His normal level of enthusiasm for coming out and training in the hot sun, while not very high to begin with, had begun to slowly return to Shinji, and as much is a little more obvious on this day than it had been previously. Asuka leaving and failing to return the way Kaworu had was difficult to recover from, so while his mood isn't fully healed, he's resolved to not let himself drown in his own sorrow. Things were looking... perhaps not bright or optimistic, but at the very least, okay.

He can easily be found taking up a shady spot while not preoccupied, simply trying to cool down and maybe take a bit of time to people-watch.