Chapter 200: You Want to Night-Raid an Astartes?

“I’ve put your school uniform outside, Rei. Head back to your room immediately after your bath.”

“Don’t you dare go into my bedroom, and don’t touch any of my things. If you do, I won’t let you off—do you hear me?”

Rei Ayanami warned him from behind the bathroom door. She really had no other choice but to give up her own room and squeeze in with Asuka for the night. This Kaworu Nagisa was too much of a threat; every single word he said delighted Shinji. No wonder Asuka called him a sycophant.

“Rei Ayanami, aren’t you going to stay and talk to me for a bit?” Kaworu lay comfortably in the bathtub. This Rei was really something—she’d even lined the tub with a layer of disposable plastic film, looking for all the world like she was afraid he’d contaminate her belongings.

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“Heh, you really are different from the doll I once saw. More like a human. Only humans have flaws; being too perfect makes you less human.” Hearing no retreating footsteps, Kaworu smiled and continued, “To be accurate, your hostility is different from the Second Child’s. Are you unwilling to let me help Shinji-kun open the Gates of Guf?”

There was no answer, but Kaworu could feel the girl leaning against the wall by the bathroom door, along with her complex thoughts.

“Selfishness and selflessness are always a contradiction. You know that even without me, Shinji-kun would find a way to open the gate. Sometimes, being overly resolute is a bad thing for those around you. There are some things you cannot shake, no matter what you do.”

Shinji was indeed different from before, but his core loyalty remained unchanged. It was impossible for him to forget his mission for the sake of private desires, which was exactly what made Rei so conflicted.

“The will of the Negative Universe is awakening. Before long, even this freedom of mine will be stripped away. As the vessel of Lilith, do you want to keep your own hands clean and stay out of it?”

“I don’t think that way, but Ikari-kun can live, and Asuka and the others are here to accompany him.” Rei finally spoke; she found it easier to communicate certain things with Kaworu, whose essence was similar to her own.

“Just as Dr. Akagi said, you were born with a martyr’s desire, but that is wrong.” The smile vanished from Kaworu’s face, turning serious. “This is the meaning of Shinji-kun’s existence. You cannot stop it, and you certainly shouldn’t undermine it in secret.”

“I haven’t done that.”

“But you are thinking about it. Do you know why I came here?” Kaworu raised his hand, watching water droplets trickle down his forearm. “I wanted to experience freedom in the most reckless way possible, even if just for a moment. If I stay here, the next Angel will not come.”

Rei blinked, suddenly realizing that as long as Kaworu stayed in Neo Tokyo-3, according to the framework of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the 17th Angel would never arrive. She took a breath.

“But this peaceful daily life is a lie. If the source isn’t resolved, it will only cause fate to gallop toward an unpredictable direction. That’s why I won’t stay long.” Kaworu quickly shattered her fantasy, his logic just as irrefutable.

“Shinji-kun knows this, but he doesn’t say it. What a gentle person. It makes me envy you even more—after all, you have a place in the future he is planning.”

Rei was immediately pleased, but then she frowned. “Don’t flatter me. I know what kind of person Ikari-kun is better than you do. He is the one born with a martyr’s desire.”

‘To achieve his goal, an Astartes wouldn’t blink at a suicide charge or self-detonation. Even a moment of hesitation would be a mark of disloyalty.’

And then there was that crucial question: if Shinji finished his mission, what would happen if there was another task? After hearing so many of his stories, Rei actually felt a bit of resentment toward the Imperium of Man.

Fighting, endless slaughter, one mission after another, until death. Never able to rest—it was ten thousand times worse than being in prison.

“That is why you must work hard to make the future he planned a reality. I can feel Shinji-kun’s hesitation and conflict. You have already been truly remarkable.”

“Are you teaching me how to do my job?”

“No, merely pointing out a future.” Kaworu sat upright in the tub and said what he wanted to say most today:

“Rei Ayanami, what you should be struggling with isn’t whether or not to hinder Shinji-kun from completing his mission, but how to keep him after he finishes. The future has always been in Shinji-kun’s hands. I hope that at some point, because of you all, he will make a choice more in line with everyone’s wishes—to transform from an incomparably loyal Astartes into a true human. That is Shinji Ikari’s final ‘Instrumentality.'”

His gentle voice echoed in the bathroom, accompanied by the dripping of water. There was no reply; the girl had already quietly left. Kaworu smiled and lay back in the tub.

‘Is this what heartburn feels like? Is this the complex emotion of humans?’

He enjoyed this feeling. In the timelines he had seen, these kinds of frustrations occupied such a small proportion. This story was twisted, cold, cruel, and depressing most of the time;

everyone struggled in a painful hell, their AT Fields shattering in collisions, as if that were the only way to become one and return to the Sea of Life.

‘It’s warm enough now.’

He closed his eyes, feeling the warm water brush over his body. It was miraculous, because while the world was more dangerous and uncontrollable now, a large part of the story’s theme was still occupied by peaceful daily life.

By all logic, in every reincarnation, by the final stage, these people should have either died or gone insane.

Kaworu liked Asuka, who kept finding trouble for him; he liked Rei struggling between the greater good and selfishness; he liked Misato Katsuragi being tormented by her conscience every day; and he liked that bad woman, Ritsuko Akagi, plotting her conspiracies.

