In a dark room was a large table lined with nine chairs, four on each side and one at the head. All the chairs were full except one. It was empty and this seemed to be the topic of discussion.
"Hachi is dead." said a booming voice.
"Yes are numbers have been reduced," said another softer voice, "that makes you the weakest now."
"Shut your mouth!" replied the booming voice. "I don't care what my rank is now, I'm still a lot stronger than that weakling."
"Someone that weak barely deserved to be in our ranks to begin with." replied a female voice.
"Was he really weak?" asked a monotone voice. "Or was his opponent really that strong?"
"Are you saying it wasn't Hachi's cocky attitude that got him killed?" asked the female voice.
"His attitude may have had something to do with it, but it also highly likely that the enemy was just too strong for him." replied the soft voice.
"Damn it all," said the booming voice, "I thought all the Shinpishugisha were dead. Where the hell did this girls come from?"
"You can't be sure everything is dead unless you see it killed yourself." said a bored voice. "We only started the extermination and then looked back to see nothing, a few must have hidden away."
"So what do you think about this girl then?" asked the monotone voice.
"I think she's interesting and I really don't care what you do about her, besides it's not up to me. What shall we do, Shinigami-sama?"
"Let's play with her a little more." he replied. "We can torment her more in Oshu."
"Oshu?" asked the soft voice. "We can't summon demons in there and our power will be slightly weakened. Is it wise to attack there?"
"Of course." said Shinigami. "Shi, Nana go play with the girl in Oshu and while your there, bring it into the mist."
"Yes Shinigami." said the two in unison and then they vanished.
"Go, Roku." said Shinigami.
"Yes." they replied.
"I don't intend them to kill the girl there. When they are done taking Oshu you two will destroy the girl, understood?"
"Of course." they replied.
Back in Oshu Rei hurried to the closest building in order to obtain help for Asuka. The first building she stopped at was in front of one of the windmills and was labeled and inn. While still holding on to Asuka, Rei knocked loudly on the door and called for someone to answer.
"Hello, anyone? Please open up my friend needs help."
"Yeah yeah," a tired sounding voice said from within, "just hold on." The door opened. "What is it that you want?" said the girl that opened the door. When she saw Rei carrying Asuka the girl was startled wake and was now taking the early disturbance seriously. "Oh my god, what happened?"
"My friend is freezing and has been for days. Please help her."
"Of course. Bring her inside."
Rei followed the girl inside the inn and through the back. There was a large hot spring with a high fence splitting it in half.
"Her clothes are soaked, take them off and we'll get her into the water. I'll wake up the others then ok."
"Right. Thank you." Rei set Asuka down and proceeded to remove her clothes. Without caring she tossed the on the ground reveling her cold but beautiful body, that, luckily was not greatly damaged from either the fights or the cold. Rei and the girl gently lowered Asuka into the hot spring up to her neck.
"Make sure she doesn't slip under the water. I'll get some more help." the girl said and then ran off. Moments later the girl returned with an older woman and two other girls. The youngest girl took the discarded clothes away and the other girl, who was older than the first one they met, had some clean ones in her arms.
"What happened her?" asked the woman. "It look like she was out in the snow for a week, but that doesn't make sense. No one travels around out of town. Who are you two anyway? I don't recognize you."
Rei turned and bowed to the woman, "I am Ayanami Rei and this is my friend Asuka. We are travelers. Several days ago Asuka became ill while walking in the snow and then she finally collapsed. I carried her here to receive help."
"Well Rei, I'm not sure how you two are traveling around out there, but I'll ask that later. I'm Misato and I run this inn. The girl that answered your cry for help was Hikari and the other two were her sisters. Since you're here we'll give you a place to sleep and we'll treat Asuka. But, I want you to explain how and why you two are walking around out in the mist, ok?"
"Of course, I have some questions as well. I think we should save all that until Asuka is better."
"Good idea."
After an hour Asuka was taken out of the hot spring and redressed. She was then carried to a bed and laid down under some blankets. The sun was starting to rise and the rest of the town would start to wake soon and they would be curious as to why the inn was receiving business.
Rei was seated at a table with Misato and Hikari. Hikari was a girl about Rei's age. She was the same height and had black hair that was tied into two strands. Misato was an older woman probably around thirsty. She had long purple hair and an enormous chest. Hikari seemed to be much more serious than Misato, she looked worried about what was going on while Misato looked tired and carefree. After a few moments of silence Misato finally spoke.
"So Rei I want to ask you…"
"How is Asuka doing?" Rei interjected.
"She's a little better than when you brought her in. She has a slight fever and is still shivering a little. We've sent for a medical doctor and are already getting together some herbs that might help. As soon as we know what we can do to help her we will."
