The day after the defeat of the Fifth Apostle, Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara called Shinji Ikari, who had just arrived at the school, to the back of the school building early in the morning, bowed to him 90 degrees, and said very solemnly and loudly:

"Ikati-san, thank you for saving us yesterday!

Also, I'm so sorry for the trouble I caused you yesterday! ”

"Ah, this ......"

Although he had already guessed the intention of these two people to call him out, Shinji Ikari, who received gratitude from others for the first time, was still a little overwhelmed, and some of the girlish and delicate faces also turned a little red.

"It's not just me who works, but also Ayana......"

Shinji Ikari raised his right hand and gently scratched his cheek with his index finger, humbly saying rather embarrassedly, but before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Kensuke Aida, who was wearing a pair of large glasses.

"Ayana? Is it the same Rei Ayanami in our class?

Could it be that she was the one who drove the giant orange robot yesterday and stabbed the knife into the red ball on the monster's chest? ”

"Ah...... Although this seems to be a secret, but she is right, and there is a black ...... Gogen is also an EVA driver, but her body seems to be still being manufactured. ”

Shinji Ikari leaned back slightly from his upper body, distanced himself from Kensuke Aida, who was about to put his freckled face on his face, and answered the question of the young man with glasses with a somewhat troubled smile.

Although Shinji's expression was "helpless", he seemed to be enjoying the feeling now, and even ignored the discipline of secrecy and revealed the identities of the other EVA drivers to unrelated people.

But to be honest, it's not a big deal, and no one will punish Shinji Ikari for this, and silence the "unrelated people" who hear the secrets that are not at all high.

"Five watches? Yes...... It's the long-haired girl who has been with Ayanami all the time, right?

These two girls are too reticent in the class and are together everywhere they go, making it difficult for others to talk to the two of them.

But Ikari-san, it should be fine, right? After all, you are all drivers of giant robots...... It's called EVA, right?

By the way, can we call you Shinji? It's always Ikati-sang's feelings that I'm too alienated.

Please also be sure to address us by name. ”

Kensuke Aida, who is very familiar, spoke like a machine gun, so that Shinji Ikari had no chance to refuse, but the other party's friendly request was not necessary, so Shinji Ikari nodded a little embarrassed.

"That...... I haven't actually spoken to them a few times......

Ah......h

After Shinji Ikari agreed to the other party's request to be called by his first name, he realized that he didn't remember the full names of the two classmates at all, and the freckled man in front of him seemed to have the surname "Aida", but what was the name of the person who came with him......

Kensuke Aida, who is quite enthusiastic, saw Shinji Ikari's embarrassment, so he took the initiative to extend his hand to him and formally introduced himself again:

"I'm Kensuke Aida, and he's Toji Suzuhara.

Please take care of me in the future, Shinji. ”

"Ah...... I'm Shinji Ikari, so please take care of me in the future. ”

Shinji Ikari lowered his head slightly, and was embarrassed to hold Kensuke Aida's hand, saying something that was rare with a bit of sincerity, and then took the initiative to nod to Toji Suzuhara next to Kensuke Aida.

"Ahem......"

Toji Suzuhara, who didn't speak again except for the apology just now, cleared his throat, then turned his face to the side, and said to Shinji with his neck awake:

"You, hello, and ...... I also have to apologize for the previous hatred towards you, I'm sorry! ”

After saying the words of apology, Toji Suzuhara bent down with relief and bowed deeply to Shinji Ikari again, making Shinji Ikari feel inexplicable.

"Ah...... Hate attitude or something......"

"Just let him apologize, when everyone just knew your identity, when I pulled you over and asked you this and that, wasn't this guy's expression very unfriendly? There's a reason for that.

Toji's sister was hiding at home while Eva was fighting the previous monster, and their home happened to be affected by the battle, and his sister was seriously injured and is still being treated in the hospital. ”

After listening to Kensuke Aida's explanation, Shinji Ikari understood why the classmate in front of him, whom he had never met, was hostile to him for no reason.