And there was Gendo, that MADAO-like Commander, Yui Ikari, who urged Shinji to mint coins all day, and Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu, who kept cheering for Asuka…

“Fate has changed because of you, and I was born because of you. Shinji-kun, just a little more, and we can draw a warm conclusion to this story.”

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Rei Ayanami walked on tiptoe into the bedroom. Asuka’s room was a converted storage room, piled high with suitcases.

She was heavy-hearted, Kaworu’s words still lingering in her mind. She had to admit that he was truly formidable; he had made her waver in just a few sentences.

‘Because he is right. I shouldn’t be struggling over whether to let Ikari-kun open the gate—that can’t be stopped anyway. I should be thinking about how to get him to make a choice that favors us. After so much preparation, it’s already possible.

So that Kaworu came to help me?’

Rei tilted her head in a daze, truly not understanding what Kaworu wanted to do. She simply looked at the bed and reached out to pat someone’s backside.

“Ouch! I was almost asleep. Why did you hit me?”

“Stop pretending. If you were really asleep, your sleeping posture would be on par with Misato-san’s. Have you been waiting for me this whole time?”

Exposed, the “Lady Asuka,” having undergone her own “Instrumentality,” didn’t blush at all. She sat up immediately and asked excitedly:

“You came back so late—did you deal with that stalker properly? Like putting laundry detergent in his bathwater or something?”

“Why would I do something as childish as that?” Rei looked at her, speechless. Ever since the “Instrumentality” was achieved, Asuka had let herself go and no longer pretended to be an adult like before.

“I talked to him. Maybe we should let it be; I feel like this Kaworu might be here to help.”

“Nanii?” Asuka’s voice went up an octave. She knelt on the bed. “This Kaworu is a psychic, right? He fooled you in three sentences. Where did that strong spirit of yours go? Pull yourself together!”

“I just think what he said makes sense.”

“What did he say?”

Rei opened her mouth, then suddenly realized Asuka knew too little, and she didn’t know where to start explaining. She could only mumble:

“Let’s just do it this way for now. He won’t be staying long anyway.”

“I really shouldn’t have had such high expectations of you. Sleep!” Asuka huffily lay back down, feeling very depressed.

‘I have to keep an eye on you, I have to keep an eye on Ritsuko Akagi, and I have to keep an eye on that Kaworu. I wouldn’t be able to handle it even if I knew the Shadow Clone Jutsu.’

Rei shook her head and lay down beside her. She saw Asuka immediately turn halfway, facing away from her, and blinking her eyes gently.

‘Is Ikari-kun just on the other side of this wall?’

“Hey, there’s something I want to ask you.”

“Speak.”

“You live so close to Ikari-kun, why are you so… well-behaved?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? Don’t have wild thoughts in the middle of the night. Go to sleep.”

‘Wait a minute, aren’t there night-raid options in games? Does Asuka really not know that?’

Rei couldn’t fall asleep at all, staring at the strange ceiling. It wasn’t long before she heard snoring beside her. A foot was pressed across her waist, and Asuka was mumbling in her sleep: “No… stupid Shinji… hold me tight… let’s persecute that blockhead together…”

‘She really isn’t well-behaved at all.’

Rei rolled her eyes. She wanted to record it, but after waiting a few minutes, she gingerly pried the leg off her waist, quietly got up, and went out.

The corridor was pitch black, save for the silver moonlight shining in from the window. Three meters away was the door painted with the emblem of the Blood Raven. Rei looked around sneakily and walked on tiptoe.

‘I don’t have any ulterior motives. I just want to see what Ikari-kun’s room looks like.’

She squeezed her fist, found a justification for herself, placed her hand on the door handle, and gave it a gentle turn.

‘Unlocked? Have they been living together every day without realizing this?’

Rei was suspicious, but even more delighted. She poked her head inside. She saw only a dim light, and before she could see the room’s furnishings, everything went black before her eyes.

“Rei, is something the matter?”

She looked up in astonishment to see Shinji standing at the doorway, looking down at her, wearing his usual white short-sleeved shirt and black trousers.

The feeling of being caught on the spot made her blush instantly, and her mouth became clumsy.

“I-Ikari-kun, you’re not asleep yet?”

“No, I was asleep, but I was startled awake.” Shinji looked at the girl and reminded her: “Remember to knock next time you come looking for me. My room is very dangerous; do not approach it lightly.”

“A-all right. Good night.” Rei turned and ran, but stopped cold when she turned her head.

On the left was Asuka, rubbing her eyes; on the right was Misato, disheveled and clutching her stomach. Six eyes met, and the atmosphere became incredibly awkward.

‘You deserve it. Thinking of night-raiding an Astartes? If you had actually succeeded, Shinji would’ve had to die of shame by bashing his head against the wall.’

Rei read the message in their gazes. In the moonlight, her fair face was bright red. She finally understood that these two weren’t “well-behaved”—they were simply incapable of it.

‘Night-raiding an Astartes? If that could succeed, Shinji’s recruit instructor would die of shame.’

Fortunately, having been tempered for so long, Rei was no longer her former self. She immediately adopted a dazed and innocent expression.

“I got up to use the restroom. What are you two doing here?”

“Er, I… I also got up to use the restroom.”

“Me too.”

The three of them looked at each other awkwardly, then walked toward the restroom together.

“Then… shall we… go together?”