"Thank you."
"Now Rei I have some questions for you."
"Like what we were doing out in the mist and who we are, besides our names correct?"
"Yes exactly."
"I'm from a village to the south and Asuka is from the mountain just a little was south of here. We're traveling to defeat the mist and bring peace back into the world."
"That's amazing." said Hikari.
"Sounds like a load of crap to me." said Misato. "How can two girls stop something that's been plaguing the world for a hundred years?"
"Well, I'm, Shinpishugisha." said Rei cautiously.
"What really? I thought they were all dead."
"Apparently not" replied Rei.
"Miss Misato," called one of Hikaris' sisters, "the doctor is here."
"Thank you."
The doctor walked in very slowly. He was an old man who was quite hunched over and walked with a cane. "Where is this patient I've heard so much about?" he asked with interest.
"She's in the next room sleeping. Follow me doctor."
Misato, Rei Hikari and the doctor walked into the next room to see Asuka asleep on her futon. The doctor slowly walked over to her to begin his examination. He felt under her jaw and the sides of her neck. While holding the wrist he looked up and down Asuka's arms. He pushed lightly on several spots on her abdomen and then turned her half way over and looked at her back. When he laid her back down and covered her back up with the blanket he took out a piece of paper and a brush. After writing a few thing on the paper he handed it to Hikari who took off.
"I have a few questions." said the doctor."
"Yes, what is it?" replied Rei.
"What have you two been doing lately and where is her wound?"
"We've been traveling and fighting demons and what wound are you talking about"
"You've been fighting demons? Interesting I didn't think humans could win against them on their own."
She's not human she's Shinpishugisha." replied Misato.
"Also interesting." said the doctor. "And the wound that caused all that blood I was told about. Her clothes were covered in it right?"
"Again that was demons blood." replied Rei.
"Ok, than you have nothing to worry about. She has an infection. Being out in the cold for an extended period caused her body to weaken, she got sick and got worse by staying out in the cold. We'll give her some herbal teas and when she is more conscious, some decent food. I'm guessing you haven't eaten anything but plants for a while."
"Correct, we've had no meat for quite some time."
"Well then, if the girl has a strong enough will than she'll live."
"Thank you." Rei said and then bowed.
They waited for the doctor to leave the room before speaking. Misato walked up to Rei and placed her hand on her shoulder. As she was about to speak Rei turned and spoke.
"I guess you want to know about us huh? It only makes sense, two strangers come from the mist, which should be impossible, one is fine and the other is close to death, covered in blood that's not hers. I'd ask a lot of questions too. Lets sit and I'll tell you everything."
"Ok Rei sure."
Misato and Rei moved to another room and Rei explained the situation. She told of everything that had happened in enough detail so that she would be believed, but not enough to scare her host. After the long, yet still condensed, story and several cups of tea, Misato and Rei sat quietly.
"So, that's what you two have been through. It makes sense now how'd Asuka would get so sick and how you might be fine. That settles it then, you two will just have to stay here for the time being."
"Are you sure, I don't want to trouble you more than we already have?"
"No it's fine. We're an inn after all. If you went somewhere else you'd be troubling them more. And besides it will give my staff and I something to do."
"Thank you very much." Rei said with a slight bow of the head.
"Now hold on don't take this the wrong way, you still have to pay for your stay, it will just be less. Since you probably don't have money I'll just find some work around town for you to do. Ok?"
"Of course, anything."
In the other room Hikari was attempting to administer another cup of herbal remedy to Asuka when she woke up. Even though Asuka was awake she was very weak and could not move very much. She slowly opened her eyes and was confused at what she saw.
"Uh, where am I? Who are you and where's Rei?" Asuka tried to sit up but fell back down onto her futon.
"Don't try to move yet your too weak. Your in at the inn in Oshu. I'm Hikari and Rei's in the other room. You got very sick and Rei carried you here. I'm assisting with your recovery."
Asuka looked at this girl intently for a few moments. "Hikari huh? You seem nice, we should be friends."
"Friends? But we don't know each other at all. Wouldn't it be a little strange to already call each other friend?"
"Rei trusts you with my care and you sound like a nice person. What else do I need to call you a friend. And besides, I only have one friend, it'd be nice to have more."
"Sure, ok Asuka, we're friends then."
"Great. What's that?" Asuka asked motioning at the tea.
"It's a special tea that's going to help you get better."
"Alright then let me drink it already."
Hikari laughed. "You sound like your getting back to your old self. Or at least getting some strength back."
"I'm the great Asuka, I wont die so easily."
"I'm glad my new friend is so strong."
