Chapter 37: Discharged
The three women in the apartment heard web feet coming from the entrance hallway. They saw the penguin come around the corner, but couldn't hear the Third Child. Pen-Pen looked at them seeing an apprehension look on their faces. Blinking and tilting his head to the side a little, he didn't know why they were expressing those faces.
'It is just me and the male butler…oh well,' he thought and walked toward the couch. The women turned their eyes toward Pen-Pen for a second seeing him walk to their left.
"Is something wrong madams?" Shinji asked impassively.
"…!?" all of them said. Asuka and Misato jumped a little while Rei flinched. Their eyes went back to the entrance and saw him standing there with a stoic face. His murky aura seemed to get on their nerves more than usual. Asuka started to slowly back up in which his eyes moved slowly towards her. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
"Miss Soryu?"
"W-W-What do you want?!" she said with an elevated voice.
"Are you feeling well?"
"I'm fine! J-just fine!" Asuka said but looked a little rattled.
"…" Shinji said turning his eyes toward the Captain and saw her stiffened.
"Miss Misato?"
"Y-Yes?"
"Was I interrupting something?" he asked with a blink.
"N-Not really?" she said trying to calm her nerves with slow deep breathes through her nose.
'Lies…all lies…they are hiding something…probably something really juicy,' all his voices raged in his ears causing him to blink again.
"…" the Third Child said turning his eyes a little to the First Child.
Rei blinked and put her hands behind her. They were shaking a little. She didn't know what to ask of him at first. The apprehension inside was high making speaking a little difficult. There was also a developing amount of questions that were jumbled together in her head. Figuring it was from feeling unnerved from him, she decided to ask a question from noticing something different when he was talking.
"…Ikari…is there…something in your mouth?" she said quietly and in a controlled manner.
"Ha! My girl noticed it first!" Shonj said in his mind slapping the back of Sno. The red-copper eye voice crossed his arms over his chest and looked the other direction pouting. Shoji just sighed.
"Since I won…my prize is to show your teeth!"
"…" Shinji said thinking the request was a little puzzling but complied. Pulling with his facial muscles, his lips parted and stretched back a little to show his teeth. They were stained a little with red.
"…!?" all three women said with their eyes widening. Rei took a step back and hit the back of her chair. It rubbed onto the floor making a loud sliding friction noise. Asuka stepped back more to stand next to Misato.
'…why is teeth like that…someone ask the question,' the lavender head female thought feeling sweat dripping a little down her back. No one said anything and watched him. He kept the facial expression and showing his teeth.
"My turn! My turn!" the silver eye voice stated and gave a mischievous smile. "Open your mouth and show what is inside…slowly."
'…' Shinji thought still thinking what was being asked was a little bizarre. The reactions from the women seemed a little odd as well. Giving those details no heed, he complied again.
'Very well.'
All three watched with heightened senses as he slowly brought his right hand to his jaw. Once there, he cupped it a little without blinking. Slowly, he opened his mouth. Rei gripped the back of chair in apprehension. Asuka gripped Misato feeling her breath intake become deeper and a little faster. The Captain gripped the table and pushed her lips inwards, biting down on them. They saw a couple of strains of saliva connect with the top and bottom teeth. They were red and made the females pull back a little fearing what was in his mouth. Hearing something knocking against his teeth, a red ball came out.
"Mr. Suzuhara and Mr. Aida were kind enough to offer me jawbreakers," Shinji calmly said and showed them a candy ball. "They did state that it does stain teeth."
"…" the women said and blinked a couple of times. They looked back and forth between his impassive face and the red ball coated with his saliva. Misato exhaled loudly and lowered her head.
'You've got to be shitting me,' she thought feeling how frayed her nerves were.
"…" Rei said breathing out the air she was holding unconsciously.
