LILI✝H - today at 1:16 AM
are you around?
need to ask you about something.
Achroma - today at 1:19 AM
Sure, what is it you need?
LILI✝H - today at 1:20 AM
alright, so. remember how I mentioned I went to chargestone caverns?
while I was there I came across something
abnormal
alarmingly so
Achroma - today at 1:22 AM
Something abnormal in Chargestone? That could mean a lot of things; would you mind narrowing it down a bit?
LILI✝H - today at 1:22 AM
there was a rhyperior.
significantly larger than average. looked very different to the ones in sinnoh. parts of its body were glowing like chargestones.
extremely aggressive, territorial behavior. attacked my friend and I. considering it used several electric-type moves, I assume it gained that type somehow.
[LILI✝H sent 3 images]
rhyperior do not live in unova, so I have no reason to believe this is a natural occurrence. was hoping you would have any insight as to what this is and who could've been responsible.
Achroma - today at 1:31 AM
Are you suggesting that someone tampered with its DNA before releasing it into the wild? Those are some pretty heavy claims to make, you know.
LILI✝H - today at 1:32 AM
it seems like the most likely explanation
especially considering the recent activity of plasma
do you know anything?
Achroma - today at 1:33 AM
I don't. Even if Plasma somehow had the means to tamper with the DNA of Pokemon, I highly doubt they'd be intelligent enough to do so successfully. All they seem to understand is violence from what I've seen.
It's an interesting theory, but that's all it is. A theory. Please stop assuming I have all the answers.
LILI✝H - today at 1:36 AM
oh. my apologies. assumed you did.
suppose I won't be buying a lottery ticket tomorrow after all
Achroma - today at 1:37 AM
Also, we're still meeting up tomorrow to discuss our Porygons, correct? I'll try to be at Join Park around noon, provided nothing comes up.
LILI✝H - today at 1:38 AM
yes, I will be free
I've actually been working on a move for zee, but
well
I'll elaborate tomorrow. need to sleep.
Achroma - today at 1:40 AM
By all means, get some rest. See you tomorrow.
To get to Join Park from the subway station, Rei had to walk down Join Avenue first. It was one of the places her classmates back home had gossiped about when she mentioned she'd be going to Nimbasa. She expected a true spectacle.
Instead, the "avenue" she found herself on proved to be little more than a highly congested shopping mall. Even at midday on a Tuesday, locals and tourists alike were packed in like sardines, zig-zagging from store to kitschy store as the millions of lights around Rei seemed to blare brighter than the sun itself.
It was hot. Too hot, too crowded, too loud. She wasn't much of a fan.
Once she'd finally weaved her way through to the end of the avenue, though, a simple crosswalk was all that separated Rei from her destination. A much-welcome respite from the sensory overload of Join Avenue, the first thing that caught Rei's eye upon entering Join Park was the central fountain, its massive jet propelling water at least twenty feet high. The second seemed to be the plaza's namesake - a large sculpture spelling out "JOIN" in bold red letters.
The third thing she noticed was the unmistakable hairstyle of the man seated on one of the benches.
She took her time to approach him. Part of it was the oppressive heat - she wished to expose herself to as much of the mist coming off the fountain as she could - but as she'd dwelled on their chatroom conversation the previous night, she was starting to have... reservations. The way he'd brushed off her mentioning the Rhyperior from Chargestone didn't sit right. It was the first time since she'd met him that he seemed to not want to discuss something.
Perhaps if she refrained from bringing it up again, it would blow over. She wasn't here with the intention to lose such a vital source of information, after all.
"Colress," she called out, giving a small wave to greet him. "Everything's been well, I hope?"
A few seconds passed before the scientist pried his eyes away from his tablet to look up towards Rei, doing so with a grin that... seemed friendly, at the very least. "About as well as things can be, I'd say. I'm assuming you brought your Porygon-Z with you?"
"Of course." She didn't recall him referring to Zee by his nickname - his proper name, really - even once. It felt so impersonal. Merely calling him "her Porygon-Z" felt... wrong.
Still, she reached for his Dusk Ball and gently lobbed it to the ground. Out popped the virtual duck, who took a moment to analyze his surroundings. "Hello there," Colress greeted, prompting Zee to lock his gaze onto him. His disembodied head tilted a little, as if trying to remember who the scientist was, but he eventually responded with a quick beep. Almost too quick.
