I participated in the development of EVA

If you can avoid turning into Orange Juice, it is better not to do so. After all, there is a risk that in the world where you can turn into Orange Juice and Shinji Ikari chooses to restart after the Third Impact, you may end up being resurrected as the original owner, Fumihiko Ikari, instead of your current self because of a time traveler. Of course, there is also the possibility that this intruder may be harmonized by the world.

In fact, it's not that he doesn't have a sense of crisis, but he has lived the life of an ordinary person for decades, so when it comes to matters concerning his life, he is inevitably timid and afraid of both wolves in front and tigers behind.

Especially nowadays, life is still very comfortable.

"He must be an interesting person to be friends with Ritsuko."

If someone else heard Ikari Fumihiko's words like this, they would definitely find it strange, but Akagi Ritsuko had long been accustomed to Ikari Fumihiko's unconventional thinking.

"interesting?"

She thought for a moment before speaking again with some uncertainty.

"Being a chatterbox is kind of interesting, right? Well, she's like a mute who suddenly gained the ability to speak. She can talk all day even if no one is talking to her."

Listening to the inexplicable conversation between the two, Ibuki Huimiko looked up at Akagi Ritsuko.

No!

Developed so well?

A year ago, Ritsuko Akagi was a little thin, but now she is well-proportioned and her figure is as good as his, and even younger than his.

I immediately felt threatened.

There would definitely not be such a feeling in the past, but now there is a big conflict between the two.

Fumihiko Ikari wants a child, but he doesn't want one for the time being.

“That’s really telling.”

Fumihiko Ikari naturally knew that Misato Katsuragi became like this because her heart was too empty.

"He is quite talkative, to the point of being noisy."

Although she said this, Ritsuko Akagi did not hate Misato Katsuragi.

All along, the only person around her who could communicate was her mother. No... Although the mother and daughter got along much better than in the original book because of Ikari Fumihiko, they still didn't have much communication. They could only be considered half a communication partner. Before she met Katsuragi Misato, the only person who could be called a communication partner was Ikari Fumihiko.

However, after Fumihiko Ikari left the prototype project and after Fumihiko Ikari started dating Megumi Ibuki, the contact between the two was almost cut off.

It’s not that we have lost the way to contact each other, but that we don’t know how to deal with the emotions in our hearts.

Although she likes reading and is used to being alone, it doesn't mean she likes to be alone.

That's why she didn't hate Misato Katsuragi even though she thought she was noisy. After all, she was at least someone she could communicate with.

Fumihiko Ikari seized the opportunity to speak his mind.

"That's a really interesting person. Take me to meet him if you have a chance."

This time, not only Ibuki Megumi felt strange, but even Akagi Ritsuko, who had been talking casually, raised her head for the first time and looked at Ikari Fumihiko in surprise, obviously not understanding what Ikari Fumihiko was going to do. But then she glanced at Ibuki Megumi, who had always been calm but now became a little absent-minded.

Are the two of them having a conflict?

wrong……

Are you trying to piss off the other person? No way! This is such a childish way to resolve a conflict.

Aren’t you really afraid that your cleverness might backfire?

Uh--

Now the point is... I was used, so I should be angry, right? Why am I not angry at all, but rather a little secretly happy?

After a moment of confusion, I realized that I had not truly let it go, which was why I was feeling restless inside.

"Of course you can, but if she can't come over, it seems like you can't go over either, right?"

If he had just traveled through time, Ikari Fumihiko would have been troubled by this kind of problem and wouldn't know how to deal with it. But now he has a solution without even having to think about it.

"Invite her to join us on our next outing."

Misato Katsuragi is just an ordinary student now. She cannot enter the underground base or the ground research institute, but there is no restriction in this regard in the field camp.

"If she has a boyfriend or friends, they can come along."

"Oh."

Akagi Ritsuko responded and then spoke again.

"I don't have a plan to contact her yet. I can only contact her after school starts."

The person Fumihiko Ikari wants to contact is not Misato Katsuragi, but Ryosuke Kaji. According to the original plot, the two may not be dating yet, so he is naturally not in a hurry.

"Then I'll wait for your news."

"okay."