"GOD DAMN IT THIRD!" Asuka shouted in anger and stomped toward him. She got in front of his face. He didn't move or veer away. All of his voices were rolling on the ground in the entrance hallway. They were laughing hard and loud. The red-blue eye voice had an amused smile; however, it became concerned from how out of sorts the Second Child was.
"What the hell is your problem!?" she shouted in his face. He didn't blink or flinch.
"My problem?"
"Don't play that dump shit with me idiot!?"
"Miss Soryu, I don't understand—" he said then was cut off when Asuka slapped his face hard with her right hand.
She was about to go after him on the ground, but something became amiss. Only the jawbreaker fell to the ground and made a couple of bounces before rolling to a stop near Rei's room. He was still standing and hadn't moved from his spot. Only his face moved from being slapped. Looking up at him, his eyes were still staring at her. His impassive facial expression remained.
"…" Asuka said feeling her anger being replaced with fear.
"…" Shinji said slowly moving his head forward while keeping his eyes on her. His right hand went back to his side.
"Ooooooooo!" his voices said from hearing the slap.
'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ASUKA!?' Misato mentally screamed at the red-head fearing something was going to happen.
"…" Rei felt frozen in place not knowing how to proceed forward. The situation was getting worse and their objective to getting information from him was getting less and less probable.
"Miss Soryu," he said calmly causing her to flinch and not move. "Is there something wrong?"
'…he…isn't fazed?' Misato thought. Not seeing a change made her feel more nervous for she couldn't predict how he would act next.
"…I…uh…I…uh…uh…" Asuka said feeling her voice lost in her throat as her nerves were getting rattled. Being in front of him after slapping him, she realized that what she did was the worst thing to do.
"…" Shinji said slowly blinking and resisting the urge to clench his hands into claws. Looking at the person in front of him, it was the teenage girl from the past. Her featureless face with hair was smiling mischievously at him.
"S-Shinji?" Misato said hesitantly. Only his eyes moved slowly toward her giving them all goosebumps.
"Yes Miss Misato?" he said stoically. Seeing the Captain and the First Child, he concluded that the female from the past was not real. It was the Second Child. His urge to rip her face off slowly faded away.
"Y-you know…I t-think that we girls…w-wanted to start doing our own chores," she said as calmly as possible.
"…" he said slowly moving his eyes to Rei then to Asuka. Both seemed to stiffen again from his gaze. "Is that so?"
"…" the red-head gulped audibly and nodded her head slowly.
"I see," he said slowly moving his eyes back to the Captain who shivered a little from his gaze. "Does this mean my services are not needed here?"
"…" Rei opened her mouth, but couldn't find her voice. She wanted to state that he was needed. A part of her still wanted to see him despite what has happened so far. A small portion of that part was because getting information would be easier. However, a stronger part of her feared him and wanted to stay away. The confliction was making her mind and chest hurt.
"I-I guess so Shinji," Misato said carefully. Pen-Pen looked at his owner with a shocked face and immediately got off the couch. Everyone heard and saw him waddle around the couch and walked toward where Shinji and Asuka were. She took a couple of steps back to give space; however, they were too long of steps.
"…?" Pen-Pen said looking at her then shook his head. "Wark wa-wark? (Are you being discharged?)"
"…" Shinji said turning to the penguin. He kneeled to the ground. Sitting on his knees, he placed his hands on his knees. "Appears that way sir. I am sorry I won't be able to do your requests."
"…" Pen-Pen shook his head side to side. He reached a fin out to touch his right shoulder.
'PEN-PEN! NO!' Misato screamed taking one step fearing for her pet's safety.
"Wark wark war-war-wark (It is alright. Thank you for your service)."
"…" the Third Child said bowing his head a little and closed his eyes. "Thank you for your kind words sir."
"…" the three women said staring at what was happening in front of them. They saw Shinji slowly lift his head and open his eyes. Slowly standing up, he turned to face them. He bowed.
"Thank you for letting me serve you," he said standing back up. His face remained emotionless. However, his choice of words changed.
