by Satosh1
Chapter 3: No... Rei!
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Rei
dashed away from the apparent awe of the two boys who continued to
stare at a distance. Kensuke and Toji both seemed to be rather
perplexed of the whole situation, thinking only of her unusual flee
while glancing at each other. Kensuke reached for the leaf and pocketed
it while murmuring a bit to himself. He signaled Toji to follow him as
he ran towards the direction of Rei. Toji shrugged and then followed
behind him as he was also somewhat curious. Of course, just not as much
as Kensuke was.
They searched a bit around but to no avail. It was thought to be easy to find a girl with blue hair throughout such a small park but apparently that wasn't so. Kensuke frantically searched around every place, within every crevice of the park and yet he couldn't find Rei anywhere. He was determined never to give up, and continued on the search. Toji followed him around wherever he went, until finally he became finally irritated by the whole situation.
Halting his search with Kensuke, Toji shouted;
"Kensuke... she's gone, man! Just give this up! She ran for a reason and that is to get away from us, doofus!"He didn't seem to hear Toji and continued on with his search. Toji evidently followed him again with a sigh, though unwilling to do so.
Kensuke wanted to apologize for startling Rei, and it was with that single fact that gave him the determine to keep on searching. With his hand he held his right pocket where he placed the leaf in, to remind himself never to do such a stupid thing. The two students kept on their search for nearly half an hour, eventually searching within grocery stores, fancy restaurant chains, many different pawn shops and other street vendors that seemingly engulfed and surrounded the park. If it weren't for the many commercial buildings that constructed beside, it would've been easier for Kensuke and Toji to find Rei within such an otherwise small, condensed place.
Rei had run just a couple yards away from them, and carefully hid behind a gazebo where a pond was apparent. She walked and crouched next to the pond, stroking the tip with her finger and running it through in a circular motion. What she did was foolish and irrational. She thought to herself of what else she could've done instead of doing such earlier. Kensuke was the first person that has ever tried to become so persistently close to her. She wasn't attracted to him, but rather more inclined to his compassion, being so kind to her even with her stern stature and ignorance. Regret filled her entirely. Gazing upon her reflection within the pond, she whispered;
"I am sorry... Kensuke..."
She shut her eyes carefully, recalling the days when she was just a little girl, a lone child who never had any friends, no companion and literally no one at all to tell of her thoughts and feelings. She walked alone everyday to school because her quiet nature intimidated those who tried to approach, and they could only assume that Rei was prejudice. Her classmates and other students would wince and impolitely stare at her and with constant, crude remarks where she could hear well enough from a distance. She was simply misunderstood, but her classmates never noticed or even cared.
The only way she could cope with this was to seem like she didn't care, resulting in her constant, severe appearance. This helped her repress the feelings, ultimately.
She then recalled of last night, where the disgusting middle-aged man had attacked her within her home. She tried to drive the remembrance away from her mind, but it was well too strong to diminish. Furthermore she remembered herself glaring at the man beside the window he fell through as he had pummeled unto the city streets, having fell several stories down and splashing his remains onto the surroundings.
This all gave away as further wounding within to endure amongst herself. She recalled the only person she has ever known to have any feelings to, and that would be the only person she would declare, Commander Ikari. A man she was ferociously loyal toward, and the only person she had willingly opened her feelings to. A man she would inevitably call her creator. He and her are the only two who know of her beginnings other than Ritsuko Akagi, Commander Ikari's right-hand woman, who had always given Rei intimidating looks whenever she was in the company of Commander Ikari. Rei only viewed it as a sort of jealousy, and she was correct most of the time, confirming it from Ritsuko's and her disputes and foibles along with treating herself badly, but that was of an earlier time.
Rei wondered if it was Commander Ikari's intentions to have her persona resemble and form to such a fate. She questioned and doubted herself again and again, wondering why and what would be the purpose of having her personality become never so adaptive on living normally. Rei alleged in quiet vain;
"How will I know... Commander Ikari's intentions... are of sense...?"
She sulked upon her confusion, and then upon her undoubting loneliness which led on to a deep depression. A tear separated from her eye and trickled down her cheeks, falling into the watery depths. Rei witnessed this unknown human emotion, a feeling she had never experienced before, even within her short life.
"A tear..."
"Are these... of my own?"
Watching the miniature waves go by as her reflection distorts, Rei stood up gradually. And as she did, her eyes became shut. She held a deep breath.
With a deep breath, Rei gave her bodily control to the seize of gravity, plummeting into the pond face-first. Her clothes were drenched of water. And there she laid still, with no movement whatsoever.
Rei's intentions were clear.
Her head, eyes, ears and chest began to ache immensely. She could hear nothing but of her own heartbeat, and within each, the pain worsened. Her soul seemed to feel like it was fading away and leaving her body. It was just a matter of time.
Within her last seconds, she envisioned in her mind of Commander Ikari with a serene smile. She let go of her breath within the last of her heartbeats. Depraved of oxygen, her life would soon fall.
"No... REI!!"
She heard a familiar voice echoing from a distance which interrupted her vision, melding it into a portrayal of a recognizable facade. But it was already too late. Darkness grasped her senses, and she was gone.
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dekiru...