The Trash Returned from Warhammer

The setting sun dyed the streets golden as students of the First Municipal Middle School walked along the road in groups of twos and threes.

Rei Ayanami followed half a step behind Shinji as usual. The ”expressionless girl” remained stoic, yet she kept casting glances behind them. A certain fuming girl was trailing them from a hundred meters away like a hunter, staring at their backs with a gloomy, lingering gaze.

”Did you make the Second Child angry again?”

”It wasn’t intentional, but it’s become part of the daily routine.”

Shinji spread his hands and recounted the events on the rooftop. He wasn’t quite sure why his attempt at ”psychological counseling” had veered so far off track.

Rei listened quietly. Ever since Asuka joined their small circle, their peaceful life had become boisterous. Asuka was always looking for trouble like a fighting cock, yet she was the one who ended up defeated every single time.

”She is jealous of me.”

”Why? You don’t actually believe she harbors some kind of romantic affection for me, do you?”

”Not necessarily. It is simply pure jealousy—as if by doing this, she can reclaim her self-esteem.”

Rei was a keen observer of people, yet even she couldn’t accurately describe exactly what the Second Child was trying to achieve. It was a twisted, complex emotion—a mixture of unwilling resentment and gratitude.

”So, do you hate her?”

”I do not. We still have to face the Angels together. Besides, the Second Child has one virtue: she does not hold grudges.”

’Is that so?’

Shinji turned his head to see the girl staring blankly ahead, her crimson eyes reflecting the blood-red sunset. He lightly rubbed his temples. Managing things from behind the scenes while trying to maintain squad unity was quite a hassle.

”As long as there are no issues with the overall direction, let her be with these small interludes.”

”Is that an order?”

”Rei, you wouldn’t be angry with me too, would you?”

”Not. At. All.”

They were indeed two opposites, yet both were equally difficult to handle. Asuka would vent her emotions even if it yielded no benefit; Rei, on the other hand, would simmer in silent resentment, her icy exterior radiating a powerful sense of pressure.

A normal person could absolutely never handle these two; it required far more than just being thick-skinned.

Fortunately, Shinji wasn’t a normal person.

Meeting silence with silence—who would be the one to feel awkward?

.

.

.

’Damn it, those two looking all lovey-dovey makes me look like such a third wheel!’

Asuka poked half her head out from behind a utility pole, gritting her teeth. She told herself she didn’t have ”those kinds of feelings” for Shinji and even somewhat regretted moving in with them.

There was no way to avoid him even if she wanted to, and she wasn’t the type to just take things lying down. She had intended to get along, but her temper flared up uncontrollably every time.

As for where that fire came from, her reasoning was simple:

’I want to win.’

If she couldn’t win against that graceless idiot, she at least had to be a step above that ”doll”—on every single level.

”Hmph, if I hadn’t arrived late, I would have put him in his place long ago. That doll is just wasting her opportunities; she doesn’t know the first thing about making a move.”

The thought of those two at home, acting as if no one else were there, made her extremely uncomfortable.

’You two play ’lap-pillow’ and I’m supposed to be the camera?’

”Yo, Asuka.”

Just as she was thinking, a greeting came from behind. She turned around irritably, truly in no mood to deal with some brat, but her face instantly lit up with joy when she saw the newcomer.

”Kaji-senpai!”

She cheered and skipped over, looking innocent and adorable. ”Senpai, why haven’t you come to see me lately? Do you know how detestable that Shinji Ikari is? He makes me so mad I’m about to go berserk every day!”

Looking at the girl rambling on like she was acting spoiled with a father figure, Ryoji Kaji pursed his lips slightly, thinking to himself that this time he wouldn’t even have to guide the conversation.

”I’ve been a bit busy lately. By the way, there’s a new cake shop nearby. Want to go try it?”

”Yes!”

Asuka agreed immediately, then suddenly pulled out her phone. ”Let me tell Misato.”

She began to make the call, making a point to emphasize, ”I’m having dinner with Mr. Kaji tonight.” Her tone sounded like she was showing off, mixed with a bit of ”if that guy comes to beg me, I won’t go” hard-to-get tactics.

Kaji listened from the side, his forehead covered in invisible black lines.

’That’s certainly some aggro being drawn.’

Then, he suddenly fell into thought.

’Misato hasn’t been paying any attention to me lately.’

He had come to NERV with a mission, naturally planning to start his infiltration through Misato Katsuragi. However, she seemed to have lost interest in him, giving him no openings at all.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously looked up, only to see a dark-haired youth standing on the pedestrian bridge, silently watching him. The blood-red sunset hung behind him like an oil painting. The youth’s gaze held no emotion whatsoever.

Ignoring his age, he was colder, more mature, more reliable—carrying the pressure of a superior.

’Hiss... Misato, surely she wouldn’t...’

”Kaji-senpai, let’s go! Hey, what are you looking at?” Asuka hopped over.

”I’m looking at...” Kaji reached out, but the bridge was empty. It was as if it had been a hallucination in the sunset. He couldn’t help a bitter smile. ”Nothing. Let’s go.”

The two soon arrived at the new cake shop near the bridge. Perhaps because most Angels hadn’t managed to break into Tokyo-3, commercial activity had become more vibrant; after all, the influx of military personnel had brought business opportunities.