Asuka drank her tea and she and Hikari talked for a while. Asuka eventually went back to sleep and Hikari went into the other room where Misato and Rei were talking.
"Good news, Asuka was awake and talking. She sounds like she is going to be fine."
"Can I see her?" asked Rei.
"She's asleep again, but the instant she wakes back up I'll come get you, ok?"
"Ok, thank you."
"My god stop thanking us already." said Misato. "Your taking things way to seriously. There's no way in hell that we would refuse to care for another human." Misato paused for a moment after saying that. "And we'd help you too if you needed it."
"Don't worry about it. I knew what you meant. Anyway I'd like to pay for our stay her as soon as I can, so when there is anything you'd like me to do just say so."
"Actually there is something I've been meaning to do. On the other side of town there lives a family of doctors and they have something for me. Could you go and get it? They'd be happy to meet you."
"Sure, but where.."
"You can't miss is, it kind of stands out."
"Ok I'll go then." Rei said as she turned to leave the inn.
"Um Rei," Misato said stopping her, "you may want to leave the sword her. You'll scare the towns people."
"I'm sorry, but I can't leave this sword here, it's very important."
"Ok, just don't give anyone the wrong impression ok."
"Of course."
Rei left the inn and walked to the other side of town. Oshu was a decent sized town about three times the size of her village. As she walked though the streets the villagers looked at her and were frightened by the clothes and sword. As far as they could tell she was a soldier for the old days. After many scared looks and several mother protecting their children Rei reached her destination.
"Misato was right, this place really stands out." Rei said as she looked upon the building.
The building was several stories high and made completely of metal. There were several odd structures coming from the building that were shaped like pipes. The low sound that was emitted by the building was slightly annoying until Rei tuned it out. When she walked up t the door it was opened before she could knock or call.
"Welcome stranger." said the boy who opened the door. "You must be her for Misato's package. I never thought she send a soldier for it."
"I'm not a soldier, I'm a traveler."
"Oh whatever. Please com in come in."
Rei followed the boy's command and entered the building. The boy was about her height and age. He had short black hair and blue eyes. He seemed very jovial like he had just received good news. He led her to a stair case and they walked up to the third floor. There was one room on that floor that contained a large table and a book shelf. On the shelf was a small package. The boy walked over and grabbed the package.
"Honestly I don't know why my father left this here, he knew someone would come for it and he still left it up here. Does that seem odd to you?"
"Uh, umm, slightly." Rei responded a little confused.
"Oh good I thought I was the only one. Most people refuse to say bad things about my father because they think it would be rude after all the great things he's done. I really don't see the problem, if someone messes up you tell them."
"There is a certain amount of respect you should give you elders, especially if they have done great things."
"You like him too huh? I mean, I like him, but I don't think he's as great as everyone else thinks he is. He deserves to be called for his mishaps. It will keep him human. I'm Shinji by the way."
"I'm Rei."
Shinji looked closely at Rei. "Blue hair and red eyes. You know, I think you should meet with my father, he'd have some interesting things to talk with you about. Would you like to come back later? I'll be there too so your not alone with that guy."
"Uh, sure let me just bring this package back to Misato first ok?"
"Sure no problem. The door will be open, just walk in and yell."
"Right, ok." Rei said and then excused herself from the room.
On her way back to the inn Rei thought a lot about what had happened. That boy she just met, Shinji, was quite strange She wondered why he wanted her to come back and talk to his father. He mentioned her hair and eyes, he must have known she was Shinpishugisha. She was slightly worried about what would happen. When she arrived at the inn she was greeted happily by Misato.
"Oh good you are back with my package. Thank you."
"Your welcome. If I my ask, what is it?"
"It's a bottle of sake that's all."
"Why was is packaged up like that?"
"Because the store wont sell it to me anymore so I asked them to get it. I had them package it up so whoever went and got it wouldn't be walking around town with sake and get questioned."
"Should you not be drinking?"
"Oh it's fine. They said I get rowdy when I drink, but I just have fun is all. I don't do anything stupid or get in trouble I just keep up the neighbors."
"Umm, ok." Rei said slightly worried about what she had just done. "Has Asuka woken back up yet?"
"No she's still sleeping."
"Ok. Shinji said he had something he wanted to ask me about so I'm headed back over there. Is that ok?"
"Sure I'll come up with more errands for you later. Oh but be careful over there ok Rei." Misato said in a very serious tone. "Bad things usually happen there."
"Like what?"
"Oh usually you have some really bad food and have to listen to the doctor talk for hours in a very boring way, but as long as you stay with Shinji you'll be fine."
"Right." said Rei and she left the inn.
