Asuka's POV:

Shinji came back at midnight last night. He looked very gloomy and I could see trails of tears on his face. To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I actually thought they would be sleeping together by then.

Did wonder girl reject him?

I asked him what had happened but he told me nothing. When I tried to grab him, he pushed me away. It was the most violent act I had ever seen him do. He went into his room and slammed the door shut.

Wonder girl must have rejected him.

The following morning, my eyelids are feeling so heavy that I can't help but rest my forehead on my table. The teacher had shouted at me a few times already during class. But I'm just too tired. I couldn't sleep much last night because I kept hearing Shinji crying just next to my room.

In my opinion, Wonder Girl and Shinji are made for each other. They look so nice together. Both are gentle and soft people. I turn my head and look at Wonder Girl's empty seat. She is absent again today.

Did something happen last night? Or is she doing something else at Nerv? I do know that she is made to do extra work sometimes because of her low synch ratio. But somehow I get the feeling that it is not so simple this time. The uneasy feeling is probably coming from Shinji's strange behaviour. Staring into the empty space in front of him, his face looks so dead. Poor boy, it must have been hard for him. I wonder why she rejected him. Maybe I should find out what happened.

Shinji didn't talk to anyone that day. He didn't even move an inch. Everyone in the class thought he was just having a bad day. Not even his two best friends could get a response from him. I even had to grab him from his seat when the school ended. Shinji moves like a zombie during our walk home. I keep looking at him as he doesn't seem to be aware of his surroundings at all. One time I even had to pull him back when he almost got hit by a car. It is a long walk home, and we walk in complete silence, with each of us having something on our minds.

I have always known that Shinji would be devastated if he was rejected by Wonder Girl. The weak boy gets hurt even by my most simple jokes. Part of me feels guilty for pushing him too hard last night. If I hadn't forced him to visit Wonder Girl, perhaps this wouldn't have happened.

It is when we finally reach the apartment door that I grab his collar, trying to shake some sense into him. I just can't tolerate him anymore.

"What is wrong with you? Tell me exactly what happened."

"……"

"Am I your friend? Do you know how worried I've been?!"

"……"

Seeing him like this makes me feel…dull…What is this feeling? It feels as if my breath was taken away from me. For some reasons, I feel irritated. I hate him for triggering this unknown emotion inside me. So I slap him. I tackle him to the ground and slap him over and over again. This spoiled coward deserves it.

"Wake. Up. You. Jerk. Stop. Acting. So. Childish."

The slapping sound echoes through the hallway every time my palm connects with his cheeks. I must have hit him at least ten times before his hand suddenly grabs mine in mid air when I was about to strike again. His eyes stare unto the ceiling, devoid of any life. With a bored voice, his next words hit me like thunder.

"My father had sex with her."

My mind blanks out, and for a moment I can't act. He pushes me aside easily and gets up. Opening the door, he steps inside without saying another single word. I stay there for what seems like hours. This is not right. This is not right at all. The commander had sex with her? No…that doesn't sound right.

Did the commander…did he rape her!? I understand now. That look on her face when she said she didn't love Shinji. I understand now. She loves Shinji too much. She doesn't dare reveal the truth. She is afraid that she might lose Shinji forever. Is Shinji too blind to see this?!

I storm into the apartment and bust into Shinji's room. His father had sex with her. That idiot's choice of words makes me sick to the stomach. He said it as if Wonder girl was willingly complying with the commander. It sounded so cold and so casual that I doubt he provided any warmth and comfort to Wonder Girl last night. He must have run away as soon as he found out. I know him. That is his true nature.

"What are you doing here?! You should be there with her!!! Don't you know anything?!"

"No…I can't do anything. I'm just a kid."

I stare at him in disbelief. We stay silent for a long time. None of us moves an inch.

Shinji, I am ashamed of what you just said. You disappoint me so much. If Wonder Girl heard it, she would have been so broken.

"Tell me where she lives."

"……"

Picking up a pen and a paper, I pull the wimp to a sitting position and put the pen in his hand.

"Write me her address."

"……"

"WRITE IT DOWN!!!"

Shinji's body jerks a little when he heard me shout. At least I manage to shock him back to life. He then writes down a few lines on the paper. I take a look at the address and stand up. If he isn't going to help her, then I will. Rape victims are very emotionally unstable, and they desperately need people showing them love and care. And I know how it feels like to be dejected and lonely. I learnt it the hard way.

"W-what are you going to do…?"

I was about to leave when he suddenly asked me that disgusting question. But since he asked, maybe there is still hope for him. Wonder girl really needs him now. It would be so much better if he could go instead of me.

"I'm going to visit her. Are you coming?"