Kaji ordered an orange juice and drank it silently, watching the girl across from him kick her legs while complaining like a machine gun. Ninety percent of her words were related to Shinji.

’This is for the best. Commander Ikari has given me quite the difficult problem.’

Gendo Ikari had tasked him with uncovering Shinji’s true colors, and Kaji immediately thought of Asuka, because he too felt something was ”off” about NERV.

It felt as though a third power existed. Like the secret reports the Security Department submitted to SEELE—everything was the truth, yet it always felt like they were downplaying the important parts. He had contacted a few other planted spies, and they were doing the same.

This was very strange. Logically, these spies didn’t belong to the same chain of command. In the process, he had discovered more secrets.

SEELE’s infiltration of NERV was deep, but it hadn’t originally been this exaggerated. The old men could find almost no fault with Gendo Ikari’s work. As for when the change occurred—it was when Shinji Ikari made his spectacular debut. His overwhelming power had triggered SEELE’s suspicion.

”Kaji-senpai, are you even listening!?”

The table was lightly tapped. Asuka pouted, looking quite cute in this moment.

”Sorry, I was just thinking about some things.” Kaji smiled slightly and followed up with a question: ”Asuka, do you feel there is anything particularly strange about Shinji-kun?”

”You should ask what isn’t strange about that idiot! He’s not even an Earthling!”

Asuka grew angry just talking about it. Who pulls a beautiful girl out at 6:00 AM on a day off for physical training? Who draws up a daily schedule for her?

But the most frustrating part was that every time she wanted to flip the table, she ended up chickening out under that cold gaze.

Unexpectedly, Kaji didn’t join in the insults. He raised an eyebrow, looking focused. ”Did Shinji-kun ever say where his change came from?”

”The Emperor.”

Asuka looked around sneakily before lowering her voice: ”A person called ’the Emperor.’ Here, look at this.”

She pulled out a photo taken secretly from behind. It showed Shinji kneeling on one knee, praying devoutly before a sculpture. The sculpture depicted a man with a majestic face wearing golden armor.

Kaji narrowed his eyes. He had seen reports from the Pilots’ Psychological Department mentioning a psychological suggestion called ”the Emperor.” Now, it didn’t look like a mere suggestion.

Whose psychological suggestion results in such a specific physical image? But if it wasn’t a fantasy... could Shinji-kun have traveled to another world to train and come back completely different?

No way. The monitoring reports only showed a gap of two days. What could someone train in just two days?

”Did Shinji-kun say where this Emperor is?”

”He did. Somewhere called ’Holy Terra.’ He sits on a Golden Throne forever to protect humanity. Haha, isn’t that just sitting on a toilet?”

Asuka laughed, thinking that idiot had quite the imagination—why not write a novel? But as she said it, her expression tightened.

”By the way, don’t leak this. I’m afraid of getting a beating.”

Kaji, however, became even more serious. As a super spy, he also had a wild imagination. ”Tell me everything you know about these fantasies of Shinji-kun’s.”

Unexpectedly, Asuka frowned, looking dissatisfied. ”Kaji-senpai, why do you keep mentioning that idiot? Is he in some kind of trouble?”

She wasn’t stupid; she knew Kaji belonged to the Inspection Department.

’Tsk. Got too curious and exposed my objective.’

”No trouble, just some personal interest.” Kaji immediately became alert and transitioned the topic seamlessly: ”Asuka, you wouldn’t happen to have fallen for Shinji-kun, would you?”

BANG!

Sure enough, Asuka instantly lost her wariness. She slammed the table and stood up, ignoring the stares of everyone else, and shouted at the top of her lungs:

”Impossible! I will never like that graceless idiot!”

The gazes of those around them immediately locked onto Kaji, as if looking at a creep involved in a student-teacher romance, causing him to smile helplessly.

’Asuka’s ability to draw aggro is just too strong.’

He smiled, not taking the triggered girl’s words to heart at all; one day Asuka would figure out the difference. He continued to guide the conversation.

”But you were worried just now.”

”I... I just owe him a favor.”

”But from the start, you’ve done nothing but talk about Shinji-kun.”

”I—I was just venting! Yes, venting! Can’t you see I’m at odds with him all day long?”

”In my student days, there were always girls who liked to play pranks on boys. That was to get the boy’s attention. People who truly have no interest don’t even have the desire to acknowledge someone.”

Asuka’s expression suddenly became dazed.

It was true—even though they bickered all day, she had never ignored Shinji.

’No! I’m only doing it to win!’

She stomped her foot, snorted coldly, grabbed her bag, and left. Her expression was icy; this time she was truly angry.

’See? I can make you truly angry with just a few words.’

Kaji smiled indifferently. He never took Asuka’s words seriously because they were false—nothing more than a girl’s search for paternal love.

”I’ll have to make it up to her later. But Shinji-kun... your ’psychological suggestion’ feels more like the truth. Did you never plan on hiding it from the start?”

His gaze deepened, and the smile on his face gradually turned bitter.

If a person is unwilling to hide their secrets, they are either incredibly stupid, incredibly arrogant, or—

Kaji suddenly felt a fatal threat. He looked around but couldn’t see where the source was.

’Or he has become so powerful that there is simply no need.’

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