"Goodbye," he said and turned around to go into the entrance hallway.
"…" Rei said with her eyes widening. The three didn't hear his footsteps or the sounds of him putting his shoes or backpack on.
'…no…' Ayanami thought trying to get herself to move.
A painful feeling occurred in her chest enabling her to move slowly. Thinking it was from feeling helpless, it didn't seem the same. It felt different almost like it was a needle stabbing her chest and spreading a slow burning sensation. Her face started to feel a little tense as the corner of her mouth curled down a little. Taking a couple of steps, she looked around the corner into the hallway.
"Ikari—" she called out quietly. He wasn't there and the door was closed. The locking mechanism engaged sounding like a hammer hitting a door in a large hallway. It echoed in her mind till it faded away to nothing. Staring at the closed door felt painful to look at as the sensation inside her became more gripping.
"Ahh," Asuka let out a loud sigh of relief. "Thank god his gone!"
"…" Ayanami said turning around quickly and looked at the Second Child with irritation.
"…" Misato said as she looked at the ground feeling neither good nor bad from what happened.
"What's your problem Wondergirl? Be happy that that psycho won't come back here anymore."
'…shut up…' Rei thought feeling the burning grow.
"Oh and forget about teaming up with him. Hell no."
"…" Misato continued to say nothing.
'Shut up,' Ayanami thought again feeling her eyes narrow at the Second Child.
"At school, got to make sure Hikari and those stooges don't get near him…well, the stooges can for all I care."
'SHUT…UP,' the First Child thought clenching her teeth and curling her hands into fists. All of them heard a soft high sounding sigh and turned to it. Pen-Pen was sitting on the floor with a slight depressed expression on his face. Looking at him, Ayanami started to feel something coming down her face.
"…" Rei said moving her hands under her chin and opening them. A couple of droplets feel into her palms and she stared at them.
"…" Misato saw something glistening in her peripheral vision and looked up. Her mouth parted a little as her face grimaced a little from the sight.
'I'm…crying?' the First Child thought seeing a couple of droplets fall into her palms.
'These are tears…of sadness,' she thought feeling her chest pull. Her breathing became short, painful, and sharp feeling like she was breathing in freezing air. Her lips quivered a little as her face grimaced a little more.
"Why are you two so sad? That lunatic killer idiot won't be coming here ever again," Asuka said not hearing the snap inside the First Child's head.
"…shut up…" Ayanami said quietly
"What was that?" the red-head talked back with hands on her hips.
"…shut up…" she repeated again feeling everything burn inside.
"…" Misato said feeling her face grimace more.
"I can't hear you Wondergirl," Asuka stated seeing her turn toward her.
"I SAID SHUT UP PILOT SORYU!" Rei cried with an enraged face curling her hands into fists.
"SHUT UP!" she yelled feeling her fists shaking.
"SHUT UP!" she shouted louder.
"SHUT UP!" she screamed as more tears came down.
"SHUT UP!" she roared as her face became uglier.
"SHUT UP!" she raged with all her lungs at the Second Child.
"…" Asuka said with her mouth parted and a look of shock.
"…" Misato said feeling terrible not moving or looking away.
"…" Rei said inhaling sharply and exhaling choppily. Feeling her vision blurry, she wiped her eyes with her hands. The tears kept flowing as everything seemed to hurt as her mind raced frantically.
'What will happen now?'
'Will Ikari talk to me?'
'Will he dislike me?'
'Will he never come back here?'
'Will he acknowledge me?'
'Will he treat me the same? Will he treat me different?'
'Will he distance himself from me?'
'Will he allow me to ask questions?'
'Will he…ever comfort me again?'
The questions running through her head made her feel more and more painful. It was almost as if they were torturing her making her feel torn inside. The wanting to follow orders and still being able to confide in the Third Child felt impossibly difficult. She felt no matter which way she went, she would be losing something in return. This became apparent from what just happened. The further he walked away, the more tattered and torn she became. Not wanting to be seen like this anymore, she turned toward her room.