When Rei arrived at Shinji's she was starting to worry about this village. Everyone here was very strange and she wondered how long they would be stuck here, As soon as Asuka was healthy she wanted to leave so they could go to a place that actually needed help. She entered Shinji's house and called for him.
"Um Shinji? Are you there? It's me Rei, I came back like you asked."
Out of nowhere Shinji appeared behind her. "Thank you for coming back so soon." He said. "Now please come with me, we must meet with my father. We all have some very interesting things to talk about." Shinji walked toward the back of the building. When he arrived he pulled a switch on the wall and it rotated revealing a stair case. "This way." he motioned to Rei.
Rei followed, amazed by the hidden passage. As the walked down the staircase Rei noticed that Shinji had perfect posture. His back was completely straight and he looked forward despite walking down stairs. His hands were behind his back, right hand clutched in the left. He made almost no sound as he stepped just like when he appeared behind her. Rei started to wonder how and why he could do that. Rei's attention shifted slightly when she noticed that it was getting hotter as they descended.
"Excuse me Shinji. Why is it getting hot down here?"
"You'll see. But if you want me to ruin the surprise I can." Shinji looked back at Rei. "Oh good. I'll just say that is has to do with the windmills and leave it at that."
As they descended further Rei noticed a red glow coming from below them. Then she saw what looked like a river of thick red water. IT was extremely hot and looked like it went all around the village. She saw several metal polls and many other metal objects coming from the river and up into the rock above.
"What is this?" Rei asked amazed.
"This is the geothermal powerhouse of Oshu. This lava circulates around underneath us and heats the hot springs. It also provides power for the wind mills and keeps the mist back. It's also where my father does his research. You'll get used to the heat soon." Shinji stood still for a moment. "Be very careful not to touch anything or bother any of the workers down here ok."
"Ok."
Rei and Shinji walked over the lava river and onto the center platform where everyone was working. Rei tried not to stare too much at the various containers and tubes that were being experimented with and studied. Rei noticed a slight smile on Shinji's face as they walked toward his father. Whatever was being done down here obviously had him interested. She started to become very curious about it.
After walking what seemed like half way across Oshu they found a man standing in front of a tablet talking to three people in white haori. "Father," said Shinji, "I brought someone you might like to meet."
"Please excuse me." he said to the workers. "I'm busy Shinji what is it?"
"Always so cold with me, that's not nice. The person I brought has blue hair and red eyes."
The man turned around and looked directly at Rei. "Shinpishugisha, amazing, they still exist."
"She might be able to help you with your project."
"Excuse me, I don't want to sound rude, but could you stop talking about me like I'm not her?"
"Your right that was rude of us." replied the man. "My name is Gendo and I am the head researcher her in Oshu."
"I'm Rei. Shinji said you would be interested in speaking with me?"
"Of course. Shinji I'm very pleased that you convinced this girl to come here."
"Your welcome father." he said with a small head nod.
"What a boy, he doesn't even show me proper respect."
"How about we speak about what you wanted to." said Rei trying to avoid any tension between father and son.
"Good idea." said Gendo. He turned and looked at the large tablet. "This here is an ancient tablet full of great information. It tells of humans, Shinpishugisha and demons. It took a very long time to translate it. Apparently the Shinpishugisha had their very own language that was not shared often with humans. Do you know what it says Rei?"
Rei looked at the tablet. "I haven't the slightest idea."
"What a shame." said Gendo. "It tells of how, when the gods created the world there were only animals and demons. Eventually the gods decided that they wanted other creatures to rule over the world and they created humans. Some gods and spirits, who are forbidden to ever go down to the world decided to give up their status and live here. The surrendered their immortality and limitless power to have short lives on this beautiful planet. They retained a small amount of power and they became known as Shinpishugisha. So Rei, basically that means you are a descendant of a fallen god."
Rei was stunned and amazed at what she was hearing. She never heard anything like this before in her life. She never imagined that someone would know the origin of her race and why they had power. She was shocked and very interested by this news.
"It also says that since humans where now physically inferior to all the other races on the earth the gods created a second class of demons that would help them. These demons gave them powers to do all sorts of thing from flying to superhuman strength and various other powers. The Shinpishugisha, who gave up their god status to walk the earth as humans tried to use these demons as well but were unable. While wearing a demon humans and Shinpishugisha were equal. That's when the Shinpishugisha had an idea."
"Which was?" asked Rei wary of the answer.
"They decided to find out why they could not use the demons. They began a series of experiments that tried to identify what was rejecting them. The tested demons and Shinpishugisha to see which was stopping the merger. Eventually, after years of testing they tried a new experiment. The decided to create their own demons, ones that would work with them to increase their power. They also tried to manufacture new demons so they could manipulate the powers that each one gave. Some of that project was done here. All of these test tubes are actually scraps of demons that were failed experiments. We are restarting these test to see if we can create demons how we want them."
