Shinji Ikari, returned from Warhammer

However, at that moment, a rather clear voice came from the direction of the door.

"This is the time for Miss Shikinami to make her appearance!" Asuka, dressed in a long dress, stood imposingly at the door with her hands on her hips, her sharp gaze sweeping over everyone.

"Asuka, you're back?" Misato Katsuragi was somewhat surprised to see Asuka.

"I just wanted to go out for a stroll, but I never expected to encounter something like this." Asuka tossed her hair, revealing a proud and confident smile. "I witnessed the appearance and disappearance of the newly appeared Apostle! Feel free to ask me anything you don't understand!"

Asuka is full of confidence!

"You were there when the unknown spherical life form appeared? That's quite a coincidence." Ritsuko Akagi adjusted her glasses. "How did it form? Were any high-energy reactions observed?"

"This? Well, I saw lightning, and it seemed like there was wind too. It just appeared suddenly, haha!" Asuka gave an awkward smile.

"Are there any images that allow you to see the internal structure through the surface when observing a target up close? Have you observed any images that resemble a base?"

"It seems like there isn't one, it's just that they appear and disappear suddenly." Asuka's voice dropped a few decibels.

"Then is there anything else..." Ritsuko Akagi wanted to ask, but Asuka interrupted her rudely, "Don't ask, I don't know anything!"

Seemingly noticing Asuka's embarrassment, Misato Katsuragi patted her shoulder, interrupting Ritsuko Akagi's question, "That's enough, thank you, it was very helpful, that's more than enough."

Asuka could tell that Misato Katsuragi was simply trying to calm herself down, and Asuka, feeling a bit flustered, found this comfort only made her feel more embarrassed and annoyed. But she couldn't just run off again; that would be too childish.

She glanced around, trying to find a scapegoat, her gaze quickly locking onto Shinji Ikari. Unfortunately, Shinji didn't even look at her. He simply smiled, leaning against his desk, twirling a ballpoint pen deftly with his fingers, seemingly telling a joke, which made Maya Ibuki, sitting beside him, cover her mouth and chuckle.

Although Misato Katsuragi wanted to check on Asuka's mental state, the sudden appearance of the Angel was more urgent.

"Appearing suddenly, disappearing suddenly. Ritsuko, what are you thinking about?" Misato Katsuragi turned to look at Ritsuko Akagi, who had her right hand crossed over her chest and her left hand touching her chin.

"EVA Unit 4, the infinite energy internal machine experiment, the vanished U.S. Second Branch." Ritsuko Akagi's expression was serious.

The United States, the vanished Second Branch, EVA, the experiment with the infinite energy hidden within the machine, Gendo Ikari concealing key information, some unknown realm space... Too much information piled up in Misato Katsuragi's head. She vaguely thought of something, but it wasn't clear.

Regarding the Massachusetts explosion at the U.S. Second Branch, which covered 89 kilometers, everyone believed it was a devastating explosion caused by Unit 4 going out of control.

But only a very few people know that the US NERV Second Branch was not actually destroyed by the explosion, because before the explosion, the entire Massachusetts base disappeared suddenly, as if God had erased it with an eraser.

It wasn't destroyed, it wasn't annihilated, it simply disappeared, vanished without a trace.

"It's like he's vanished into thin air," Misato Katsuragi said softly.

"Kamikaze" is a term found in both Seris and Japan, but since it's set in Japan, the "Kamikaze" mentioned by Misato Katsuragi naturally refers to its Japanese meaning.

According to the collection and explanation of folklore master Kunio Yanagita, the phenomenon of disappearing without a trace mostly occurs in children. Since ancient times, whenever a child in a family goes missing for no reason, the villagers in the settlement will beat gongs and drums and call out the child's name to search for him. If they cannot find him after searching everywhere, they will determine that the phenomenon of disappearing without a trace has occurred, and that the missing child should have been taken away by gods, celestial dogs, mountain monsters, fox spirits, mountain hags, ghosts, or demons.

The current situation is as if the spirit has vanished.

“It must have disappeared in the Dirac Sea,” Ritsuko Akagi said.

"You mean the new apostle is?" Misato Katsuragi's eyes widened.

"It's uncertain; we need to hold a meeting to discuss it." Ritsuko Akagi pushed up her glasses. She knew that someone definitely knew some inside information, but he certainly wouldn't tell her.

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The meeting ended without any results.

Because the suddenly appearing unknown spherical life form was too strange, it only appeared for three minutes and revealed very little information, making it impossible to even determine whether it was an apostle.

It has been sorted out that they may be special apostles with the ability to connect to the Dirac Sea or dive deep into the negative universe.

