Once Shinji felt much better, he got up, left the hospital room, and went with Rei Ayanami to the garden on the outskirts of Headquarters.
The garden (beneath the recessed section of the Headquarters pyramid; it appears in the manga).
Shinji came up behind Rei Ayanami, looked around, and marveled, "It's beautiful. I never imagined Headquarters had a garden like this."
Rei Ayanami crouched beside the pool with her legs together, reaching into the water with her slender, pale hand.
Shimmering ripples slowly spread with her slight movements, then rebounded from the sides toward their starting point, only to fade along the way...
Seeing how the place resembled a work of art, Shinji asked Rei Ayanami in puzzlement, "You've worked here all this time, but you didn't know about this place?"
Rei Ayanami gently closed her eyes and replied flatly, "I never go anywhere I don't need to."
Then Rei Ayanami began to tell Shinji how she truly felt.
"The first time I touched your hand, I didn't feel anything..."
Shinji recalled that his first contact with Rei Ayanami had been in Unit-01's hangar, when he had just met Gendo Ikari. Rei Ayanami had been injured, and he had supported her after she fell...
"The second time... I felt a little sick." Rei Ayanami's expression remained unchanged, as cool as ever, betraying no emotion.
The second time? That was when I went to Rei Ayanami's home alone! I accidentally pinned her naked body to the floor... That...
Shinji's face instantly flushed scarlet, and he hurried to apologize to Rei Ayanami again.
Rei Ayanami paid it no mind and continued, "The third time, I felt so warm. I could feel your body heat through my plugsuit..."
The third time had been after Shinji defeated Ramiel in their head-on sniping duel. He