Knowing that the other party didn't show such an expression to himself because he was born annoying, Shinji Ikari felt relieved, but when he thought that the other party's sister was injured, it was because he was too useless sitting on the first plane at the time, and he felt very sorry for the other party and the other party's sister...... And the relatives of the other party.

"Hmm...... If it weren't for my family asking the doctor, we wouldn't have known that it was Senior Colonel Chu Xuan who transferred my sister to the internal hospital of NERV, and I was saved by you now......

In addition, I also found those two girls who knew Senior Colonel Chu Xuan before, and asked them to thank Senior Colonel Chu Xuan on my behalf, but their response was quite cold, and they just said to me, 'It's not too much, no thanks', so now I will thank you all the time!" ”

Toji Suzuhara took Aida's words and personally explained to Shinji Ikari that during this time his waist was still bent stubbornly, and he probably wouldn't straighten up again until he received formal forgiveness from Shinji Ikari.

"Ah...... I see, please stand up quickly, I have forgiven you.

And...... Although I am also an EVA driver, I am not the guardian of the two girls, I am not Senior Colonel Chu Xuan, and I haven't even spoken to him much, so this gratitude should not fall on my head. ”

Speaking of this, Shinji's eyes showed a rather complicated expression.

He remembered now that Miss Katsuragi had nagged him when she took him home that after he was forcibly pushed into the driver's seat to fight the Fourth Apostle and lost consciousness, the person who had been sitting on the edge of his hospital bed waiting for him to wake up was Senior Colonel Chu Xuan who threatened him to die if he didn't drive the EVA.

And after that, Senior Colonel Chu Xuan took into account his knot, so he took the initiative to ask his father, Commander Ikari Yuantang, to change his guardian, so that he would not be able to live happily because of the previous mustard.

However, he didn't take those words to heart at the time, and thought that Miss Katsuragi deliberately put gold on the unusually cold man with paralyzed faces and glasses in order to change his opinion of Colonel Chu Xuan, but now it seems that Colonel Chu Xuan is really a good person.

- But looking at Miss Katsuragi's angry appearance yesterday, she herself seems to have fallen out with Colonel Chu Xuan because of something, which is really unimaginable.

"Hmm...... Regarding the matter of Senior Colonel Chu Xuan, I don't think you have to thank him in person.

I feel like he's like that...... A cold-faced and warm-hearted person, even if you say something to thank him in person, he will probably only say and Ayanami and Kuro...... Five more of the same words. ”

Shinji Ikari searched his stomach to find his pitiful impression of Chu Xuan, and kindly made a suggestion to Suzuhara Toji, and Suzuhara Toji seemed to be deeply impressed by Shinji Ikari's "cold-faced and hot-hearted" evaluation, it seems that these two innocent teenagers were successfully deceived by Chu Xuan.

"Ahaha...... That Senior Colonel Chu Xuan did look extremely cold on the surface, and on the first day of school, he ......"

Next, Kensuke Aida took the initiative to tell Shinji Ikari about the incident when he and Toji Suzuhara took the initiative to talk to Colonel Chuxuan after the opening ceremony.

However, at that time, they didn't know Chu Xuan's name, and they never asked Ayanami Li and Gogen Ruri, who were obviously rejecting people thousands of miles away, and the appearance and name were matched after Suzuhara Toji's father inquired about the identity and appearance of the "Engong" who helped his daughter transfer to the hospital.

"By the way, Shinji you should know, right? In the recent "Super Robot Wars", there is a supernova on the rise, and his game ID is 'Colonel Chu Xuan', that person is this Colonel Chu Xuan, right? ”

After talking about that chance encounter with Chu Xuan, Kensuke Aida talked about another new thing that everyone should talk about that interest him.

And as soon as he mentioned this, Shinji Ikari unconsciously puffed up his chest, as if he was being praised as his father, and replied with honor in a louder voice than usual:

"Of course!" (To be continued.) )