To this day, how the entrance to the Dirac Sea was created and its operating rules remain a mystery. NERV only knows of its existence and that there is a very small entrance and exit between that distorted space and the real world.

In the United States, there are hundreds of thousands of missing persons reports every year.

If asked whether such an astonishing number of humans truly disappeared within a year, the answer would likely be half true and half false.

Since we are currently in Japan, let's take Japan as an example. Although the number of hundreds of thousands of missing persons each year has been reported in Japan with sensational headlines in the past, most of these people are actually found on the same day or within a few days. The number of people who have truly disappeared for more than a year—in other words, the number of people who have truly vanished without a trace—is actually less than 10%, which is about tens of thousands of people each year.

Tens of thousands of people is already a number that cannot be ignored. Even if we take that out of the equation, the figure has been abnormal since several years after the start of the second wave.

That was a rather slow change in a sense—so slow that no one even noticed its nature.

"You mean the vanished Second U.S. Base, and the residents and buildings devoured by that strange apostle, all went to the Negative Universe? No way, I'm more inclined to believe they went to Gensokyo." Asuka was soaking in the bathtub, her legs propped up on the edge, her hands clasped behind her head, resting her head on the ceramic rim. Most of her body was submerged in the water.

“I don’t know, that’s what Ritsuko said.” Rei Ayanami sat on the low stool next to her, holding a bath towel and wiping her armpit with her right arm.

Asuka and Rei's relationship wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't good either. It wasn't unheard of for them to shower together in the same bathroom, for example, before the simulation experiments. But those were all for experimental purposes; it was practically impossible for two people to shower together normally.

But it still happened today.

Perhaps Misato Katsuragi wanted to alleviate Asuka's mental stress, or perhaps she wanted to organize a party. She held another party, imitating the scene from the Music Apostle.

Afterwards, Shinji Ikari prepared a bath for Rei Ayanami.

There's nothing inherently wrong with preparing bathwater for her; it's simply because Rei Ayanami is terrible with everyday life and has never properly judged the water temperature. Sometimes Shinji Ikari prepares it for her, sometimes Misato Katsuragi, but today it's Shinji.

Returning from the extravagant lifestyle of Tokyo-2 to his simple dormitory in Hakone, Shinji Ikari often thinks about replacing his bathtub and water heater. The ceramic bathtub with its uncontrollable water temperature and the old-fashioned water heater with its vague temperature display both make him feel somewhat outdated.

Asuka, unaware of this, took over the bathroom upon seeing this, while Rei Ayanami, completely unconcerned, also came in to wash up. Thus, Asuka ended up soaking in the bathtub, while Rei Ayanami sat on a low stool next to her, applying shower gel.

Rei Ayanami didn't care, while Asuka stubbornly refused to go out.

Asuka pulled her legs back from the edge of the bathtub, and submerged herself in, blowing bubbles. The truth about the disappearance of the Second American Base, the true nature of the Angels—things she herself didn't know—was frankly told to Rei Ayanami.

Even though they were all drivers, everyone liked her very much and took good care of her.

Ritsuko Akagi is like that, often helping her with her physical examinations; Misato Katsuragi is like that, just because she's clueless about daily life; Shinji Ikari is like that too, he even specially prepared a bath for her today.

Everyone loves her, but who will love me?

"It's infuriating that a doll can be so arrogant." Asuka muttered under her breath, but Rei Ayanami continued to quietly lather up her skin with her hands, as if she hadn't heard her.

Even if they heard it, they probably wouldn't care.

"I only have one question: what do you think of that idiot?" Asuka's voice echoed clearly in the bathroom.

"What idiot?" Rei Ayanami was rubbing her left arm at that moment.

"Who else could be an idiot?" Asuka scoffed disdainfully. "Of course it's idiot Shinji, who else could it be?"

"Shinji?" Rei Ayanami finally stopped what she was doing and turned to look at Asuka in the bathtub, whose shoulders and neck were only exposed.

124: Asuka and Rei Ayanami

The silence that lasted a few seconds felt like an eternity.

Asuka pursed her lips, crossed her arms impatiently, and said, "Answer the question."

"I...I don't know," Rei Ayanami said softly.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know—it's that same answer again." When she should answer, she says "I don't know," but when she shouldn't know, she boasts about knowledge she doesn't even possess. Asuka's lips twitched as she glared at Rei Ayanami, who sat on a small stool beside her. "You Japanese people are always so vague! Give me a clear answer!"

As she spoke the last few words, her voice suddenly rose several decibels. Asuka braced her right arm on the edge of the bathtub, half of her body above the water, her gaze sharply fixed on Rei Ayanami, who was thirty centimeters away.

