In the Mind of A Child Chapter 6

Tribulation

To another abyss, to no avail, the search is bound to fail. To another abyss, to no avail, so long ago I set sail. And it chills me to the bone that I'm so far away from home. And I'm struggling on the way. And I'm waiting for the day. And I'm looking for a way back home. To another abyss.

A poem by Asuka Langley Sohryu

My back hurts, Rei thought upon awakening. She opened her eyes and noticed that she and Shinji were still propped up against the wall. The lights in the room were still off; however a small amount of ambient light crept through the shutters on his window. Their supplies were strewn across the floor. Her books lay open, tossed in the middle of the room. Rei noticed that Shinji had the foresight to throw his scissors on his bed.

He was still sleeping peacefully with his head on her shoulder. She looked at him and smiled. With her hand Rei reached over and removed a few stray hairs from his face. We haven't even been on a date yet. I just skipped everything and went straight to spending the night in his room, Rei chuckled to herself. "Shinji" Rei said as she gently brushed the backside of her hand on his cheek. "Shinji" Rei tried again as a smile grew on her face.

"Mmm." He replied as he rolled to his left and placed his arm across Rei's abdomen.

Her cheeks started to ache again. She had never smiled this much in her life. As she glanced at her watch Rei whispered, "Well we have a little time left Shinji I guess you can sleep for a while longer" After laying her arm across his shoulder she leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Rei, wake up" A soft feminine voice said

She opened her eyes to Misses Ikari kneeling in front of her holding a pot and a wooden spatula. Rei was immediately embarrassed at the compromising situation she was in. Misses Ikari must have noticed that Rei was uncomfortable because she smiled and assured her that nothing was wrong. "Rei I need to wake Shinji up now so you might wish to move. Don't worry you wont wake him by getting up I promise"

Rei moved Shinji's arm away from her and slid out laying him face first on the floor. His mother was right, he didn't even stir.

She watched as Shinji's mother knelt down beside him and yelled, "Shinji wake up!" With that she began banging noisily on the metal pot. "Shinji get up! Get up son, don't make me get your father!"

"Mmm" He groggily mumbled. "Okay mom I'm up geez, calm down" He said wiping the sleep away from his eyes.

After Shinji was awake his mother's pristine demeanor returned and she walked happily toward the door stopping only to alert them that breakfast would be ready soon.

The two teenagers sat there and said nothing. It seemed to Rei that they were afraid to even look at each other. What's wrong with us, shouldn't we be closer now? Why is it I can't bring myself to speak?

"Rei, is something wrong?" Shinji asked.

"Oh…nothing I guess. I just…how did you sleep?" Rei said with a grin.

Shinji blushed as he said, "My back hurts, but I've never slept so soundly in my entire life."

"Thank you for caring enough to put a blanket on me last night" Rei said as she averted her eyes.

"Thank you for…everything" Shinji replied.

"I tried waking you up. I've never seen someone sleep so deeply before" Rei stated with a grin as she playfully kicked at him with her socked feet.

"I couldn't help it, you're so soft I didn't wanna wake up" He replied and watched her turn red and leave the room.

"Rei, please have a seat. Don't be polite, eat as much as you want" Shinji's mother offered. "Shinji, be a gentleman and pull her chair out for her."

He did as he was told and Rei rewarded him with a bashful smile.

"Don't worry kids I made Shinji's father promise not to say anything about last night, so just relax. We know nothing happened, it's the sweetest thing I've seen in a long time" Shinji's mother said as she took a sip of her morning coffee.

Shinji's father grunted in response. Rei watched as he continuously stared at his son grinning from ear to ear. He didn't need to say anything to get his point across, the look he was giving Shinji was enough.

"Honey stop it, you're confusing Rei" Misses Ikari said.

"I'm not doing anything Yui, leave me alone" Mr. Ikari replied jovially. "You know I'm sure this diet you have me on is a good idea but this is ridiculous. The penguin gets more breakfast than I do" He said using his fork to pick at his plate.

"Penguin?" Rei questioned.

"Yeah, his name is PenPen, he's a rare hot water penguin, he should be eating now, I don't know where his" Shinji answered searching for the animal.

"Waark!"

"Ow!" Rei jumped as a slight pain ran up her leg. Her knee hit the table causing the dishes to clatter nosily.

"Wark!" The black and white penguin answered as it hobbled its way out from under the table.

"PenPen no!" Misses Ikari scolded. "Don't worry Rei, he bites me too"

Why doesn't that surprised me?

"Hey Dad, I have a surprise for you. I know who Zero is." Shinji said with a victorious grin.

Rei froze unable to move. There was a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach. No one was supposed to know that she was Zero. Why wouldn't he tell me first if he knew it was me?

"You're never going to believe who it is"

"Son how many sites did you have to hack to get this information?" Gendo replied in an exasperated tone.

"Only two Dad, come on, don't you wanna know?"

