up, turned around and saw a handwashing station under the big banyan tree next to him, which was specifically for tourists. He walked straight towards it.

Although the atmosphere was great during the foot massage, her feet were still a little sore.

After descending the mountain, they returned to Chinatown, where police officers patrolled the streets with impunity, passing by them. Shinji Ikari and the blonde girl ordered various dishes at a Chinese restaurant on the street, from grilled chicken skewers to cape mackerel and strawberry hot pot. Although he hadn't eaten Chinese food much, he always felt that Chinese cuisine shouldn't be like this.

But the girl enjoyed the meal.

Half an hour later, several white men in military uniforms approached Shinji Ikari. Just as Shinji assumed they were sent by Misato Katsuragi to take him to a designated guesthouse and was about to get up to tell them he had plans for the evening, he was surprised to find that it was the blonde girl beside him who stood up.

"Bye-bye, had a great time today. Hope you have a great night too." The girl smiled brightly, seemingly aware of Shinji's thoughts. After getting all the good food, drinks, and entertainment from him, the little devil was secretly cheering as she watched him slip away.

But the refined young man before her still smiled faintly and waved goodbye. His gentle and courteous demeanor, however, only made her feel a pang of reluctance to part.

Shinji Ikari watched her retreating figure, her waist slender and graceful, encased in a white dress. Suddenly, two completely different feelings welled up within him: one was that her silhouette seemed somewhat lonely, and the other was that he felt a strong urge to hug her.