"What?" exclaimed Rei. "That's insane and there's no point. What's the use in creating a demon that you can use because of the mist? What purpose does it possibly serve?"
"To satisfy the human mind." replied Shinji. "I'm sure it's the same for Shinpishugisha as well. Humans have a natural curiosity that pains them and drives them to experiment on things. From the simplest test of how to better grow crops to something like this, we always go toward what will bring us the greatest understanding."
"What do you mean exactly?"
"When an animal looks at a tree it might think, a tree, there is food or a hiding place there. When a human looks at a tree we think, a tree, what can I use it for? Why are the leaves green? Why in the winter do some trees loose leaves and others don't? Each question has an answer and each answer opens up more questions. We strive to learn as much as we can to understand this world and be closed to the gods that created us."
"Your trying to make yourselves gods?"
"Of course not." said Shinji. "Gods know everything and have the ability to create and destroy as they see fit. Even if we understand everything on this earth we wont learn everything. The stars are not on earth so we can't study them. We can't spontaneously create new life, we have to sacrifice something else to obtain it. The gods were smart by putting that limitation on us. We are confined to ever expand our knowledge and nothing else. So we will continue to do so because it's interesting."
"So you want to make a demon in your image because it's interesting?"
"No." said Gendo. "We want to make a demon because it was apparently almost done. The records show that in order to create a demon the Shinpishugisha had to make it out of many demons and that it was very large. Several times larger that a normal person. Apparently they only lived for a short while. We want to perfect that process and then make it so it can live. Finally we want to make it so it might be able to fit inside a house and actually be used by humans."
"We have lots of ideas for these demons, but we're not holding our breath. We have a very limited supply that we kept before the mist came and we are almost out. We have yet to see a demon survive the tests. We can't make anything."
Rei stood silent for a moment. "Creating something like this seems like a bad idea. You don't think that power like that will just be used for battle? We have a habit of taking things and using them for war."
"Unfortunately it's not a scientists concern what his creations are used for. We intend them to help people but they will always be miss used. That's just how it works."
"How about we change topics?" asked Gendo. "I'm sure you are wondering about the windmills and lava right?"
"Um, yeah sure." replied Rei.
"It's a very old story originating from before the mist. As the story goes one day a man came into town and started talking to people about how the earth heated the hot springs. This of course interested many people and they wanted to know more. After some explanation the man said that there was a way we could use that energy and create something great that would increase the tourism to our town."
"And it was the windmills?"
"Correct. This building used to be a sacred cave. He took several people down into that cave and they saw what you see before you now. This man explained exactly how to build the windmills from the lava, up through the ground and up into the air. As long as there was lava flowing the windmills would turn. Once they were constructed people came from all over to see this new site, and the town grew. Eventually we figured out how to use the windmills to power other things and our town continued to flourish. Two years after the man left the mist came and to our great surprise and pleasure the windmills kept it out. It was generally thought that the story about the mills increasing tourism was just a ploy to get us to build them. Who would have believed that an evil mist would come and take us over."
"That's just like what happened at Asuka's village."
"The man was like you Rei." said Shinji, "He blue hair and red eyes. The continuation of this Shinpishugisha project is, in large part, to thank him for helping our town survive for this long. Without him we'd all be either trapped in the mist or dead."
"That's amazing. Similar stories from two places. I wonder if it was the same guy?"
"See." said Shinji. "Your curiosity has been ignited. You'll probably try and find out your answer as soon as you possibly can."
"I guess you right."
"Since you understand," interjected Gendo, "would you like to assist us in our research? It would probably go much smoother if we had a Shinpishugisha helping us."
"No thank you. As soon as Asuka is healthy we have to move on. There are plenty of other villages that need to be saved."
"Too bad. Shinji please escort Rei upstairs, it's getting about that time, treat her to something to eat."
"Sure thing father. Come on Rei." Shinji turned and Rei followed.
When the two were about half way up the stairs Shinji, who was still walking in perfect form with his hands behind his back, spoke to Rei this time without looking back at Rei. "I'm very sorry about this. Basically what just happened is my father kicked you out of his house. He just does it in a polite way."
"I figured as much. Although he looked it he didn't sound to happy when I said I wouldn't help."
"Well you have to figure, he's doing research that was done by and on Shinpishugisha. Then one shows up and he can't use her. It's very upsetting to him. There is an upside though, now you don't have to listen to him talk while you eat."
"I guess that's good." Rei said with a chuckle.
"So you see know why I don't like him as much as everyone else. He can be rather annoying."
"Yes he can."