"Fine"

"It's my Home Ec teacher Ms. Misato. I researched the site's user database and found out what bank, routing number, and account number Zero's pay was being sent to. It's sent to a savings account registered to Misato Katsuragi. I looked at the transaction report and found that she uses the same ATM every single time she withdraws money. What's strange is Ms. Misato has the money from her teaching job deposited into a checking account. She pays all her bills with that account and doesn't touch the money from the online job accept to withdraw it from that ATM. There's something there that I'm not seeing. It's also strange because Ms. Katsuragi doesn't seem smart enough to write the things Zero writes"

"Off the record, good investigative work son. On the record I should ground you for hacking again. You could go to jail Shinji"

"Not really, I checked on some things before I did anything really illegal. The philosophy website has a contract that requires two servers containing the crystal technology your company produces. Also Mom is installing the EVA software she created at the bank whose site I hacked. Either way I'm covered" Shinji said with a confident smile on his face.

"Don't get cocky Shinji, you've been caught once before"

Who is this guy? Rei thought and found that she was strangely attracted to him again. This isn't a switched personality but it's definitely getting closer to the Shinji that only appears at work. Computers seem to be the trigger.

"Rei is it okay that you're going to school in what you wore yesterday?" Shinji asked.

"You know you're probably right, it'll only give Asuka something to complain about"

Shinji laughed uncomfortably and watched as Rei removed her sweater revealing a plain white button up shirt. She undid the top two buttons of her shirt exposing a small amount of skin. Nothing remotely seductive but enough to make Shinji blush, she also undid the buttons closing the cuffs of her shirt.

"Well, what do you think?" Rei asked with a grin as she did a little spin. It's kind of liberating acting like this for him. Rei knew she was somewhat fishing for a complement with her last question but she didn't care.

The blush on his face was compliment enough. "Come on Shinji lets go. You know once we get to school you can't keep staring at me like that" Rei never could have imagined how good it felt to have someone adore her as Shinji apparently did. The attention she was getting made her feel better than she had ever felt before. She felt beautiful. She had always been praised for her intelligence. So much so that she hardly paid attention to the compliments she received anymore. This was the first time she had actually received attention for being attractive. It was on a completely different level than being told she was smart.

Shinji was walking beside her doing his best to look at her out of the corner of his eye without getting caught. Rei contemplated trying to hold his hand, she felt that it wouldn't be moving too fast since they had already spent the night together. She wanted him to put his arm around her, wanted him to hold her, she couldn't get enough of this new feeling she didn't even know existed. Am I in love? She couldn't believe how ignorant she was, how for sixteen years she had been devoid of what she was feeling right now. Of course she knew that as long as these feelings stayed in her head she was safe. No emotional harm could come to her. The hard part would come when she confessed how she felt.

Her train of thought was suddenly interrupted when Shinji grabbed her hand. The surprise was equal to the joy she felt. "Shinji, don't hold on so tight. Shinji you're hurting me!" He had her hand gripped so tight she thought it would break.

"Rei…" Shinji mumbled

She turned around to look at him and was horrified to see that his face was twisted in pain. He let go of her hand and fell to the ground shaking violently.

"Shinji! Someone help!" Rei screamed as she watched her friend convulse.

"Oh my God Ayanami what's happening?" Asuka yelled as she came running up with her gang in tow.

"I…I don't know he just fell down" Rei replied, the fear evident in her voice.

Sakura pushed past the group of girls and immediately took charge of the situation. "Kaname, take his back pack off and make sure there's nothing around him he can hurt himself with. Asuka get down by his head and try and control how much his neck moves. Lavi, get on top of him and do your best to hold him down. Shinobu call an ambulance. Rei, how long has he been convulsing…Rei!"

"I...about five minutes before you got here"

"Do Shinji's parents live very far from here?" Sakura demanded.

"No, they live right up the road" Rei replied unable to take her eyes away from Shinji.

"Good, go run and tell them what's happening"

"Sakura…I can't hold him!" Lavi exclaimed as she was thrown from Shinji to the ground.

"Shinji stop, please stop!" Asuka begged.

Suddenly his body calmed as if in compliance with Asuka's pleading. He lay on the ground covered in sweat breathing heavily.

"Sakura the ambulance is on its way" Shinobu said, her eyes red from crying.

"Rei catch your breath and tell me what happened" Misses Ikari said putting a hand on Rei's heaving shoulder.

Rei was bent down with her on her knees trying desperately to catch her breath. "It's…it's Shinji. He's having a seizure"

"Again" Misses Ikari said barely loud enough for Rei to hear. She dropped her newspaper and ran back into the house. She quickly returned with the keys to her car. "Come on Rei lets go"

"Ri…right" Rei said as she ran to catch up to Shinji's mother.

After they were seated in the car Misses Ikari handed Rei her cell phone and instructed her to call a number that would get her through to Shinji's father. "Just ask for Gendo and tell him to meet us at the hospital"

Rei did as she was told, but dropped the phone as she was thrown into the passenger door by Misses Ikari's irate driving. After she fastened her seatbelt she retrieved the phone from the floor. "Mr. Ikari, this is Rei. Shinji has had a seizure and he's being taken to the hospital. Misses Ikari wishes for you to meet us there"

"I'm on my way"

Rei and Misses Ikari arrived in just enough time to see Shinji being loaded onto a gurney and pushed into the awaiting ambulance. Shinji's mother pulled the car to a screeching halt and exited the vehicle without turning off the ignition. Rei shortly followed after undoing her seat belt.