Setting his tablet to the side, Colress reached into one of the pockets of his coat - why he was wearing one in these conditions, Rei struggled to understand - and retrieved a Poke Ball of his own. "I suppose I should introduce you to mine at some point," he remarked, dropping the ball onto the granite to release his own Porygon.
Seeing a Porygon2 materialize in front of her, its head bobbing up and down like a drinking bird, instantly filled Rei with a rush of nostalgia. Zee wasn't a Porygon2 for long, only about a year, but much of that year had been taken up by her gym challenge - something she wouldn't have come close to conquering without him.
It made her want to smile. Yet, she didn't. Something was bothering her.
Colress had said he'd integrated an Eviolite directly into Porygon2's code. Rei wouldn't have guessed that, in its physical form, the Eviolite would be a visible part of its body... specifically, embedded into the top of its head.
She took a closer look at it, and it quickly became apparent that the lump of evolutionary energy - which almost looked like it had melted into Porygon2's synthetic skin - was... moving. Throbbing, pulsing in a rhythmic pattern... for a brief moment it appeared to collapse in on itself, and as it did, Porygon2 squeezed its eyes shut and let out a low droning noise unlike anything she'd ever heard until the Eviolite returned to normal. When it did, the digital Pokemon resumed its standard idle animation, as if nothing had happened.
Rei hesitated to speak, eyes darting between Porygon2 and Colress. She didn't know what to say. Maybe there was nothing to say. Her reaction probably spoke for itself.
Clearly, Colress picked up on her concern, as he was quick to interject. "Don't be alarmed, nothing is wrong with it in the slightest. The Eviolite contracting like that merely means it's working as intended."
"...I see."
"Good. Now, about your Porygon-Z... mind giving me a rundown of the issue you're facing?"
"Erm... sure."
Rei took a seat on the bench beside Colress, resting her arm upon the armrest in the center - which wasn't the intended purpose, at least if Asuka were to be believed. She kept her eyes on Zee, who cheerfully led his fellow Porygon towards the impressive fountain. This was one of those times where she desperately wished she could be as carefree as him.
As he began chasing Colress' Porygon2 around the towering water jet, Rei began to explain her dilemma. "To put it as briefly as I can... Zee and I have been working on a new attack for him, as while yes, he can convert to any type... the number of sufficiently powerful moves he has access to is a bit lacking. The move is called Conversion Beam, and... put simply, it's designed to match whatever type Zee converts to. The goal is to make it about as powerful as something along the lines of Focus Blast."
"So what's the problem?"
Porygon2's Eviolite again contracted, and Rei waited for the Pokemon to recover from its incapacitated state before continuing. "Well, whenever we've tested the move, Zee's code tends to... destabilize. His body starts jittering, his movement stutters... we can only go so long before I have to return him to his ball. I'm not sure if it's merely down to his... well, shortcomings... or if it's something else."
Colress hummed, reaching up to his chin and stroking it in thought. "I can't say I have a rock-solid solution for you, unfortunately... I don't have much experience in the development of completely new attacks. That's a field where you've seemed to pass me by."
"I don't need a definitive answer... I'd simply like to know what course of action you'd take. I... do not wish to hurt him, if I can help it."
He switched off his tablet, storing it away in a particularly large coat pocket. "You remember what I told you in Striaton, correct?" he inquired, reclining against the same bench back Rei struggled to find much comfort in. "That my goal is to extract as much power out of Pokemon as possible. The way I see it, Rei, you can't let your emotions obstruct progress... I mean, this seems like something you're very dedicated to. Your Porygon-Z may experience some glitches in the process, but... well, that's par for the course for it, isn't it?"
Not Zee, "her" Porygon-Z. Not him, "it." It infuriated her - he had to have been doing it deliberately at this point. For the first time in a while, she felt genuine anger bubbling up inside her.
Her retort came in a hushed, yet harsh tone. "I don't understand how you could have such a callous attitude towards your own Pokemon. Yes, I want Zee to become stronger... but I do not wish for him to grow to detest me in the process. I refuse to do anything if he isn't on board with it."
