I participated in the development of EVA

What a familiar sentence pattern! Fumihiko Ikari sighed in his heart.

If there was really nothing, why would he suddenly send a message to me?

Just as he was thinking about how to reply, Ritsuko Akagi sent him a message first.

[Can we meet and chat? ]

【it is good. 】

After hesitating for a while, Fumihiko Ikari finally agreed.

Without waiting for Ritsuko Akagi to tell the address, he took the initiative to confirm it.

【It’s at the supercomputing center. 】

【Um. 】

Fumihiko Ikari put away his phone, stood up and was about to leave, then took a look at Rei Ayanami's room.

Rei Ayanami was lying in the medical cabin, receiving body adjustments. She still had the problem that if she didn't receive treatment for a long time, her body would collapse into LCL. After many analyses by the Three Sages System, the possibility he agreed with the most was that there was no defect in Rei Ayanami's genes, but an unknown defect in her AT field.

In the past, he would have no worries about leaving at night, even if Rei Ayanami was the only one at home.

The mentality is different now.

He took out his cell phone and sent a text message to Saori Hashimoto.

【Come here for a moment. I have to go back to work overtime. 】

【Yes. 】

Not long after, Saori Hashimoto arrived.

"minister."

"Are you okay tonight?"

"fine."

"Then you stay here tonight and watch over me. I need to go back to the project team to work overtime."

"Yes."

Before leaving, Ikari Fumihiko was still a little embarrassed. After all, it was already time to get off work. He thought for a while before speaking, "Your sister is safe with Dr. Ito, don't worry. You don't have to do anything here at night, just have a good sleep. Prepare breakfast for Li tomorrow, then take a day off and go to the ground to see your sister."

"Yes."

There was no expression of sadness or joy on Saori Hashimoto's face, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

"Li, get treatment in your room. You don't have to worry about anything unless she wakes up and looks for someone."

"it is good."

Looking at Ikari Fumihiko's departing back, Hashimoto Saori returned to the dormitory.

She first went to Rei Ayanami's bedroom to check the situation. She stood there, looking at the girl who was immersed in the orange-yellow liquid like a sleeping beauty. She didn't know Rei Ayanami's situation, but she knew that she was an EVA pilot. The reason why she was stunned was not because she was surprised at how Rei Ayanami could maintain her breathing while immersed in water, but because...

Instead, it was the orange-yellow liquid in the treatment chamber.

"Is this the water of life? It looks just like orange juice."

She knew some records about LCL, but compared to the name LCL, she preferred the name Water of Life.

Because the daily medication prescribed by the medical staff here contains LCL, which relieves the symptoms of the slow organ failure caused by the long-term coma of the sister. However, the LCL used by the sister on a daily basis is only a small bag a month, and now Ayanami Rei is completely immersed in LCL, as if LCL is free.

It was precisely because of this contrast that she stood there in a daze.

She wondered if her sister would recover faster if she could receive the same level of medical treatment, while she walked outside to tidy up the messy living room.

……

……

Fumihiko Ikari saw Ritsuko Akagi at the gate of the research area.

She stood against the wall, looking a little depressed, but compared to her mental state, Ikari Fumihiko was more concerned about another thing.

This scene was very similar to the scene when I first came to the research institute, Ikari Gendō, to welcome me.

"Let's go."

Ikari Fumihiko said this as he passed by Akagi Ritsuko.

Ritsuko Akagi nodded and followed.

Ever since NERV took over the research institute, the security measures here have become stricter than before. Under normal circumstances, anyone who wants to pass through this gate must swipe their own card to pass through, unless there is a special order. It cannot be limited to one person per card. Even members of Naoko Akagi's level cannot make exceptions.

The security guard standing at the gate turned a blind eye to Ikari Fumihiko swiping his card for Akagi Ritsuko.

The reason is simple. The power change brought about by NERV will not affect Fumihiko Ikari.

The two of them came to the supercomputing center again in silence.

Looking at the silent Akagi Ritsuko, Ikari Fumihiko asked with some difficulty after seeing this scene.

"What to drink?"

"coffee."

"Canister type?"

"Ah."

Fumihiko Ikari got up and went to the vending machine in the corridor outside to take out two cans of coffee.

After he put down his coffee, he spoke again.

"You were fine just now, weren't you? It's only been a short time since we last met, how come you've become like this?"

Ritsuko Akagi looked at Fumihiko Ikari.

Her mother started to show more concern for her from the day when Fumihiko Ikari invited her and her to go camping.

Compared to love affairs, she now wants to know what she can do to make her mother pay more attention to her. In fact, she had the idea of ​​discussing this matter with Ikari Fumihiko a long time ago, but she felt that it was too intimate for the two of them to discuss this, which could easily lead to misunderstandings, so she had suppressed this idea to avoid suspicion.