“I really don’t know, but when I’m with Shinji, I feel warm and at ease.” Rei Ayanami answered Asuka’s question softly, and as she spoke, her tone gradually became firmer. “I also want to make Shinji feel warm and at ease.”

This was Rei Ayanami's simplest and most basic thought, but Asuka didn't understand it at all.

Rei Ayanami said, "I hope to get close to him so that I can feel warmth and security; I like that I can get along well with Shinji, Misato, Asuka and me, so that I can also feel warmth and security."

Rei Ayanami wasn't unaware of the underlying tension in Asuka's words, but even so, she still hoped to maintain a good relationship because, no matter how Asuka treated her, she still considered herself, Shinji, Misato, and Asuka as a whole.

Most importantly, if there is a conflict, it will make Shinji sad.

But this answer didn't make Asuka happy. She sat back down in the bathtub, head down, staring at the ripples on the water and at her own body reflected in the water, the symbol of her female genitalia.

"Now I get it, it's all just a bunch of nonsense. You two are in love, isn't that what it means!" Asuka impatiently tossed her hair.

“No,” Rei Ayanami replied.

Asuka shifted her gaze from herself to Rei Ayanami's body in front of her.

She was just a middle school student, still a little girl in terms of age, but staring closely at her snow-white face, one felt a sense of amazement. When she was clothed, she didn't seem particularly striking, even somewhat lacking in presence. But when she was truly naked, she possessed a peculiar allure. While Rei Ayanami wasn't as tall as herself, her figure was still full of feminine charm.

The curves were just right, with two prominent areas that had a beautiful shape that was breathtaking. Her waist and hips had artistic, rounded lines. Despite being very slender, she had soft, supple thighs. Her whole body was perfect.

There is a wonderful balance between beautiful lines and volume, which is of an extremely high standard.

"Shinji Ikari would like that, wouldn't he? Heh," Asuka sneered again. "If it were that idiot Shinji, he wouldn't refuse any pretty girl—"

But he refused to accept it.

"Have you two made love?" Asuka suddenly asked.

Rei Ayanami tilted her head, unusually not answering immediately. Asuka, however, showed an impatient expression.

"It's sexual intercourse, mating, reproductive behavior, that's basically it. Don't tell me you don't understand, you top student." A hint of sarcasm appeared on her lips as her gaze swept over Rei Ayanami's most alluring features.

“No,” Rei Ayanami replied.

"No? I thought he must have entered your body. An idiot like him, who's obsessed with spreading his seed, would never let you go." Asuka looked at her with a half-smile. "So you didn't do it with you, or do you think you're not worth it... Heh, what about kissing?"

"What kind of kiss?" Rei Ayanami asked.

"It's mouth to mouth, even if you don't stick out your tongue." Asuka said casually.

"No." Rei Ayanami lowered her head, looking at the towel draped over her lap.

He had kissed his forehead, his eyes, the top of his head, and even the back of his hand, but he had never kissed his lips.

Rei Ayanami once stumbled upon an article about kissing. A kiss on the forehead symbolizes protection and affection; a kiss on the eyes represents longing and sacrifice; a kiss on the hair signifies persistence and tenderness; a kiss on the top of the head represents possessiveness and protection. But only the lips truly symbolize love.

Normally, Rei Ayanami would have just skimmed over such unfounded articles and paid them no heed. But as Asuka's voice faded, her previously hazy memories became clear again.

"And you, have you ever done that?" Rei Ayanami looked at Asuka, her gaze intense. This was the first time she had taken the initiative to ask.

"Of course, I kissed that idiot, and he was the one who initiated the kiss," Asuka said frankly.

"And what about sex?" Rei Ayanami asked again.

"Well, well, of course!" The water in the bathtub splashed, and Asuka seemed to be startled by the sudden question, but she still proudly raised her chin. "We did it, right before we came! In Yokohama, yes, right in Yokohama! Many times. My period hasn't come lately, so I might have it now."

"Is that so?" Rei Ayanami lowered her head and said softly.

"Hehe, I'm done washing. You can wash yourself later!"

Asuka got out of the bathtub, grabbed a towel from the side, and without drying herself, she strode out of the bathroom, quickly opened the sliding door, and walked out barefoot.

In the living room, Shinji Ikari and Misato Katsuragi had just finished tidying up when they looked up to see Asuka, wrapped in a bath towel, emerging from the bathroom. Her arched eyebrows slightly raised, she glanced at them before striding towards the doorway that had been cleared during the Music Apostle incident, returning to her dormitory.

"What are you looking at?" Misato Katsuragi moved closer to Shinji Ikari.