Colress let out an exasperated sigh. "You do understand that the Porygon line are artificial beings, don't you? It doesn't matter whatever pain it experiences in physical form, it'll be perfectly fine. You're the trainer here - show some assertiveness."
She'd heard enough. Rei shot up from the bench, heatedly slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder. "Was that the approach you took when you grafted an Eviolite to Porygon2's head, then?" she hissed, drilling a hole through him with her glare. "So they're artificial, then. What part of that makes it okay to butcher Zee's code just so I can give him a new move?"
With a dismissive shrug - one that suggested this argument was beneath him - Colress answered, "That's just it. Code. That's all they are."
Rei grabbed Zee's ball, holding it out towards the fountain and calling him back inside. There was no point in continuing this charade. There was no point in keeping contact with someone like that.
She turned her back to the scientist, marching off towards Join Avenue. "If that's what you think, do me a favor and never speak to me again."
"Alright, once more... convert to any type you wish, then use Conversion Beam."
Rei watched with bated breath as Zee's eyes shifted from their usual yellow, a deep cobalt blue swiftly taking over. Water, then. He did have the capacity to learn Rain Dance... having an attack that could take advantage of it opened up several possibilities.
With the type change complete, Zee locked onto the training dummy staring him down from across the backyard - one that Asuka must have gotten quite a bit of use out of, given how ratty and worn it looked. It was somewhat interesting, how there was no Unovan equivalent; as punching bags go, the Wobbuffet design was simply that ubiquitous.
The digital Pokemon held his arms out wide, two spheres of blue energy swirling around each of their stubby tips (normal, normal) as a similar aura surrounded his beak (normal behavior in triplicate). Everything seemed to be in order.
So far, anyway.
"Fire when ready," Rei commanded, and Zee did so without any hesitation - much like his Tri Attack, the three orbs of energy coalesced into a single beam, gushing like a Hydro Pump. Regardless of how it looked, it struck the faux-Wobbuffet dead-on, sending it flailing back and forth just like the real thing. Quality dummy.
Maybe she was worrying over nothing after all.
Rei gave Zee a small round of applause as the beam gradually dissipated, the virtual duck proudly placing where his hands would be on his hips. "That looked wonderful, Zee... there's still a few things to work on, but the fact that you can already use the move is impressive enough. I'm very proud of-"
Rei's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Zee seized up for a moment, then broke out into a string of violent, glitchy spasms. His beeps were distorted... almost pained-sounding.
"Zee...!" She sprinted over to him, reaching into her pocket for his Dusk Ball as she tried to figure out what could've gone wrong. Maybe there was a bug in the cooldown protocol? Perhaps it was down to him never having used a Water-type attack before...?
It was only after the twitching fit came to an abrupt stop that she finally remembered, and it made her feel like a complete moron. Oh. He... always does that.
He looked down at her, still holding the ball out towards him, and tilted his head with a brief beep. Seemed like he hadn't the slightest clue what just happened. As per usual.
"...I-I apologize if I... alarmed you." Stowing his ball away, she began to make her way towards the patio, gesturing for him to follow along. "I... just don't want you to get hurt."
She sunk into one of the lawn chairs upon reaching them; not the most luxurious things in the world, but comfortable enough. Zee, meanwhile, simply elected to float by her side. Staring at her. Unflinchingly.
"...I suppose you've earned a snack."
Rei reached down into her bag and produced a small tin, "ZEE'S FEED" written on it in blue marker. She emptied a bit of the feed (ground-up computer parts, in actuality) into her hand, and Zee began happily pecking at it within seconds. The sight managed to bring a slight smile to her face... it didn't last long, though.
The longer she watched Zee, the more it baffled her that Colress didn't see him as a living being. The mere notion of him being just code... it infuriated her. No wonder he saw little issue with grotesquely grafting an Eviolite to his Porygon2's head.
At the same time, though... wasn't she the one who'd extensively modified Zee? The one who evolved him into such an unstable form in the first place, if it could even be called evolution? She had always gone over the potential benefits and risks with him before each and every altered string of code, but...
"...Zee?" The virtual duck popped his head up, staring deep into Rei's eyes awaiting her question. He'd have to wait for a bit; the more she thought about it, the less sure she was about how to word it.
