Anyway, this story is dedicated to my friend, Nut! She's an AsuKira fan, so yep, this is an AsuKira fic.
Read, and enjoy!
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Chapter 1: Shinn's IdeaIt had all been Shinn's idea. Only Shinn would come up with things as ridiculous as that, and only Shinn would have the guts to actually carry them out, and also to get an assistant in the process. It seemed the younger boy had a knack for things like that – and he especially had a knack in convincing Athrun to do things he never thought of before.
Like for example, it never struck Athrun that he would ever want to visit a private mental hospital to help out with the administrative work.
But of course, Shinn came out with that absurd idea.
"Absolutely not," Athrun had said flatly, when Shinn pestered him that Friday afternoon, the last day before the start of the holidays. "Of all things, Shinn – not a mental hospital. Most certainly not. I'm not going to acquaint myself with deranged people."
"Have a heart, Athrun," Shinn said with a scowl.
Athrun sighed at that. He had to admit, his last statement was not quite exactly what he wanted to come out of his mouth. "Alright, not deranged. But still, Shinn – they mentally unstable. Don't you expect me to play Lego with them or take them to Ben & Jerry's.
"Most of the patients aren't allowed to leave the hospital," Shinn explained. "Athrun, they're really tragic people. Most of them have been abandoned by their families, and more than half are children who've lived there most of their lives. They're lonely, and since we've got so much time to burn during the holidays, why not do something…productive?"
Productive was not the word I would use, but Shinn was right. A mysterious ailment had spread like wildfire amongst the staff of Rosewood Garden High School. In truth, a couple of seniors had found it amusing to try and get rid of the teaching staff. They had slipped poisons – but not lethal ones, into the teachers' food and drink, so most of them had ended up falling sick. The boys, of course, were apprehended, but the teachers could not be saved. More than half were still stuck in hospital, and in light of this event, hardly any homework had been issued for the holidays.
Athrun contemplated. Helping at this hospital place might be useful, to some extent. "Will they pay us?"
"A reasonable amount, depending on our jobs," Shinn said. "But if we do administrative work, we'll get paid five dollars per hour! That's really good, isn't it? They must be desperate for help – I hear they're going through a rough patch – lots of their workers are leaving. The job's too creepy and scary for them, they say."
Athrun felt that if he were a worker in such a depressing place, he would leave after a day.
Shinn's hopeful crimson eyes stared at him so pathetically, that Athrun dropped his head on the table in defeat.
"Fine, Shinn. You win. Let's go to this…hospital place."
Crystal Lights Hospital for the Mentally Impaired Juvenile was a small building on the outskirts of the town, about a half hour's ride by bus from Rosewood State High School. Crystal Lights were a mere six-story graying building. It was rather pathetic, actually.
"This is the mental hospital you want me to spend my precious summer holidays at?" Athrun said, looking absolutely, terrifically incredulous.
"Yes, they've not been receiving enough funds lately," Shinn said sadly. "It seems most of their patients are 'lost cases', so not many people are willing to donate nowadays. But they'll be having a donation drive, and we'll be helping in that. Maybe we'll be able to raise more money."
Athrun did not think much of the donation drive. It was literally something he would think about later. He was the sort of person to worry about now, not later.
"So we're just here to help them with their administrative stuff?" Athrun asked.
"Uh huh," Shinn nodded. "We need to meet with the person in charge of administration. I believe her name was…"
Shinn seemed to think as hard as he could, as they proceeded into Crystal Lights. They came to the lobby, which was a rundown and seriously pathetic place. It was small, and with a tiny receptionist's desk, with a plain-looking, bespectacled lady in a cheap-looking dress. There was a filthy old couch, and a dusty coffee table nearby. Then there were the lifts, and outside, a small and weed-infested backyard.
Not exactly a very charming place, Athrun thought. Looks like some cutout from a child abuser's home.
Shinn immediately went to the receptionist's desk. The lady looked up at the boys, with her weary eyes. She looked rather tired and worn, with dark bags under her eyes. She must've been severely overworked. Her brownish hair was unkempt and dirty.
"And you are…?" she began.
"Shinn Asuka, and this is Athrun Zala," Shinn introduced us. "We're here to help with the administration."
The lady checked through some files, and smiled warmly at Shinn.
"You must be those kind-hearted boys," she shook her head. "Nobody thinks Crystal Lights is worth helping. Look at our lobby…you must have a bad impression of us already. But truly, it's not our outward appearance that counts. Most of our patients here need lots of support, but nowadays nobody is willing to give it. And the environment here isn't helping. And none of the other state hospitals are willing to help, and nobody is willing to adopt these children."
Athrun felt a twang of pity. But he brushed it away quickly.
The lady hurriedly changed the topic. "I must be depressing you. I'm sorry. My name is Murrue Ramias, and I know I look terrible. One of our patients has been unsettled by something the past few nights…there are so few of us, and we needed to go on shifts to watch him and make sure he didn't do anything."
Hope they don't expect us to stay and help them control some freak… Athrun and Shinn followed Murrue to the lift, and they proceeded to the topmost floor.
Before they left, Murrue pushed them to a quiet corner of the dark and deserted corridor. The place was dusty and fungi were creeping up the whitewashed walls.
"This is the floor for the schizophrenic patients," Murrue explained. "They are the most easily spooked children, so please keep your voices down and try not to bang about. Our most problematic patient always resides on this level, so please…for all our sake's. None of us have been sleeping well lately, and we don't want to be disturbed again."
Shinn nodded. "We do our best, Ms Ramias."
"Just call me Murrue," the receptionist smiled. "We're not serious on formalities."
They tagged along after Murrue past a couple of worn, knobby doors that looked as if they were made of chipboard, what with all the peeling ends. They finally came to a small door at the end of the corridor, and Murrue pushed that open.
Athrun's jaw dropped to the ground, almost.
I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill Shinn – this is all his fault, it was his idea!
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Anybody want to guess why Athrun has gone ballistic in his brains?
Lol, this story was made specially for Nut, so the number of reviews don't really matter for me, however I don't mind if you review anyway!
Thanks!
Don't forget to review, ne?