Shinji and Rei finally reached the top of the stairs and were back in the house. Without speaking Shinji continued to walk to the staircase like earlier. Rei followed him up to the second floor. There was a brilliant table on a floor of tatami mats that looked as though it should be in a palace.
"Please wait here while I ask for some food to be prepared."
"Ok."
Shinji walked into the next room and spoke to someone. Unfortunately Rei could not hear what they were talking about so she sat quietly at the table looking at the room. She was still amazed at how great it was compared to the rest of the house.
"The food will be ready shortly." Shinji said as he came back into the room. "I asked my mother if she could cook instead of the normal cook. Her food is a lot better and I'd rather not torture you with his cooking."
"Thank you. I heard that I would be served terrible food her and have to listen to the doctor talk for hours."
"And you would have if you did not upset him and cause him to loose interest. Good move on your part."
"So it seems." Rei and Shinji both laughed. "Um Shinji. This is probably the wrong time and thing to ask, but is there anywhere in town that I can obtain a weapon? Asuka need one and she I good with a spear."
"Yeah sure. We actually have a few weapons here. I think there is I mighty fine spear there. I can let you have it."
"Really? Thank you."
"No problem."
Rei and Shinji continued to talk for a while until there meal was served. It was not served by Shinji's mother as Rei thought it would be. She wondered why she did not come out. Rei stop thinking about it and began eating instead.
"This is really good." Rei said taking her first bit of real food in weeks.
"Thank you, I'll be sure to let my mother know."
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you mother not came out with the meal?"
"Don't know. She just doesn't come into this room often. She's either in the kitchen or in the lab. My parents are very odd."
"Indeed."
"Rei." said Shinji.
"Yes?"
"I was wondering, what would you say to me coming with you on your journey. I really don't want to stay here and work down in that sweltering hot lab anymore, and want a change of scenery. Also I can get away from my father for a while."
"I'm not sure. Don't take this the wrong way, but it's already really hard to travel and fight with Asuka to look after. Don't get me wrong she's not a bad person or a burden or anything but…."
"I understand what you are saying, but I also know how to fight. I know a lot about this area and could really be of assistance to you. If you'd prefer I can demonstrate my abilities."
"Ok sure. If you can fight as well as you say you'll be a powerful ally."
"Thank you. After we eat I'll show you what you want to see."
They finished their meal talking the whole time. Rei enjoyed Shinji's perpetual joy, weird as he was. They laughed at each others jokes and became friends. Rei liked the fact that she kept meeting people who looked past the bad reputation of her kind and saw her for who she was. Shinji enjoyed talking to someone who wasn't obsessed with strange research and talked differently than one who was. After the meal Shinji lead Rei outside to an open area in front of a storage shed.
"Ok, I can show you what I can do here. When we're finished I'll get the spear out of the shed. I think it's there, can't imagine anywhere else it'd be."
"Right. I don't care how you fight just show me what you can do. Don't worry about hurting or killing me I'll be fine."
"Yes I should worry about me." Shinji said holding his arms out at an angle, his palms up. After a moment of standing in that position an explosion erupted in the distance. "Well that didn't sound good." Shinji said calmly.
Rei ran toward the explosion. "We'll continue this later."
"Oh what a pain." Shinji sighed putting his hand on his forehead. "I guess I'll show her what I can do over where the trouble is." and Shinji ran off toward the explosion.
The explosion came from a windmill halfway across town. The base was weakened and it toppled over tearing down the wall of a building. Several townspeople were running in fear of the explosion and its cause. Next to the fallen windmill were two people, one was around seven feet tall, extremely muscular, and covered in crystal armor that stopped at the neck. The other was much small, a normal sized man with crystal armor only on his right arm. This man had on brown hakama and kimono. Both had swords on their left hips.
"Your quite excessive with things Nana." said the small man flatly.
"Whatever you say Shi." boomed Nana. "This works out great, now the village will be filled with fear as it is taken into the mist. The best way to go."
"You best learn restraint or you will end up defying Shinigami's orders. That will cause your death."
"You work for Shinigami!" yelled Rei who was standing in front of them.
"Who the hell are you?" bellowed Nana.
"Answer my question." Rei replied. "You look like Hachi, who are you?"
"So your that Shinpishugisha bitch. Great now I can kill you and take the town in one motion." Nana said.
"Our objective is not to kill her just to toy with her, test her. We are only here to take this town over." said Shi.
"Bullshit! If she's here she's going to die by my hand." yelled Nana.
Nana charged in at Rei and threw a right punch toward her. His massive fist came down with tremendous force, enough to take down the windmill. It was stopped by Rei's left hand. When Rei blocked the punch it pushed her back just a little. She caught her footing and was holding back Nana's hand. It wasn't easy, she was forcing it away. Hachi yelled and threw down another punch with his opposite hand and it was again blocked by Rei.
