(This is ...... Where?

I've ...... Dead? ）

After staring blankly at the blurred white ceiling for a while, Shinji Ikari finally got rid of the muddy feeling after waking up from a nightmare that he couldn't remember, and his sense of smell came into play, making the smell of disinfectant water unique to the hospital slowly clear.

Inadvertently, Shinji Ikari noticed something reflecting light in the corner of his eye, and when he slowly turned his head and focused his gaze on the glowing object, he seemed to see something extremely terrifying, his eyes suddenly widened, but his pupils narrowed sharply.

"Rub ......"

Shinji Ikari sat up at a speed that was not at all like a patient, and then immediately shrank into the corner of the bed, and pulled the thin quilt and pillow in front of him, looking at Chu Xuan who was sitting quietly on the stool next to his bed with great vigilance, and unconsciously protected his neck with his right hand.

The pain of his neck being almost choked was still fresh in his memory, and he could clearly feel that the man who was so cold and inhuman would definitely do what he said he would, kill him as easily and mercilessly as he would have broken the neck of a chick - if he refused to drive the Eva.

Although Shinji Ikari also knew that the man with facial paralysis and glasses did it for the blue-haired girl who was seriously injured, he still couldn't let go, after all, he was threatened by his life!

In comparison, his father's unreasonable demands and the persuasion of the two adult girls were simply too gentle.

"You're awake."

Facing Shinji Ikari who was vigilantly shrunk in the corner of the bed, Chu Xuan pushed down his reflective glasses expressionlessly, and then stood up from the stool, his waist straight like a soldier...... No, he is now a colonel, and an international civil servant.

"About the previous thing...... I'm not going to apologize to you.

A man who is obviously capable, but because of his timidity, he watched the injured girl die, is not worthy of continuing to live in this world. ”

Chu Xuan said this calmly and indifferently, and Shinji Ikari even seemed to be able to see that there was a clear expression of disdain on his face, which was blurred by the backlight.

Although Shinji Ikari also agreed with Chu Xuan's opinion, the person who was considered unworthy of living in this world was himself, so he couldn't help but refute himself:

"I—I don't have any abilities, even if I'm driving a robot I've been using, I've never had anything to look up to...... In the game, you can immediately drive a new robot that you have never heard of to fight huge monsters! ”

"No, you are capable, your ability is to pilot the EVA First Plane, otherwise do you think we would have chosen you as the 'savior' related to the fate of all mankind for no reason?"

It seemed that Chu Xuan, who was very dissatisfied with him, actually affirmed him categorically, which made Shinji Ikari couldn't help but froze, he felt very unbelievable, but it was precisely because he was sure that he was a big officer who hated him a lot, so this affirmation seemed to come from others...... Even the affirmations from his father are more credible.

"I ...... Savior? ”

Shinji Ikari, who was shrunk in the corner of the bed, looked at Chu Xuan with wide eyes and muttered to himself in disbelief.

Chu Xuan "snapped" and threw a notebook at his illness**, and Shinji Ikari looked at it intently and found that it seemed to be the top-secret information that Chu Xuan handed him in the car.

"Read this material carefully."

Chu Xuan, whose glasses were reflective, just coldly dropped such a sentence, and then left the ward without looking back.

Shinji Ikari looked at the word "top secret" on the information without blinking, and after a long time, he suddenly remembered something-

"Huh...... I was clearly ......

How did that monster get a**? ”

Shinji Ikari looked up at the window, the white curtains fluttering gently in the spring breeze, and the golden sunlight sprinkled into the room, making it look warm and quiet, and peaceful to make people sleepy.

Although from the analysis of Chu Xuan's words just now, it was precisely because of his activity as a "savior" that the peace of the earth was protected, but Shinji Ikari only felt confused now, and he had no sense of reality that he had become a hero.

By the way, is that giant monster that has never been seen really his **?

And just as Shinji Ikari in the ward was trying to recall the scene of the battle with the Fourth Apostle, Chu Xuan, who walked out of the door, immediately dialed the phone numbers of Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki and Misato Katsuragi successively.

"W-What? Commander Akira's son...... Third, the qualified person will be under my guardianship? ”

On the other end of the phone, Misato Katsuragi's voice was quite surprised.

"Yes, Deputy Commander Fuyutsuki has already consulted Commander Ikari and has already obtained approval.

- Of course, if you don't agree, the third qualified person will have to live alone in the apartment assigned to the EVA driver. ”

Chu Xuan's voice was as steady and uninhibited as ever, without the slightest hint of "the conspiracy succeeded", but for some reason, Misato Katsuragi felt that he must have raised his hand and pushed down his reflective glasses on the other end of the phone now.

-- I guess that's a woman's instinct.

However, as an adult, Misato Katsuragi quickly adjusted her mentality and asked Chu Xuan tentatively:

"But...... Why should I be in custody instead?

Although I know you had to threaten him for Li's sake...... Are you so dissatisfied with the third qualifier? ”

"It's not that I'm not upset, it's that the third qualified person seems to be still haunted by that incident and is very wary of me.

But there was no hatred in his heart, he chose to stay away from me as much as possible to protect himself from harm, and erected the thorns in his body - like a porcupine.

If you make demands on him in the form of commands, the young man, who has become accustomed to obedience, will naturally suppress the true feelings in his heart, force himself to live under the same roof as me, and behave more honestly and worry-free than anyone else.

But I don't want him to continue to live like this as long as I can—if I'm not mistaken, he has been living this oppressive life when he was separated from his father and fostered at home, which is why he has become such a seemingly sensible and obedient 'good child'.

Maybe it's just a great thing for a guardian and it saves a lot of worry, but from an educational point of view......"

"Yes, yes...... Okay, okay, I got it, anyway, I just agree! ”

Before Chu Xuan could start his tirade, Misato Katsuragi hurriedly agreed to the matter and stopped the other party's daunting "popular science lecture".

"Really...... You and Ritsuko are really the same kind of people, but you are more old-fashioned than her, and I can't believe that you are 10 years younger than us.

Saying...... Are you really only 18 years old? ”

"Of course."

On the other end of the phone, Chu Xuan, who had become "forever 18 years old" because he had entered the main god space, pushed down his reflective glasses expressionlessly, and replied without blushing.

"Hey...... I always think that you should already be an 'uncle', right, is the new human really a monster?

Wha...... Just kidding, don't care.

Then this matter is decided, I will go to the ward to pick up the third qualified person later, bye-bye~"

"Goodbye."

Katsuragi Misato teased Chu Xuan, and then hung up the phone happily, to be able to live with the biggest brand in the nerv, the "second generation of Quan", and want the old cow to eat tender grass and turn the sparrow into a phoenix in her heart, she must be very happy...... This is also a joke, of course.

In any case, sensing from Chu Xuan's explanation just now that he was not as indifferent and ruthless as he seemed on the surface, the corners of Misato Katsuragi's mouth unconsciously turned upward.

"Uh-huh...... There is only one truth, and I have seen through your tricks! ”

At this time, on the other end of the phone, Chu Xuan somehow had an extra black shadow behind Chu Xuan with his hands crossed in front of him, leaning against the wall, but even if he didn't have to look back, he knew who the person behind him was.

"You threatened Shinji Ikari fiercely before, just to find an excuse to refuse to be his guardian.

Could it be that for other men living with us...... Are you jealous? ”

Behind Chu Xuan, a black cat with a bright tear mole under the corner of his left eye quietly leaned into his ear, and asked in an ambiguous and bewitching voice. (To be continued.) )