"Erm... I've been wondering, ever since earlier today... you saw the state his Porygon2 was in. A-and it made me think... have I been... sufficiently considerate? In terms of your modifications, I mean."
Zee looked up towards the sky for a moment in contemplation, and much to Rei's relief, answered by vigorously nodding his head. Probably an obvious answer, but not having that seed of doubt planted in her head definitely helped.
"That's... that's good to hear. I just want you to know that I would never do something like that to you, okay? Anything you're not comfortable with, I'm not comfortable with."
She reached her free hand up to Zee's head, gently scratching at the base of his antenna - his favorite spot. Sure enough, he promptly let out a string of joyful beeps, reveling in the affection.
"Just code." Like that argument would hold up to anyone with functioning eyes and ears.
It didn't take him much longer to finish up the last of his feed; figuring he could use a teammate to play with, Rei dug down into her bag for another ball at random. She lobbed said mystery ball into the grass, and the Pokemon that emerged from it took quite the unusual form - namely, a washing machine.
"Hello there, Rotom," Rei greeted, speaking softly as the nocturnal Pokemon began to awaken from their slumber. "Erm... I-I apologize if I disturbed you. I thought Zee could use someone to play with, and-"
And before she even finished that sentence, Zee was sprinting over to Rotom, nearly tackling them to the ground in a brotherly embrace. The sight brought back memories of her gym challenge, the times when Rotom would dive into the path of an attack headed for Zee and vice versa. It had been like that from the moment they'd met them in the Old Chateau, too... Rei still wasn't sure what it was that made them so close.
Maybe it was something she didn't need to know; it brought a smile to her face, and that was enough.
She reclined back into the lawn chair, thoroughly entertained by the sight of Zee chasing Rotom around the backyard... but the longer she watched, her smile slowly began to fade. Rotom... Colress had mentioned having one. They weren't a man-made species, but the similarities to Zee were there. She... didn't want to know the sort of things he'd subjected the plasmatic poltergeist to.
Plasmatic. Plasma. Great, now she was back on that train of thought.
She opened up her phone, again poring over those pictures of the fallen Rhyperior. Not the best quality, but given how Klinklang had handled things, that seemed more like a blessing than a curse... still, she could make out the beast's unique mutations well enough to disprove whatever Colress was feeding her. It had to have been Plasma that did it. Why, she didn't know. How, she didn't know. But she also didn't know who else even would.
Why would he so adamantly deny it, then? What would he have to gain from-
"Oh, huh! Forgot you had a Rotom, Wonder Girl."
She wasn't sure, but Rei thought she might have seen her ghost jump out of her body for a second there. As her initial shock gave way to flustered embarrassment, she looked up towards Asuka, standing above her with a glass of lemonade in each hand and a sheepish grin on her face. "Yeah, yeah, I know, shouldn't be sneakin' up on ya like that... figured you could use a drink considerin' it's hot as balls out here."
The redhead extended one of the glasses to Rei, and she took it without a second thought. It leaned more sour than sweet - unsurprising, considering who'd prepared it - but she would've been lying to say she didn't enjoy it. "Thank you, Asuka... I really do appreciate the thought."
Asuka waved a hand as she plopped down in the lawn chair next to Rei's. "Eh, it's no big deal... you make everything sound like such a huge favor, y'know that? Not that I mind."
"I-I'm aware... to tell the truth, I've never understood why I speak like this. It's simply... what feels right to me."
"Well, nothin' wrong with that, I guess." With an affable shrug, Asuka turned her attention towards Zee and Rotom, brushing stray strands of flame-red hair out of her face. She'd put her hair up in full twintails, similar to what she'd done at the Monotype Shootout finals... for a moment, Rei felt the urge to tell her she preferred this look, but fear of the question landing awkwardly quashed that rather quickly.
"So hey, you and Zee are working on that new attack, yeah?" Asuka continued, watching as Rotom... began to siphon water from the swimming pool with their hose. "What was it called again, Conversion Bla- uhh, hey, can you tell 'em to stop doing that?"
"Rotom! Cut it out." Well, they stopped just as quickly as they started, at least. Good thing Asuka's father wasn't around. As usual. "Anyway... Conversion Beam, yes. The move itself is already more or less fully functional, which is fantastic, but... I-I don't know. Something about it feels... it feels like I'm doing something I shouldn't, even though Zee's fully on-board."