"E-E-Excuse m-me," Rei stammered quietly with a choking sob. She quickly headed toward her room and softly closed her door. Going to her bed, she lied down and buried her face on her sheets. Grabbing the pillow, she gripped it and pulled it over her head. Feeling like she was in hiding, she pulled on the cloth bag murderously as she gritted her teeth harder. Between the sharp intakes of air, the First Child tried her best to hold in tears.
The other members of the household weren't looking at each other. Pen-Pen got up softly and decided to head toward the kitchen. Both females looked up to see him waddle slowly with the same slight depressed look on his face. Misato saw him walk by and didn't even look at her. It made her chest hurt as she bit the inside of her lip to stay stable. He entered the kitchen. Once out of sight, the two women heard a refrigerator door open then close. A soft crack of a beer can opening was heard followed by a soft thud on the floor.
"…" Misato said feeling her lip quiver a little. Standing up, she turned toward the hallway to the patio.
"…hey…Misato," Asuka quietly called and saw the Captain stopped.
"…yes?" she asked not turning around.
"What I said…I wasn't wrong…right?" the red-head asked fidgeting with her fingers a little.
"…" Misato said taking a slow breath in and out. "What you said was right. Him being here, with his mental state and what he is capable of doing, he is dangerous. Given that he is good at following orders…he will never come here again unless told to."
"…" Asuka blinked and feeling her mouth part a little.
"If you need me, I will be on the patio getting some fresh air," she said and walked to the hallway and turned the corner.
Her footsteps got quieter followed by a door opening and closing softly to the patio. The Captain walked along the hallway wall on the balcony a bit before stopping. Turning toward the open evening sky and seeing the evening lights of the city, she bent down and sat on the ground. Leaning back to the wall, she stretched out her legs. The cool concrete against her skin was a pleasant contrast to the warm humid evening air. Softly holding onto her forearms, they rested on her stomach. Blinking, she took a deep breath and sighed out softly.
"…" Misato said closing her eyes and began to softly hit the back of her head against the wall.
"…" Asuka said looking at the floor.
'I'm not wrong,' she thought. 'What I said was right. He would kill us. He is a lunatic…a rabid wild animal…a psycho…a killer…his insane…an idiot…savage beast…'
"…" she said feeling the corners of her mouth turn down a little.
"I'm not wrong," she said quietly to no one. "I'm not wrong."
Breathing out of her nose, she turned around and headed for her room. Entering and closing the door, she leaned against it. Repeating all the things she said, they were correct and sound. Repeating them again, it reassured her that what she did was for everyone's safety including her own. Sliding down the door, she sat on the floor. Pulling her knees up, she hugged them. Placing her chin on her knees, she repeated everything again.
"…" Asuka said not feeling any better.
Outside walking down a sidewalk, Shinji was heading home. His voices were talking back and forth between each other. They were arguing angrily about not being able to go see their interests' home. They became violent throwing rocks at windows and shouting vile things everywhere. Shonj and Sno became barbaric and started slaughtering bystanders that were nearby.
"…" Shinji said ignoring the blood splattering sounds and death screams. The crosswalk light changed to green and he continued forward at a normal pace. The only one that wasn't participating in the killjoy was the red-blue eye voice that was following behind him to his right.
'…' it said trying to find something to say to him.
The voice knew that it was only a few years old since becoming aware of itself, but it never encountered an experience like this before. Unlike the others, its interest was only the male pilot. Strangely, there was no emotion emitting from him. However, the three voices that liked the women in the apartment were very emotional. Looking behind, the three were decapitating people on the sidewalk and flinging their guts everywhere. Shoji and the silver eye voice were enjoying the killjoy and participating in their own form of slaughter.
Grimacing at the gore-fest, the voice turned around and saw that Shinji was a little ahead. Picking up its pace, it caught up with him and got beside him on his right.