No response from Shinji…

"It's not too late. She needs you, you know?"

Any hope I have is shattered when he just lies back down and pulls his blanket over his head. Hiding away from reality again…

"Ikari Shinji, you're pathetic."

With that I stomp off. The bastard is not much better than his father.

Wonder girl's apartment is in an abandoned area of the city. Before this I had thought no one lived here anymore. It is very unsafe for her to live here all by herself, especially so considering she is just fourteen years old. The anger boils furiously inside me as I think of how the commander had treated her. The old pervert…

The never ending, banging sound of construction makes it even harder for my mind to calm down. This is surely not a place for human to live in. I walk up to the elevator and press the button. I wait. And then I press the button again. I wait some more.

Soon afterwards, I am walking up the stairs. I would have been cursing the elevator by now if not for the current situation. Wonder girl's apartment is on the forth floor. I wonder why she doesn't live on the ground floor. No one lives in this building anyway. Slowly finding my way to her apartment, my heart feels heavier with each step I take. I have to admit getting nervous about meeting her. Her mind might be unstable at the moment. And I have never shown her much care before. Stopping just in front of her door, I raise my now shaking hand and knock.

Knock! Knock!

I call out her name and wait. Without getting any answer, I knock some more. All of a sudden, I hear a thump as something falls down on the other side of the door. I'm starting to get worried. What if it was her falling down? I try opening the door. Surprisingly, it is not locked. I turn the door and walk in slowly. There is still enough sunlight to see clearly, but it is hard to make out what her apartment looks like. Carefully, I move through the kitchen to her bedroom. The sight I see next would break anyone's heart.

She is naked on the cold hard floor. Her body is covered with dry sweat, blood and…something else. There are welts all over her body. Some of them had been bleeding. I can see the bruises on her wrist and the ropes hanging on her bed rail. Her hair is a mess and she looks very pale and weak. But the saddest thing is, she is trying to crawl her way to the front door, and I can hear her calling out Shinji's name very weakly. Her voice sounds happy and relieved.

Tears start welling up in my eyes. For a moment I felt like throwing up. I can understand why Shinji had run away now. The sight is too painful. But still, it makes me hate him. How could he leave Rei to herself like this?

I quickly walk to her side, picking her up as gently as I can and putting her on her bed. She is actually lighter than she looks. I look into her eyes. They are now dull red and somewhat lack the spark her eyes normally have. Her hand is shaking slightly as she tries to reach up to touch my face. I hold her hand tightly, with my other hand covering my mouth. I let my tears fall freely.

I sit beside her for nearly half an hour. She has somehow recognised who I am and stopped calling out his name. Her face looks disappointed, but grateful. Her lips looks cracked from being dry. She must not have eaten anything since last night. Maybe I should get her something to eat. When I try to get up, her grip on my hand tightens. She shook her head. I assure her that I'm not going to leave her.

"Hush…Rei…hush…I'll get you some water all right?"

Reluctantly, she let go of my hand. I walk over to her fridge. There is nothing but bread and jam inside. It might not be a good idea for her to eat something as hard as frozen bread. So I take out the jam and pour a glass of water. Then I walk back to her bed. This is feeling awkward. She can't feed herself. And I have to get her to sit up.

Climbing onto her bed, I lean against the wall and pull her up against me. With her head resting against my chest, I let her sit in front of me and pull her thin blanket over her body. Her body feels dirty but this is not the time for me to feel disgusted. I take the glass and press it on her mouth. She begins drinking the water. I feel slightly relieved that she manages to drink down half of it. After putting the glass near the window, I open up the jar and begin feeding her the jam.

We stay like that for another half an hour. I'm glad that she finished all the jam. Then I start to get worried as her body begins to heat up. What if she is having a fever?

"Rei, I must take you to the hospital, all right?"

She gives me no response. I start to get up, but she again tightens her grip on me. With a weak voice she says…

"No…Asuka…no…"

"Why? You're wounded. You must get treated."

"No…can't go…the commander…"

"What about the commander? What do you mean?"

Again she gives no response. I look at her. Then I realise it. She must be scared of him. My mind is already calling for vengeance on that monster for abusing her like this. But now, the most important thing is to make her feel better.

"All right, but I will need to go and buy something, ok?"

She nods her head.

"You take a rest. I will be back soon."

With that, I walk away from her half-heartedly. Once I exit her apartment, I run to the nearest 24-hour store. I need to get her some dressings and food. I might have to buy her some medicine too, and get her a thicker blanket.