"This have somethin' to do with Toothpaste Head?"
She caught on quickly; guess there was no use avoiding the subject. "I'm sure you can imagine, but... my meeting with Colress did not go well. Even aside from the way he views Pokemon, his Porygon2... you remember how I mentioned he'd incorporated an Eviolite directly into their code? In physical form, it looks... grotesque. They seemed to be in a lot of pain."
"Honestly, I wish I could say I was surprised," remarked Asuka, seeming particularly unthrilled about being proven right for once. "So lemme guess, you're worryin' yourself over the idea you're no better."
"That's exactly it, yes."
A pause followed as Asuka gulped down the last of her drink. Normally, such a thing would only worry Rei even more... but even with her lips against the glass, she was certain she saw the redhead smirking.
A wry chuckle escaped Asuka as she placed the empty glass down beside her. "Wonder Girl, if Zee even just froze because something you did went wrong, you'd be locked up in the guest room bawlin' your eyes out for two days straight. And I mean that in the nicest way possible; you and Colress are nothing alike."
"I... y-you really think that?" Slightly embarrassing way of putting it aside, Asuka... wasn't wrong. She didn't even have the heart to consider tampering with Zee in such a drastic, spaghetti-coded fashion, much less actually do it. It was just... nice to have someone that could reassure her of it.
Feeling her face begin to heat up, Rei looked down towards the patio, but she was pretty sure Asuka could still see the grateful smile on her face. "Thank you so much, it... it means a lot for someone to say that. Especially you."
"Hey, that's what friends are for, nicht?"
What was a friend, anyway?
Maybe Asuka placed a whole lot more weight on that word than it deserved. To her, a friend would be someone to confide in. Someone you knew you could spill your guts out to because you knew they'd understand. By that definition, Rei had to be the first real friend she'd had in years. Maybe ever.
Man, she really couldn't have entered her life at a better time, could she?
"Hey, uh, Wonder Girl... y'know, while we're being all sappy and shit, I wanna say - and I know I've probably said it a hundred times now - that... I am. Unbelievably grateful that you're around. Like... you have no idea. Having someone that actually, y'know, cares..."
Rei sat up a bit, looking towards her with an inquisitive gaze. "I-I appreciate it, but... I'm sure there are other people that care about you. What about Erin? Are you not... friends with her?"
"Cousins don't count." Plus, the first person Rei could think of in that context being Erin and not her father was a significant part of the problem. "I mean, yeah, Erin and I have been hangin' out since we were little kids, but... she's my cousin, not my sister. If that makes sense, anyway."
"I think it does."
"Yeah, see? But aside from her... I kinda went into this before we went to Mistralton a couple weeks ago, but all my other relationships with people feel so... plastic. All it ever feels like is that people just kiss up to me for clout, not 'cause they wanna be my friend. School, the battling circuit, it's all like that. Even with Elesa, all it feels like with her sometimes is being friends with your gym teacher. Scheiße, she probably just sees me as a burden by this point."
"But you aren't a burden."
"I know that! I know that. But... you're the only person who makes me feel like I'm not. So... I'm grateful for that. That you're my friend."
"I am, too."
Rei flashed her another smile, and Asuka really wished she could respond in kind. She couldn't, though, because all she could think about now was the one thing she didn't want to remember. The one thing neither of them probably wanted to remember.
This was still a temporary arrangement.
"...I really wish you weren't leaving in December."
Right. When all was said and done, she was still merely an exchange student. She had to go home eventually. But... maybe that "eventually" didn't have to be so close.
"...Well, i-if possible, I would... very much like to stay longer."
Deep down, Rei was fully expecting to be shot down. That didn't really matter to her; if she had even the slightest hope of staying with Asuka into the new year, she was going to make her case. "Until the end of the school year... spring break at the very least. My parents had no objections to my gym challenge, and that was five years ago, so... i-it... should be fine."
"Yeah, maybe yours don't, but Dad does," countered Asuka, slumping back into the lawn chair and tilting it on its hind legs to the point where it looked like she'd fall and smash the back of her head against the patio at any moment. The worst part is that, judging by the completely deflated look on her face, it seemed like she would almost welcome that.