'…how…are you?' it thought to him.
'Evening. I am doing fine. How are you?' he replied calmly back.
'…?' the voice said a little perplexed at his demeanor and expression.
'I believe we never introduce ourselves. I am Shinji Ikari,' he thought turning his head a little to the right to look at the voice.
'…' the voice said then smiled. 'I'm Rana.'
'Nice to meet you Rana,' he stated in his mind nodding a little then looked back forward.
'Likewise!' he replied back enthusiastically.
Both saw another crosswalk and saw that the signal was red. Clicking the button on the nearby post, both heard blood lurching screams behind them. Rana flinched a little while Shinji blinked then turned around. The entire sidewalk was bleeding red as pedestrians were either ripped in half or crawling on the pavement with missing limps. Each of the voices was coated with the iron smelling liquid. All of them grabbed people and started sprinting toward shops with large display windows. Glass shattered from the impact of them smashing through. Shards fell on the sidewalk breaking into many more pieces.
"…" Shinji said then turned around. Seeing the light change, he started walking forward. Rana blinked and turned around.
'Hey! Wait for me!' he said running in front of a car that went after Shinji passed it. Quickly jumping and sliding on the hood, Rana grabbed a tanto within the sleeve of the kimono he was wearing. Sliding off and landing on the ground with his feet, he threw the weapon. The blade inserted in the driver's head. The car stopped suddenly followed by a short screech of tires behind it.
"Hey buddy! What the hell you doing!?" the driver behind the car that stopped shouted. He got out of his window and honked his horn. "Get going!"
'What the hell was that?' the driver that stopped thought. A cold piercing feeling suddenly hit the side of his head making him bone cold for a second. Looking down both ways of the street quickly, he turned right and looked behind his rearview mirror. There was nobody there.
'…?' the driver thought looking at the sidewalk to his right. The pedestrians on it looked like they were shivering. '…huh…that's weird…its heck a warm and humid this evening. Whatever.'
"…" Shinji said stopping at the sidewalk and waited for Rana to cross the street. Looking back, everything was back in order with no bloodshed.
'Are you alright Rana?' he asked in his mind turning back forward and walked. The voice walked to his right side again.
'Drivers need to look before gunning it. I would have been flattened!' Rana stated irritated.
'Indeed,' the male pilot thought hearing the others walking behind them.
'Man…I'm still pissed off,' Sno stated with hands behind his head. Shonj and Shino nodded their heads with angry faces.
'Nothing feels real unless he does it!' Shonj pointed at the back of Shinji who didn't stop or turn around.
'Well then,' said the silver eye voice grinning. 'Let's get him too.'
The grade of the sidewalk started to angel down a little as the group continued forward. Off to the side in a poorly lit alleyway, there were thugs chatting with one another. Something got their attention seeing a teenage school boy with a backpack walking alone on the sidewalk. The two thugs smirked at each other and walked out to be in the teen's pathway.
'…y…e…s…,' the voices stated greedily that wanted more destruction.
"…" Shinji said with his right eye twitching.
"Ya got no wher to go kid," the thug stated with a smirk. He was directly in line with the male pilot's path.
"Hand over ya—!" he started to say when the teen bolted at him.
"…!?" the other thug said watching the teen boy dart forward and speared his partner to the ground. Given how the sidewalk was angled down a little and the speed of being tackled, both of them were in the air a little before impacting the pavement. Thinking that both would be tumbling over and over, the other thug cringed from what occurred.
His partner landed on the pavement hard and skidded on his back with the boy keeping on top of him. When the sliding stopped, the thug was groaning and moaning in pain. Even though he wore a leather jacket, a couple parts of the jacket got torn off. If he wasn't wearing it, then his back skin would have been grinded off. Looking at the teen, he was not injured.