Akagi Ritsuko responded and looked at Ibuki Megumi again.

It was noticed that Ibuki Huimi opened her mouth, as if she wanted to ask Ikari Fumihiko what he wanted to do, but in the end she didn't say anything.

Ikari Fumihiko was thinking about how to arrange it, so he didn't notice the change in Ibuki Megumi's expression, and he didn't even notice the change in expression on Akagi Ritsuko's face who had been talking.

The three people had different thoughts in their minds. Only Rei Ayanami's brain was trembling when facing the test paper. The CPU of the Ayanami network was almost smoking. This was because the other clones had no self-awareness, otherwise... being tortured by Rei Ayanami like this, they might have started to rebel at this moment. Even if they didn't rebel, they would cut off the 'network connection' and let the original body bear everything alone.

She really couldn't understand under what circumstances a swimming pool would be filled with water at the same time as it was being drained.

Isn't this sick?!

You can't wait until the water is drained before filling it up. If there is a problem with the swimming pool equipment, fix it before using it!

My heart is broken and my external brain is about to burn out.

If it was Coke, she could still understand it and wouldn't have such troubles... er, okay! Her worries were transferred to how much she could drink.

"Ah wu——"

Ayanami Rei's scream attracted the attention of the three people.

Ibuki Megumi and Akagi Ritsuko took one look and then looked away, not caring about Ayanami Rei's screams at all.

The former was thinking about what Fumihiko Ikari wanted to do, while the latter felt a little guilty.

Ikari Fumihiko was speechless.

Isn't it just a few math papers? Is it necessary to be so painful?

In the original book, you weren't like this when you were in school, right?

Uh.

It seems that in the original book, Li was just pretending to go to school and was not really learning any knowledge. She was just providing a way for the protagonist to communicate with her.

He turned a blind eye to Rei Ayanami's pleading look. As the saying goes, a childhood without the torture of studying is not a complete childhood. Well... okay! Mainly because he thought Rei Ayanami's current state looked very interesting.

16:59:26

284. If you can’t convince others, convince yourself

Ignoring Rei Ayanami, Fumihiko Ikari glanced at Ritsuko Akagi and then turned his attention back to the documents on the desk. Having achieved his goal, he didn't say anything. Ibuki Megumi was still beside him, so even if Ritsuko Akagi wanted to say something, she wouldn't take the initiative to talk in this situation.

The office fell silent again, of course, on the premise of ignoring Ayanami Rei's cries that sounded like a wounded animal.

Time passed by unknowingly and it was lunchtime. Ayanami Rei had a sad face while eating. She was tortured by math and couldn't even get motivated to do her usual favorite thing, eating.

"Lei wants to resume training."

EVA driving training is a bit hard, but at least it does not require much use of the brain. Well, even if you use the brain, it is not as painful as having your brain tremble.

how to say?

Fumihiko Ikari looked at Rei Ayanami and felt a kind of beauty in her that had not been contaminated by knowledge.

Well, it’s that kind of very primitive, empty-headed beauty.

Before he could say anything, Rei Ayanami spoke again.

"Li feels that she will not become a swimming pool manager in the future. She doesn't need to know how to drain and fill water at the same time to survive."

"No."

Fumihiko Ikari is very determined in this matter.

really--

Just like what Ayanami Rei said, if you want to drive EVA well you don't really need to master too much knowledge from textbooks. The power you can exert mainly depends on your own mental strength. It's just that the side effects of LCL liquid have not been resolved yet. Too much training can easily induce epilepsy. If you don't arrange some things for Ayanami Rei to do, you can't let her do nothing and play all day, right?

Rei Ayanami's face became even uglier, and she vented all her pain on eating.

The day passed quickly like this.

It was not until she returned to the dormitory at night that Ibuki Huimi could no longer control her emotions.

"What exactly do you want to do?"

Ikari Fumihiko looked confused, obviously not knowing why Ibuki Huimi asked this.

"doing what?"

Ibuki Huimi didn't know what to say for a moment. After all, the things she was thinking in her mind were just guesses, so the question on her lips finally turned into a sentence.

"nothing."

Ikari Fumihiko just felt confused and racked his brain to think about why Ibuki Megumi suddenly got upset.

