Chapter 1291
Shinji: Yes, yes, yes! That's it!
Shinji Ikari also watched the video.
The boy sat on the sofa in the apartment, a tablet computer on his lap, the cold light from the screen reflecting on his pale face.
The video is playing automatically—Rokufengi Gendo's bandaged body writhes on the hospital bed, emitting his signature, chilling screams. Comments flood the screen like snowflakes, filled with excited messages and donation notifications.
"Mother."
Shinji Ikari called softly, his gaze never leaving the screen.
"He deserved it."
Yui's ghostly figure appeared in the corner of the room, her semi-transparent form emitting a faint blue light. Her face was as gentle as in the photograph, but her eyes were as cold as ice.
She showed no sympathy whatsoever. Back then, she had asked Sextant to take good care of the child, and the result was that the child became autistic!
Do you think you've done right by the sacrifices I made back then?!
"indeed."
Shinji Ikari turned off the video, the tablet screen went dark, revealing a barely perceptible smile at the corner of his mouth. The timid boy who always sought his father's approval was gone. After witnessing too many truths, accompanied by his mother's illusory image, he finally saw the man's true nature—selfish, ruthless, and unscrupulous in achieving his goals.
Shinji Ikari felt that the suffering Sextans was now worth all that he had done.
Those betrayals, those exploitations, those cold-blooded decisions to treat one's own son as an EVA part.
Sometimes, Shinji Ikari would dream that he was forced to participate in battles.
Every time Shinji was forced to pilot Unit-01, every time he suffocated in the insertion plug, every time he cried out for his father's approval only to be met with silence—all of this has now come to an end.
Shinji Ikari knew that if it weren't for Choi's appearance, all of this would have been true.
It's a shame Sextant wasn't killed.
Shinji stood up and walked to the window. The night view of Tokyo-3 was as usual, the transmission tower disguised as an ordinary building gleaming coldly in the moonlight. He remembered that rainy night when he hugged his knees and cried in a phone booth, while his father was in a conference room plotting how to sacrifice more lives.
Shinji Ikari now thinks this is fine.
It wouldn't be bad to spend my whole life with my mother's illusory image.
He turned his head and looked at the figure radiating a faint light. Yui's phantom couldn't touch real objects, couldn't stray too far from him, but she was there. She would listen to Shinji, smile at him, and gently comfort him when he woke up from nightmares. This was a million times warmer than that empty "home" before.
Shinji Ikari had met Yui Ikari, who was standing next to Choi Myung.
He knew very well that it wasn't his mother.
After all, the other one is younger and prettier.
Of course, he had also met Rei Ayanami.
That being who looked exactly like his mother, that clone whom Sextant used as a meal replacement. He admitted that it did resemble his mother, but he knew very well that it wasn't.
It was merely a copy of genes and memories, a doll created by Sextans to satisfy his twisted obsession.
Only that idiot Sextant is still looking for a meal replacement.
Shinji recalled that chance encounter in the NERV corridor, where Sextans stared at Rei Ayanami beside Tsurui, his eyes burning with a morbid desire. That look made Shinji nauseous—it wasn't love, it was possession, a morbid obsession that treated living people as objects.
In Shinji Ikari's opinion, Mr. Choi did a good job!
To free the clone from Sextant's control, to give her her own will and life, even to let her learn to be lazy and follow anime—this is more thorough than any revenge—it strips Sextant of his most cherished "possession," turning his proudest creation into something he cannot comprehend.
That idiot Sextant can't bring happiness to anyone!
Now he's a big star among gay men, which is a good thing!
Shinji reopened his tablet and opened the latest comment section of the video. The screen was filled with jokes, donations, fan art requests, and discussions about what the theme of the "Forest Fairy's" next "performance" would be. Rokkaku Gendo, the once invincible NERV commander, was now merely a symbol for amusement. "Shinji," Yui's illusory figure approached, her voice gentle, "Don't look at it too much; it's bad for your eyes."
“Yes, Mom.” Shinji turned off the tablet and gave a genuine smile. “I’ll go make dinner.”
He walked towards the kitchen, his mother's silhouette radiating a warm glow behind him. Outside the window, the lights of Tokyo-3 remained dazzling, while in a corner of the city, in a hospital room, a man who once held absolute power let out yet another scream, becoming the most talked-about topic of the night.