"Excuse me sir," Shinji said getting off of him and dusting himself. Bowing to the man on the ground, he continued walking down the sidewalk. The other thug came running and stopped at his partner. Looking at how bad his back was, only a couple of exposed areas were burned and bleeding. The leather jacket saved his back despite him grunting in pain. The kneeling thug looked back at the kid.
"…?!" he said seeing the teen boy walking backwards and staring him down. Looking at the kid's eyes, they were shining a little eerily. Frowning, he backed down and got a cell phone out to call a taxi. Seeing the thug not going to pursue him, Shinji turned around and continued walking toward his home. After a while, he noticed that none of the voices were around except for Rana. He was standing closer to him and had a hand on his belt.
'Who…who is that?' the voice asked with fear on his face.
'Who is what Rana?' Shinji thought continuing forward.
'…um…um…um…S-Shinji!?' Rana panicked and got in front of him. He was walking backwards trying to hide from something that was behind the male pilot.
"…" Shinji said and turning his head to look behind him. Nothing was behind him; however, there was an intense evil aura nearby. It was emitting a pulsating sensation inside him of malice and carnage. Having an idea who it was, he calmly turned his head back forward. Rana was still walking backwards shaking all over. He had reached out and held onto the Third Child's biceps while frantically searching around for the source of the fear.
"Good evening sir," Shinji said out loud to no one.
'…GGGG… #%#$…OOOOO…DDD #%$#$DDDD…EEV#$%#$VVVVVEEEEE#$#$ #$!' the evil voiced shouted in distortion breaking in and out of static. Rana jumped in fright and crabbed hugged the male pilot as he continued walking forward.
"…?" Shinji said perplexed. The voice hugging him was not causing him immediate tremors. Normally any gender that touched him or embraced him without the aid of his voices caused a physical defense reaction. However, he felt nothing emotionally, mentally, and physically.
'How strange,' he thought continuing to walk despite feeling restricted.
'M-m-m-make it go away!' Rana pleaded shaking like leaf and gripping him tighter.
Both of them heard a clenching of teeth all around them. Rana felt something horrid and creepy brush the back of his neck making him bite through his lip to not panic. The unseen voice started an evil chuckle that would repeat over and over at different times and lengths. Each one was a different voice: male or female, young or old, low or high pitch, soft or loud, slow or fast, or glitch or static like how a program got stuck on a computer with sound.
Various times, Shinji's vision would sometimes go to static then come back again. Other times, objects around him would wiggle in place like Jell-O. Some kept on jiggling while others burst with blood and innards splashing everything around it. The voice and the visions continued until he got to his home that was an hour away. By the time both Shinji and Rana reached the grass field, they were a walking bloodbath.
The voice never let go of the male pilot and kept its head down on his right shoulder. Shinji kept walking and was breathing deeply and tiredly. Rana's body had weight of a real person. Even though he was thin and light weight, carrying him for an hour made the task challenging. Continuously breathing in vapor from the extreme gore around him made him nauseous. From time to time, he spit out small cupfuls of blood onto the sidewalk. Taking one tired step forward on the grass field, something changed.
"…" Shinji said blinking and breathing deeply. The red tint vision from all the blood dripping in his eyes was gone. Looking down, he was clean as well as Rana.
'…?' the voice said slowly looking up and peering over the male pilot's shoulder. The hellish slaughter behind them had vanished as pedestrians were walking in the distance. The sound of a couple of cars speeding and honking horns echoed. He felt Shinji continue forward. Placing his other foot on the grass field, everything became dead silent. All the sounds from the city, bugs, and the wind were gone.
"…?" the Third Child said then continued forward. Both he and Rana noted that his footsteps and the movement of fabric from the kimono weren't heard either. Rana tried whispering but nothing sounded. Both could feel their breathing, their pulse, their heartbeat, and the gentle wind in the air. But even internally, they couldn't hear their insides beat. Without stopping to rest or ponder, he continued walking toward his home in the soundless void.