After thinking for a while, I felt that there were only two things that made Ibuki Huimi upset.

One is the issue of children.

The second is the conversation I had with Ritsuko Akagi today.

He felt that the former was more likely, as it was the biggest conflict between the two at the moment. After all, the latter had just had a normal chat with Ritsuko Akagi and did not talk about any sensitive topics.

In fact, he could understand Ibuki Huimi's thoughts. This kind of precarious environment was indeed not suitable for having children. However, if the attack of the apostles could be concluded in the next two or three years, he would definitely not mention it too much. However, the attack of the apostles would not happen for another ten years, and by then he and Ibuki Huimi would be in their thirties.

Uh--

It doesn’t seem too late.

The completion of the Three Sages System brought about a technological explosion. Given the medical level at that time, there should be no problem in having a child when you are nearly 40 years old.

Am I too impatient?

Unable to find a way to convince Ibuki Emi, he could only choose to compromise.

"Well, I wanted to come here today. This situation is really not suitable for having a child."

If it were any other day, Ibuki Megumi would have believed it immediately, but after the conversation between Ikari Fumihiko and Akagi Ritsuko in the morning, she couldn't tell whether Ikari Fumihiko was telling the truth. But since Ikari Fumihiko had already said so, she couldn't remain indifferent at the moment, so she took the opportunity to express her concerns.

"There is part of my grandfather's soul inside the prototype. I am worried that if I have a child, the higher-ups will choose him as an EVA pilot... and he will go to the battlefield to fight the enemy..."

After hearing this, Ikari Fumihiko naturally felt that Ibuki Huimei was overthinking. Did she really think EVA was a toy? Anyone could be a pilot.

Of course he couldn't say that.

"Well, no hurry, let's think about the baby after everything is over."

Ibuki Huimi nodded. Although she was still concerned about the fact that Fumihiko Ikari invited Ritsuko Akagi's friends to go out for a trip, she couldn't say anything more since things had already come to this point.

It's still early, and the three of them are sitting together on the sofa in the living room watching the TV series on TV.

Most of the TV dramas shot and broadcast in Japan before the Second Impact had a feeling of "our journey is to the stars and the sea", and they felt that the future would get better and better. However, the TV dramas broadcast on TV now were all shot after the Second Impact, and the whole drama is shrouded in a sense of sadness that the world is about to be destroyed.

I don't have much sense of substitution for Fumihiko Ikari and Rei Ayanami, who are out of tune with this era. I just watch it for fun and don't think the show is that good.

Ibuki Huimei, however, was fascinated by the scene.

Moreover, the drama had a very high viewership rating outside of Japan, and captured the hearts of most of the Japanese people who survived the Second Impact.

Before going to bed, Fumihiko Ikari felt that feeling again in his heart.

Ever since Ikari Yui disappeared in the accident, life has become completely leisurely and dull. The sense of urgency he once had is completely gone, and even the pressure on him seems to have faded. Of course, he knows that the reason for this is that when Ikari Yui was the director, most of the urgent matters were handled, and the top management transferred those sensitive research to other bases outside.

Time passed quickly in the dull life, and another month went by with Rei Ayanami's cries of grief.

This day was no different from any other day, as they still lived under the concrete sky. However, Ritsuko Akagi returned to school after the holiday, so Rei Ayanami's study pressure was relieved a little. However, Ritsuko Akagi and Misato Katsuragi were students after all, and they had to focus on their studies, so the camping trip had not been confirmed yet.

Dr. Ito brought good news. After a year and a half, a solution to the side effects of LCL liquid was finally found.

Upon hearing this news, Rei Ayanami was undoubtedly the happiest one, feeling that she could finally escape from this sea of ​​suffering called mathematics.

Fumihiko Ikari was not surprised by this. This research had been delayed for too long. To him, it made no difference whether the problem was solved today or a year later. After all, even Rei Ayanami, who was the most dependent on LCL liquid, seldom came into contact with it on a daily basis. Of course, the main reason for his opinion was that time had proven that as long as one did not soak in LCL liquid for a long time every day, it would be difficult to be "infected" with epilepsy.

Reducing Rei Ayanami's training frequency is just to be on the safe side.