Shinji opened the refrigerator, took out the ingredients, and began to chop vegetables. The blade struck the cutting board with a rhythmic sound. His movements were skilled and calm, like playing some kind of music.
That's fine.
he thinks.
That's fine.
However, Shinji Ikari was unaware that someone had actually noticed him.
Kaoru Nagisa.
Angel of Liberty stood on the observation deck on the third floor of NERV headquarters, his long, silvery-white hair swaying gently in the air conditioning. His gaze pierced through layers of concrete and steel, landing on a blue-haired boy walking down the corridor below. The boy was slender, his shoulders slightly hunched, his steps carrying a habitual caution, like a small animal ready to flee back to its burrow at any moment.
When Kaworu saw Shinji Ikari, he felt as if an eternity had passed in that instant.
Time seemed to lose its meaning at that moment. Countless images flashed through Kaworu's mind—reincarnation, rebirth, countless encounters and partings. In this world where the rules had been rewritten by monsters and aliens, certain essential things remained unchanged. The boy's soul radiated a unique light, fragile yet resilient, confused yet pure, like a star burning alone in the darkness.
Kaworu Nagisa knew that this was love.
It wasn't the apostle's pity for Lilin, nor the fated connection between the son of Adam and the descendant of Lilith; it was simply a pure, human, and irrational flutter of the heart. He wanted to get closer to that boy, to see him smile, to hand him a tissue when he cried, to listen to sad music with him, and to sit together on the balcony in the dead of night, lost in thought.
“Mr. Choi,” Kaworu turned to the man who had appeared behind him, “I want to pursue Shinji Ikari.”
He mentioned it to Cui Ming, and Cui Ming's eye twitched slightly.
For once, Cui Ming's composure faltered. His gaze lingered for a few seconds on Nagisa Kaworu's earnest, almost pious face, then drifted to the oblivious blue-haired boy in the distance, before finally returning to Nagisa Kaworu. Cui Ming's lips twitched, his eyebrows rose and fell, as if he were performing some kind of complex facial muscle movement.
"Are you serious?" Cui Ming's voice carried a hint of uncertainty.
“I’ve never been this serious before,” Kaworu Nagisa replied, a light beyond the mission of an Angel gleaming in his red eyes. “This is a choice of free will, unrelated to the Instrumentality Project, unrelated to Adam and Lilith. I just want to be with him.”
Cui Ming was silent for a moment, then raised his hand to rub his temples. He recalled Lilith holed up in her room watching anime, Sextant's screams from her hospital bed, and the increasingly absurd trajectory of this world. Now, an Angel was pursuing a NERV pilot, and of the same gender, and one of them was, in some sense, his subordinate?
I can't be bothered with it.
"Suit yourself," Cui Ming finally said, his tone as calm as if discussing the weather. "Don't make too much of a commotion, don't let Shinji's mental state deteriorate, and the rest... you figure it out yourself."
After all, Shinji Ikari and Choi Michiko have no connection.
That boy wasn't his teammate, nor his family member; he was just a NERV pilot, an ordinary person caught up in fate. Choi Myung had neither the obligation nor the interest to interfere in his love life, especially when the suitor was another "slacker" Angel.
I'll just go with Yui and the others.
Choi Ming turned and left, the hem of his white coat tracing an arc in the air. He quickened his pace, as if eager to escape this increasingly absurd scene. Only Kaworu remained on the observation deck, the silver-haired boy gazing in the direction Shinji had disappeared, a gentle smile playing on his lips.
At the corner of the corridor, Shinji Ikari suddenly shivered, as if he were being watched by some invisible gaze. He stopped and looked around in confusion, but saw only an empty passageway and flashing indicator lights.
"Shinji?" His mother's illusory figure appeared beside him, her voice filled with concern. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Shinji shook his head and continued walking forward. "I just suddenly have a strange feeling."
Unbeknownst to him, on the third-floor observation deck, a silver-white figure was watching him depart, its red eyes filled with a tenderness that transcended reincarnation.
Love, in this crazy world, arrived in the most unexpected way. (End of Chapter)