What Rei and Asuka Saw

An exhausted Misato stumbled to the door, pushing her straggling purple hair from her eyes. "I'm coming!" she called, pushing a few buttons. The metal slid open a moment later and as soon as she saw her, Ritsuko let out a small cry.

"Misato! What on earth happened?!" The other woman looked down at her blood-splattered clothes and shrugged.

"It's what happens when you comfort a kid who only cries red. Come on in." She stepped aside and Ritsuko entered, not taking her eyes from Misato.

"Jesus, you look like hell."

"I haven't been able to sleep much. Narikage only sleeps peacefully for maybe an hour before he wakes up." Misato sank into a kitchen chair, her head resting in her hands. The blonde sat across from her, face worried.

"Is it that bad?" She nodded.

"And worse. It takes more than an hour to calm him down after he wakes up. I've given up changing my clothes as well as his blankets; they just get covered a little while later anyway."

"What's making him wake up?"

"Nightmares. I've managed to get a little information from him about them. He says he keeps dreaming about the day his mother disappeared into the unit and the day he was made into an angel." Misato stood. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Sit. I'll get it myself." Ritsuko set the files she had brought on the table and stood, making them both some strong tea.

"I have no idea what to do," Misato said, sitting gratefully, resting her chin in her palm.

"Have you tried maybe giving him something to help him sleep?"

"Several times. It doesn't do a damn thing."

"Is he sleeping now?"

"Yes, finally. Took me nearly two hours to calm him down after that last nightmare." She gestured to her clothes. "And, as you can see, he cried quite a bit. He's right, by the way. He CAN'T cry real tears. I've seen enough of them to know that for a fact."

"Misato...look, I know you don't want to face this..." Ritsuko set down a cup of tea in front of her friend who sipped it gratefully. "Look, maybe it's time we told." She slammed the cup down at once.

"No. I refuse."

"Misato, be reasonable. Please."

"I am being reasonable."

"You're being anything but! He needs to be put under observation! If he's having this many nightmares, that could be a sign that the DNA has spread even further! He could be dangerous."

"Narikage's not dangerous. He's just scared, that's all."

"God damnit, Misato!"

"Do you know what he told me last night?" Misato looked up at her friend, eyes swimming with tears. Ritsuko, startled, could only shake her head. "He told me that if it weren't for me helping him that he would have given up and just let himself go. Let go of everything, including his life. He said that if I had just deserted him when he arrived, he wouldn't have been able to survive. There is no way, on heaven or on earth, that I am going to desert this boy now. So you might as well stop suggesting it."

"I understand that you care about this boy, Misato—"

"If you really understood, then you would understand why I'm not ready to turn him over to the Commander who will just lock him up and study him 24/7. I'm sorry, Ritsuko, but I just can't do that. Not yet." Ritsuko studied her friend for a long time, reading the truth in her brown eyes. She wasn't going to waver on this.

"Very well," she said after a while and Misato seemed to breathe a little easier. "But, please. If he starts showing signs of being dangerous, to himself or you, promise me you'll consider turning him over." Misato nodded a little.

"I promise."

"That brings me to this." Ritsuko, now sitting across from her friend once more, slid the files to her, face serious. "These are the REAL test results. You might want to take a look at them." Misato flipped it open and scanned the page.

"89.3," she said after a few moments. "That's quite a jump from last time."

"It's spreading rapidly, Misato. Much more than we first thought. At this rate, it will only take a couple weeks for the numbers to reach 100."

"Then we still have a couple weeks, don't we?" Misato closed the file.

"You are a stubborn bitch, you know that?" The purple-haired woman smiled.

"I know." Ritsuko shook her head with a tiny smile, standing.

"Well, I have to get to work but I'll be back afterwards to help you out. I can check up on Narikage then too if you'd like."

"That would probably be a good idea. Oh, and, while you're out, would you mind maybe dropping some of my stuff off at the drycleaners and doing a little light shopping for me? I wanted to do it myself but there's no possible way I can leave Narikage here alone."