Rei couldn't think of anything to say, so the redhead continued in her stead. "Why else do you think he's spent most of the summer out of the country, Rei? He ain't doing this for you. He's doing it to kiss up to your dad so, I don't know, they can work out a deal to wipe out a couple more villages in the desert or something. Did the bare fucking minimum to set you up for the same field trips everyone here goes on and bolted. He cares about you exactly as much as he cares about me. So all the things that benefit him, basically."
"...So he doesn't care about our friendship."
"Shit, Rei, I don't even know if he realizes you are my friend." She could feel Asuka's voice grow shakier by the second, unnerved by the sheer alienness of it. "Probably still thinks I'm just barely tolerating your existence. Which, you know, is pretty delicious irony considering you're the first person in... fuck, I don't know, a decade that's actually cared about me as a friend and not a fucking status symbol."
"But I do care about you. You are my friend."
"But you're going to be gone in four months! So why does it even fucking matter?!"
Rei saw both Zee and Rotom's attention snap towards them out of the corner of her eye. It would've been hard not to; were anyone standing at the street corner, they could've heard Asuka loud and clear. "A-Asuka... please, listen to me-"
"Why?! You've said everything I need to know! I know you care about me, I care about you too! Like I've never cared about another person before in my life! That's not the part I'm mad at, Rei, the part I'm mad at is when I finally have someone who I can actually relate to, someone I can legitimately call my best friend? It's just going to get fucking ripped away from me! And then what, huh? Mom's not around, Dad might as well not be, and to everyone else I'm no better than a fancy-ass handbag or watch. I'm going to be alone, Rei. And it fucking terrifies me."
Putting the right words together in her head felt like trying to defuse a bomb, but Rei couldn't just watch as Asuka grew closer and closer to exploding. She saw how tight her grip on her now-empty lemonade glass was. She had to say something. Anything.
"...Asuka, it's... not as if we'll never see each other again. I'm certain you could come to Jubilife for a tournament, o-or... perhaps I could come back for university, provided my entrance exams go well..."
As those last few syllables left her tongue, Rei preemptively recoiled. The silence that filled the air only lasted a few seconds, yet felt like hours. Asuka's grip tightened. Tightened. It was a miracle her hand wasn't covered in bloody shards already.
And just when it seemed like she was about to combust, her fury was instead extinguished by a deluge of tears.
Asuka dropped to her knees, and Rei was by her side in an instant. "I don't want to be alone again," she gasped out between sobs, meeting Rei's gaze with puffy, reddened eyes. "I-I... I don't want you to leave... Mein Gott, I'm so fucking pathetic..."
"You aren't. I feel exactly the same way."
Rei gently took the glass from Asuka, setting it down onto the patio before clasping her hands around the redhead's. "I... imagine it's a lot easier to tell in my case... but all I really had back home was Zee. And I love Zee. But... he is family to me. In terms of friends... I believe you're the first real one I've ever had."
Asuka wiped the tears from her freckled cheeks, only for new ones to trickle down and take their place; even still, she was able to pull herself together enough to respond. "W-well... hey, besser spät als nie, oder?"
It... seemed to take her a few more seconds to remember Rei didn't speak German. "Uh... better late than never, right?" she clarified, forcing a weary smile out of herself.
"Yes, I suppose that's true," answered Rei, a giggle escaping her lips. "Asuka, listen... we will most definitely see each other again. I will make sure of it. Even aside from that, though, we have until the end of December, don't we? Yes, it's four months from now, but... it is still quite far away."
"...Yeah. Yeah, I... guess you're right. Still got a whole semester of school ahead of us." Asuka let out a deep breath as she mopped up the last of her tears, and Rei was more than happy to help her back up to her feet. "H-hey, uh... Wonder Girl. Sorry you had to see that... but... you probably stopped me from doin' something really stupid. So... thanks."
"That is what friends are for."
She meant what she said, too. Despondent self-loathing coupled with easily breakable glass... that was an equation she'd long known the answer to. Didn't want to think about what would've happened if Rei wasn't there. So she didn't. Tried not to, at least.
Besides, there was... something else she had to do.
"Oh yeah, Rei, this is probably a good time to mention that, uh, there's... somethin' I gotta show you."