When Nana's eyes widened with surprise Rei used that moment to jump from where she was standing. Nana fell forward just slightly. Rei was above him and she flipped forward and dropped a kick on the back of his skull. She spun in the air and threw a kick to the side of his head. Nana stumbled to the side trying to keep his balance after the attack. Rei vanished and appeared behind his back, she jumped behind his head and delivered an elbow to the top of his head with her right hand. Nana fell over onto the ground.
Turning to Shi Rei said, "Do I need to attack you too?" Rei glared at Shi with a look that would stop most people in their tract from fear of death. "Tell me what I want to know or you get worse than he."
"YOU BITCH!" yelled Nana as he tried to stand. "THERE'S NO WAY I'LL LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS." he reached for his sword and as he grabbed it Shi appeared by his side. With a small flick of the wrist, the motion used to shoo away a fly Shi's hand hit Nana. Nana coughed and fell over faster than when Rei hit him.
"Fool." Shi said in his monotone voice. "Our job was not to kill her only to bring the town under. You must learn that restraint." He looked toward Rei. "Your threat is composed of only empty words. There is no way someone like yourself could ever cause me harm." Shi swung his right arm to his right and then his left. Two more windmills fell over as if they were cut. Half of the towns windmills were now destroyed. "Now the town shall be ours. I'll leave you to fight my demons and destroy the rest of them." Shi snapped his fingers and a large group of demons came from the ground. He grabbed Nana's arm and the both disappeared into a black shadow.
"Damn you come back!" Rei yelled. "Shit now I have to deal with these guys."
"I'll help." said Shinji in his usual happy voice.
"Shinji?"
"It looks like you could use some assistance. You could probably have before, but I know I would not fare so well against those two. I'll ask about them later, lets kill some demons shall we."
Rei smiled, "Yeah. Any that look as though they are made of crystal let me handle, I might be able to convince them to save this town."
"I understand." Shinji said and ran into the crowd of demons.
Shinji found himself surrounded by demons. They were similar in size to a panther, but looked several times more vicious.
"Oh this looks bad." Shinji said calmly and held his hands out like he did when he was about to fight Rei.
One of the panther demons attacked him and he avoided it without changing his expression. From his sleeves came two small blades each about six inches in length. With several lightning fast spins and swings of his swords the panther fell over dead, its blood spraying from each of the cuts. It did not scream, it's death was silent.
"Now for the rest of them." said Shinji.
Else where in the mob of demons Rei was fighting the same type of demons. She avoided the attacks and cut them in a vital spot. As she continued several demons attacked her at the same time and she jumped into the air to avoid the attack. While in the air she called on the bat demon from her fight with Hachi. When it was summoned it flew at the panthers and screeched. The panthers stopped their attack for a moment and the bat demon flapped its wings causing large gusts of wind. The wind cut the demons as if it were swords and killed them.
"Impressive." Rei said when she landed. The demon disappeared on its own. "That was odd." Rei said then avoiding an attack from behind.
After some fighting Rei and Shinji meet in the center of the crowd of demons. They were back to back both breathing slightly heavier.
"You really are quite the fighter Shinji."
"Thank you for your kind words." Shinji replied.
"When we get out of this you can definitely come with us."
"Oh goodie. By the way I have seen no demons of crystal yet, is that bad?"
"Yes, they are the ones that can be used to save the town. Did that bastard not summon any?"
"Well if he knew that you could use them for that not bringing any would be the smarter idea."
"Good point. Lets just finish this and we can worry about the mist later."
Shinji and Rei then ran back at the demons, cutting them down in the same fashion the had been, Rei with speed and precision, one cut to kill, Shinji with a dance of cuts to the entire body, a silent death to his victims. After quite some time all the demons summoned by Shi had been killed.
"Damn." said Rei. "Those were strong and we still don't have a way to save the town."
"Well," said Shinji, " The town is now almost completely covered with mist. They somehow without us knowing took down the other windmills. In a few minutes the town will be completely covered in the mist and demons will stroll on in. Maybe a useful one will show up."
"You town has fallen to the mist and your being positive?"
"Negativity doesn't work. Positive attitudes and sarcasm are the best ways to make it thought the day."
Rei chuckled, "You are odd indeed."
"Odd is usually good."
"So Shinji, where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Oh, a friend of the families was an accomplished martial artist. I used to skip out on studying when I was younger and go train with him. It was always more fun."
"Whoever taught you must have been very good, your speed and skill with a blade is phenomenal."
"Thank you. I never had the body to be amazingly strong so I worked on speed. Seemed smarter."