"Um…ma'am you're going to have to stay back" A young paramedic explained holding up his hands in an attempt to ward her off.

"I'm his mother, get out of my way" Misses Ikari said curtly as she pushed past the EMT and entered the rear of the ambulance. Before she closed the doors she called out to Rei. "I want you to take the car and follow us to the hospital"

It wasn't a request, it was an order, Misses Ikari left no room for interpretation on that. Rei had been driving for only a week and wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of maneuvering the expensive looking German made vehicle through afternoon Tokyo traffic. She nonetheless complied however and began walking toward the car.

"Ayanami, I'm coming with you" Asuka demanded as she walked to the passenger side door.

Rei had never liked hospitals. The antibacterial smell, the stale recycled oxygen, it was almost overwhelming. She couldn't stand the way the older people looked at her as she went by them. Each one seemed to be begging for attention, some indication that someone still cared. The smug doctors were no better company. The employees here seemed to believe that they were somehow better and more intelligent than the people they treated. Rei could see right through the façade of polite concern.

"Ayanami the receptionist is this way, let's go!" Asuka yelled as she turned a corner.

The two girls reached the desk and tried to get the attention of an overweight secretary who was flirting with a young doctor that was obviously way out of her league.

"Um., excuse me" Rei interrupted. She repeated herself as the receptionist ignored her and continued chatting.

"Just one minute young lady" She said as she turned her attention back to the doctor.

This is why I hate being a child. If I were anyone else she would have helped me immediately, Rei thought to herself. "Excuse me do you know where Shinji Ikari is being treated?"

"Miss it's not polite to interrupt, now go take a seat"

Asuka had enough and pushed Rei out of the way. Rei watched as she knocked everything on the lady's desk within her reach to the ground.

"Hey! Didn't you hear her? Where is Shinji Ikari being held? And you, just because you're overpaid and undereducated doesn't give you an excuse to stand around doing nothing" Asuka exclaimed as she turned her attention to the horrified doctor.

After typing the information in her computer the lady scowled as she said, "He's in room one sixteen you little brat"

"That's right this way" Rei said as she ran down the hall.

After arriving at the entrance to Shinji's room Rei took a seat in a small metal chair. "We're not allowed in there Asuka, you can stop pawing at the door"

"I…I just want him to know that I'm here" She replied. A smile grew on her face as she heard the door open. A petite nurse slipped out and closed the door behind her. She was clad in white and spoke with an almost motherly manner.

"You two must be friends of his. I'm really very sorry but only family is allowed in that room. I'm sure you understand"

"Can you at least tell us how he is?" Rei said as she stood up from her chair.

"I'm sorry, I cannot" Without another word she walked away.

Rei flopped down into her seat defeated. Until now she hadn't had time to sort through her emotions. Now she could do nothing else but wait and think about all that had happened. It was more than she could bear. She placed her face in her hands and began to sob softly.

"Here" Asuka said as she offered a box of tissue paper. "I…I don't think I can cry anymore" She said as she looked down at her feet.

Rei hesitantly accepted the box. As she wiped her reddening eyes she tentatively asked, "Does it always hurt this much?"

"Yes" Asuka answered without looking up. She wiped at her face as tears began to form in her eyes again.

They sat in silence for half an hour before Mr. Ikari arrived. He was dressed in his normal business attire but looked nowhere near as collected as he normally did. Shinji's father wouldn't have even acknowledged their presence if Asuka hadn't stopped him.

"Mr. Ikari, will you let Shinji know that I'm here" Asuka asked as she grabbed the sleeve of his suit.

"What's your name?" He replied taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

"I'm Asuka, please let him know that I'm here for him"

"I'll tell him" Mr. Ikari replied looking over at Rei. She still had her head down, her shoulders heaved slightly as she silently cried.

After two hours of waiting Rei's head popped up as she heard the door to Shinji's room being opened. Asuka was already standing up with an expectant smile on her face.

"Excuse me" An older doctor said as he stepped out of the room.

The next person to leave was Shinji's father. He was no longer wearing his jacket, his tie was undone and hung loosely around his neck. His gaze looked almost dangerous. She watched as he walked hurriedly down the hallway.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled as he violently kicked a small trashcan out of his way, the contents spilling out into the walkway.

When Rei turned around she saw Shinji's mother standing in the doorway. She looked almost normal, other than her eyes, which were pink.

"Is…is Shinji going to be okay?" Asuka asked.

Misses Ikari looked at her and smiled. "He'll be fine" Rei noticed an increase in how rapidly she blinked her eyes, noticed that her fists clenched when she answered, noticed how she wouldn't look Asuka directly in the face when talking to her.

She's lying

End Chapter 6