"I understand, don't worry, and I'd be happy to do it for you." Misato thanked her and gave her the pile of laundry as well as the list, promising to reimburse her.

About ten minutes after she had left, another knock on the door startled Misato out of a light doze. Pulling one of the very few clean sweaters she had left over her head, she hurried to it and opened it.

"Rei! Asuka! What are you two doing here?"

"These printouts were on Narikage's desk today," Rei said in her quiet voice, holding out the stack of papers. "No one in his class wanted to deliver them so his teacher gave them to us."

"I see. Please, come in." She stood aside so they could enter. She knew she probably shouldn't let them in, not with Narikage acting like he was, but she didn't want to appear rude. "Would you girls like some tea?"

"Arigato," Rei said, sitting when Misato gestured for her to. Asuka did so as well but she kept glancing around, eyes narrowed a little.

"If you looking for Narikage you might as well give up. He's not feeling very well today."

"Probably faking it," Asuka muttered under her breath.

As Misato was boiling the water, there suddenly came a crash from the direction of Narikage's room. Quickly, the woman shut off the burner, her eyes wide. "I'm sorry, girls, but you'll have to show yourselves out. Thank you for coming and dropping off Narikage's homework; I'll tell him you stopped by." Before either one could say something, Misato had dashed off and they heard Narikage's door slam shut on its tracks.

"What the hell was that all about?" Asuka said, standing and starting towards the living room door.

"Asuka, where are you going?"

"I'm going to see what's up. I know he's just faking it to get attention and I'm going to catch him at it."

"I don't think we should."

"Then you can stay here." Asuka crept out of sight. After a moment of pained deliberation, Rei followed, gnawing on her bottom lip.

Asuka was already kneeling outside of the bedroom door, her eye pressed to a crack between the door and the frame. Rei managed to get into a spot where she could see as well.

Misato was sitting on Narikage's bed, holding him tightly to her chest as he sobbed into her shoulder. Neither girl had ever seen him act in such a way and it stunned them.

"Shh...it's alright now, Narikage. You're awake now..." Misato crooned, trying her best to calm the boy down. He was trembling so hard in her arms, she was finding it difficult to keep a tight hold on him. "What was it about this time?"

"Shinji...he had to watch...they made him watch while they hit me..." the boy whimpered, his grip on Misato's sweater tightening. "Otouto..."

"Shhh..."

"What is he talking about?" Asuka whispered to Rei, who looked as mystified as her friend.

"Just try to relax, Narikage. It's all over now," Misato was saying, kissing the boy's black hair. "You're awake and no one is going to hit you."

"They made him watch, Misato-san. He saw it all..."

"Shhh...don't even think about it." She pulled away, wiping at his face with her sleeve. It took a moment for the girls to realize that what was coming from Narikage's eyes weren't normal tears.

"Oh my god..." Asuka gasped quietly. "There's blood everywhere!" Rei said nothing, just stared at Narikage, her mouth hanging open slightly. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Narikage was actually crying blood. "What the hell is going on here?" Rei shook her head and grabbed Asuka, dragging her back out into the kitchen. "What gives?"

"We shouldn't have seen that."

"Why not? This is huge, Rei! He cries blood!"

"Shh!" She looked quickly towards Narikage's room to make sure they hadn't been heard. "I'm well aware of that, Asuka, but I still think it was wrong of us to spy like that."

"Wrong, yes, and informative. I'm going to find out why he's crying blood." She started to march out of the kitchen but Rei grabbed her arm.

"Don't. What's going on in there is private. When we're ready to know, Misato-san will tell us, or maybe even Narikage himself." Asuka scowled at her friend.

"Aren't you even mildly curious?"

"Yes, I am. But, as I said, this is a private thing between him and Misato. We have no right to infringe on that." The German girl threw up her hands.

"You just aren't any fun. FINE, I won't go in there."

"Arigato. Now we'd better get out of here before Misato sees us and gets mad." The girls made their way out of the apartment, still thinking about what they had seen. No doubt about it; they had seen something huge this afternoon.

They just weren't sure why.