It wasn't until today that her mother started to care about her again that she couldn't control herself.

He took a big sip of coffee and took a deep breath before speaking.

"What can I do to satisfy my mother... Wen Yan, I really want to know why I have tried so hard! Why is my mother unwilling to pay more attention to me?"

18:08:58

460. Give you a higher level of difficulty

What Ritsuko Akagi said actually did not surprise Fumihiko Ikari.

It is precisely because of this desire for maternal love that in the original work, Ritsuko Akagi was exploited by Gendō Ikari because she was curious about why her mother fell in love with this man.

At this time, he didn't know what to say, and could only comfort her based on his own understanding.

"It's not that she doesn't love you, she just expresses it in a more subtle way."

"But I feel like I am somewhat dispensable to my mother. She only remembers me occasionally."

Fumihiko Ikari had no intention of doing things half-heartedly.

The reason why he was so attentive was not because Akagi Ritsuko might become a breakthrough for others to steal the Three Sages System, but because the two of them had known each other for three years.

The only person who can be called a friend in this world is Ritsuko Akagi.

Without waiting for him to speak, Ritsuko Akagi seemed to open up and continued talking.

"It wasn't like this when we were kids. She obviously cared about me and paid attention to me back then."

Although Fumihiko Ikari knew about the life of Ritsuko Akagi, a character who played a relatively large role in the original novel, there was not much relevant information in the plot, and he didn't know what to say for a while.

"Did I do something wrong? If not, why did she become like this..."

There was already a hint of crying in his voice.

Ikari Fumihiko handed over a tissue.

Ritsuko Akagi ignored her and continued to ask.

"Can you help me find out why?"

Ikari Fumihiko did not speak, but continued to organize his thoughts. After a while, he thought of the key point of the matter.

"It's not that you did anything wrong."

"What is that? It's not my fault, why doesn't she want to look at me any more?"

"She's just not good at expressing herself."

Without waiting for Ritsuko Akagi to speak, Fumihiko Ikari continued to ask a question in return.

"Think carefully about when your mother started to pay less attention to you."

Ritsuko Akagi was not simply expressing her emotions, but hoped that Fumihiko Ikari could help her solve this problem.

So she lowered her head and thought seriously.

"It was after the second impact that everything changed."

Ikari Fumihiko sighed in his heart.

Sure enough, in this world, the cracks in everyone's heart are closely related to the second impact.

Although he felt emotional, he knew that this was not the point.

"Be more specific."

"..."

Ritsuko Akagi fell silent again, and from her even sadder expression, she realized what Fumihiko Ikari was asking, and she also understood where the problem lay between her and her mother.

Ikari Fumihiko handed over the tissue again.

"If you want to solve a problem, you can't avoid it. Only by facing it can you solve the confusion in your heart."

Ritsuko Akagi said it with difficulty.

"It was after my father died..."

Her father's death was something she had never wanted to face.

She spoke again in a trembling voice.

"Is it because every time she sees me, she remembers... my father's death? No wonder... my mother has become like this..."

Although her voice was resolute and seemed to have made up her mind, her eyes and the expression on her face were like a drowning person, begging Ikari Fumihiko to save her.

Fumihiko Ikari did not disappoint Ritsuko Akagi and gave a different opinion.

"Yes and no. This situation does exist, but it is more because she doesn't know how to express her love."

Ritsuko Akagi didn't quite understand.

He continued to explain his thoughts.

"To be precise, she hasn't learned how to express her love."

"You mean the mother has mild autism?"

Hearing this, Ikari Fumihiko was stunned for a moment. Akagi Naoko really looked a little autistic. No! All the people who survived the Second Impact had autistic tendencies to a greater or lesser extent.

"You know so little about your mother."

"I……"

Ritsuko Akagi wanted to refute, but she didn't know how to refute. She really didn't know much about her mother.

Fumihiko Ikari pulled up Naoko Akagi's file from the computer nearby and gestured to Ritsuko Akagi to look at it while he spoke.

"Your grandparents have a strong desire for control. No, it should be said that Professor Akagi was used as a tool for family marriage from the moment she was born. This is the education she received from childhood to adulthood. She had no choice and did not know whether she should resist. Even her choice of biology in college was arranged by her family. She grew up under the control of her parents. To put it bluntly...

She is just a puppet controlled by others.

She was very lucky. The person she was marrying was someone who truly loved her. Your father made this doll of hers have her own emotions. As she clumsily learned to love little by little, the second shock occurred before she could learn. She was used to living by relying on others, and suddenly she became alone and lost her composure. Apart from scientific research, she was not good at dealing with other things.

This is the fundamental reason why she is obsessed with research and ignores you."

These are his personal understandings of Naoko Akagi, and are not recorded in the archives, but they match Naoko Akagi's life trajectory.

Ritsuko Akagi stood there in a daze, digesting what Fumihiko Ikari said.