Rei's POV:

My heart breaks again once I realise that this is not Shinji. She is very close to me and I can hear her softly sobbing. I can't see her clearly, but her voice tells me who she really is. I never thought she would do this for me. Slowly calming myself down, I let my body relax. At least now there is someone beside me. I try to stop her when she suddenly stands up, as I don't want to be left alone again. Then she let me know that she is just going to get me some drink. I'm very hungry, so I reluctantly let her go.

She has been calling me by my first name since she came inside. I'm still devastated from all the events. But I feel a slight touch of warmth inside my heart. Someone actually cares for me at a dark time like this. It makes it even more special that this someone is her. I never knew she cared.

She comes back a short while later. Her hands hold me gently as she sits me up. Leaning against her, I feel my body being covered up by my blanket. It feels warm. She starts feeding me after that. Why is she doing this? It makes my heart feel really warm…

I wish it had been Shinji helping me…

My heart jumps a beat when she mentions about going to the hospital. I can't let her take me to the hospital. The commander would not be happy. He would rip me apart if he finds out. I quickly tell Asuka no. Although I don't have enough strength to explain to her, I think she understands. For she tells me to rest and that she will be back as soon as she can after she buys something. I do not know what she wants to do. But I can tell she is genuinely concerned about me. So I let her go.

I fall asleep after that. I dream. I dream about me having a family. I have a caring father and a caring mother. They love me very much. They would kiss me; they would hold my hands; they would be there to hug me. I have a loving brother too. He also loves me very much. He would play with me and read me stories. He would be there to protect me. I dream about growing up together with my friends. It feels great to have a normal life.

When I wake up, Asuka is sitting beside me and smiling. It feels strange.

"I didn't want to wake you up."

She then walks away and comes back with a kettle and a basin. She pours some hot water into the basin, mixing it with the cold water inside.

"Luckily you have a kettle. Or else I would have to use cold water, you know."

She grabs a piece of towel and wet it inside the basin. It feels really warm to have someone caring for me…I just wish it had been Shinji…But I am very grateful that Asuka is doing this for me.

"Ok Rei, this might hurt a little. But we need to clean you up."

I nod my head. She then proceeds to wipe my body with the towel. She is being very gentle and careful with my injuries. The water feels warm. I feel blessed that I have a friend like her. The fiery Asuka in school and the tender Asuka here seem like two different people. She cleans up every part of my body patiently. After that, she starts applying some medicine on my wounds. It stings a bit. But she is being very soft with me. This is followed by her applying the dressings on my wounds. When it is all done, she lays me down on my back. She put two pillows under my head to support me and covers me up with a thick blanket.

After that, she walks to the kitchen and comes back with a bowl of porridge. She is being so considerate. I want to feed myself this time but she won't let me. So I let her feed me again. It feels really strange, the same emotion I feel every time when I think about Shinji as my half-brother. It feels…wrong…and yet so right…

"So, what did you dream about?"

She has been so nice to me. I feel it would be right to be honest with her.

"I dreamt that I had a happy family."

Her face pales a bit. I know her history. I know about her family problems and her mother. She continues to feed me but we stay quiet after that. After she is done feeding me, I ask her to fetch me one of the pills on my table. She looks at me curiously. But she does as I request without asking me any further question.

I fall asleep shortly after I finished eating. I'm still feeling very tired and mentally exhausted. So much has happened over the past two days. Admitting that I love Shinji; finding out that Shinji loves me too; the commander coming to rape me; Shinji finding out and turning away from me; and Asuka showing care. So much has happened that it seems unreal. I start dreaming again, but this time it is not a pleasant dream.

I dreamt about the happy family that I had. It was winter and we were sitting by the fire in the family room. We were chatting happily. Suddenly, there was a loud banging on the door. Father got up and left the room. I could hear the door being opened and then a painful scream. I quickly went to mother's side. Fear struck into me as I saw a stranger coming into the room. He was tall and his face was covered with a mask. He was carrying a chainsaw with one hand; with the other hand, he carried my father's head. He threw the head at us and we screamed. My brother and I were both too afraid to move. My mother tried to shield us from him. Blood splashed across my face as he thrust the chainsaw into mother's belly. He threw her aside, grabbed my brother and pushed his head into the fire. There were screams. There were horrible screams. After he finished killing them all, he walked towards me. I was crying. I was too scared to do anything. He laughed. It was terrible. He then grabbed his mask with one hand and slowly removed it from his face. I gasped. He was…he was the commander himself…the root to all my trouble…Why…why was he doing this…He took away everything from me…

My body jerks forward from the bed as I wake up from the horror. Breathing heavily, I turn my head and notice that I've woken up Asuka as well. She had fallen asleep on my chair while watching me. She looks at me curiously and then at her surrounding. I grab her hand and pull her onto the bed. I hug her and cry onto her shoulder.