"Yes apparently."
"SHINJI!" yelled a voice.
"Yes?" he replied as if it was normal for him to be yelled for in a mist of death.
"Shinji, your father needs you in the lab right now. He said to bring the girl."
"Ah yes, he must want us to help. He probably has a demon down there that you can use. Wait, how would he know about you ability to do that? Odd. Shall we go."
"Yes."
Rei and Shinji ran back to the lab and down to where Gendo was. There they saw Misato standing next to Gendo.
"Misato, what are you doing here? How did you get here?"
"I went down a set of stairs next to the windmill near the inn. It was installed as an easy access for maintenance reasons. Anyway I told Gendo about how you can free a town from the mist and he thinks he can accommodate you."
"Really?"
"But of course. This is a lab that studies demons, you think we wouldn't have a few that are meant to help us to begin with?"
"Fine but where is it?"
"This way." Gendo said and walked toward his demon. Rei, Shinji and Misato followed him. "Right here." Gendo pointed. The demon was about half the size of a human and looked like a crow. It was made of crystal, the right type for freeing the town. "Will this do?"
"Possibly." Rei said looking at the demon. It was weak and looked very hurt. "What's wrong with it?"
"It is a test subject. You should be happy I'm willing to sacrifice materials to you. If I don't then I wont be able to continue my research. Now, can you free us with it?"
Rei walked over and put her hand on the demons head. From inside its mind she could feel the pain that it had been through because of Gendo's test. "Do you want to save this town?" she asked. She could feel the hate within the demon burn for Gendo, it did not want to help anyone if I meant helping him as well. "Its ok," Rei said to the demon. "I can make sure he knows your pain. If you do this you will be free of him." The demon excepted and sacrificed itself to clear the mist.
When the energy from the demon had finished dispersing Misato, Shinji and Gendo looked at her in amazement at what had just happened.
"Amazing." said Gendo. "If only I knew how a demon could emit that much power. It might be enough to further my research."
"Your work must end Gendo."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"That demon was created to help humans, but because of you it wanted nothing more than to die. Your work must stop."
"Nonsense. My work shall change the world. It is beneficial."
"Sorry." Rei said quietly. She attacked Gendo and struck him with her fingers at several points. Gendo fell to his knees in agony, clutching his left arm. "To know the pain you have caused others you shall be in pain. It will be unbearable for about three days and then it will pass. You will wish for death and there will be nothing anyone can do for you. Remember this before your experiment again." Rei turned and walked out of the lab.
When Rei had made it outside she stopped and looked up at the sky. It was late in the afternoon, it would be night in a few hours. She wanted to go and talk with Asuka, tell her what happened, confide in her. Just then Shinji appeared behind her.
"That was quite something back there. You punished him because you thought what he was doing was wrong or did the demon ask you too?"
"The demon would not help us if it meant helping him, I merely set the conditions so it would help us."
"But you also followed them. You feel for the demons because they are good and you alone can speak with them. It makes sense you know."
"I, am becoming exceedingly cruel."
"What are you talking about?"
"I am being guided by my emotions and not my mind. I get angry when someone hurts Asuka and slay them viciously. I go into a rage when someone mentions Shinigami, the man who attacked my village. I did that to your father. I killed a human because he was evil and it was someone's wish."
Shinji put his hand on Rei's shoulder, "So you protect your friend, stand up for creatures who can't, you wish to stop the person who caused you pain, and you fulfilled someone's dieing wish. I don't see how you are so evil."
Shinji's voice was quiet and soothing, completely different from his usual happiness. Rei was surprised by it, but did not reject it. She wanted the comfort that his voice could bring.
"You only feel like you are being cruel. Your doing what everyone wishes they could do, what you think is right. Unfortunately, these actions can adversely effect others. The only thing that is vastly different from what I know about you is the lack of emotional control, but consider your circumstance. You are entitled to feel these things. As long as they don't control you, you will be fine. So please, cheer up."
Rei turned to Shinji with tears in her eyes. "Thank, thank you Shinji. You are a very good friend. Will you please come with Asuka and I on are journey?"
"Of course, but you can't be sad anymore, ok."
"Ok."
"Let's go back to the inn. I'll get that weapon for Asuka and you can introduce me."
"Yeah." Rei said with a smile.
AUTHORS NOTE:
Alright some tenderness between Rei and Shinji. This raises the question of what will happen between them. Will it upset the Asuka Rei relationship? Wait until the next chapter to find out. I know some of you were anticipating the battle between the other two numbers, but I was writing and then realized how long this chapter was getting so I decided to wrap it up. The next one will finish up the stop in Oshu and the whole gang will move on to even more fun and violence.