Rei gave her a quizzical look in response, tilting her head to the side a bit - did she get that from Zee or was it the other way around? "Hm? What is it?"
"It's... difficult to explain if I don't show you first. C'mon, follow me." Fortunately, it turned out that was all the convincing Rei needed; she swiftly returned both Zee and Rotom to their balls and followed close behind as Asuka stepped back into the house.
She started to wonder how Rei would feel about what she was about to see. To say she hadn't misled the exchange student a bit over the past couple of months would be a flat-out lie, but really, dropping this onto her the moment her plane had touched down definitely would've turned out worse.
By now, though... she deserved to know. She'd become one of the very few people Asuka trusted enough to tell the truth to. And it wasn't long before they reached their destination.
"...This is the room you slapped me for trying to enter," Rei so eloquently recalled, glancing at the doorknob. "It's in here?"
"Yeah. She is."
Asuka dug into one of her pants pockets and pulled out a key, sliding it into the doorknob and twisting without hesitation. No point in theatrics, no point in elaborating; when they entered the darkened bedroom, things spelled themselves out pretty clearly.
Kyoko was still there, of course. Still staring blankly ahead, still a disheveled husk of the mother Asuka had once known. In the corner of the room, the only light still emitted from the television, the newscasters still droning on about the deficit or whatever the hell. This was how it had been for months, and how it seemed like it was going to be indefinitely.
Asuka sat herself down on the side of her mother's bed, looking up towards her clearly disconcerted friend. "Rei... this is Kyoko. She's my mom. Her and Dad didn't get a divorce, she never moved back to Saxony... she's... well, she can't do much of anything anymore, really."
Rei's crimson eyes shifted towards Kyoko, then back to Asuka. "She's... in a vegetative state, then?"
"I guess that'd be the best way of putting it, sure." Not necessarily a term she enjoyed hearing, though.
As much as it hurt, Asuka figured she'd have to elaborate a bit more than that. She continued, "See, Mom works... well, used to work at a research facility called the Dimensional Research Institute, and their whole thing is studying parallel worlds. It's a really touchy subject, especially 'cause they get a lot of federal funding, but... anyway. You've heard of Ultra Space, right? I feel like you probably would've."
To little surprise, Rei responded with a firm nod. "Actually, it is... a topic that greatly fascinates me." Matter of fact, judging by the look on her face, she... seemed like she already had an idea of where this was going.
"Heh... 'course it does. So, this is a really simple way of putting it, but... basically, some of the bigwigs at the institute were leading a project to manually open up a wormhole through Ultra Space, and Mom was one of the only ones with any kinda authority to go against 'em. She lost out, though, so the experiment went ahead... and..."
"...Are... you alright?"
"...Y-yeah. Yeah, just... gimme a sec." Deep breaths, Asuka. "They, uh... did open a wormhole. And when they did, a Pokemon from some other dimension just... popped out, right there in the middle of the lab. T-they only gave Dad the full scoop on it, so I don't know everything, but... thing turned out to be a parasite. Went after her, injected her with some kinda neurotoxin, and... by the time they got the thing off and sent it back, she... was like this."
Feeling the tears begin to return, Asuka squeezed her eyes shut, burying her face into her hands. It was so stupid. Mom knew it would end in disaster, and they completely ignored her. And she had to be the one to suffer for it.
Asuka soon felt the mattress shift beneath her, followed by a hand gently rubbing her back. For a second, part of her believed... but unfortunately, the sound of Rei's hushed voice crushed those hopes. "Why... didn't you tell me when I first arrived? I'm not mad, not at all, I simply-"
"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." She pulled her head up, prompting Rei to retract her hand. "This happened a few weeks before you came, and... y-yeah, at first I just wanted this whole exchange student thing to be tossed out the window. Everything was just... collapsing around me. Mom wasn't there anymore, Dad barely cared - hell, he still really doesn't... I had the Shootout hangin' over me and I was sure I was gonna bomb in that. I thought if I had to deal with you on top of all that, I-I'd just... shut down."
For a second, it seemed even to herself that Asuka was about to break down in tears again. Instead, she took another deep breath, blindly felt around the mattress with her hand... and once she'd found Rei's, placed it atop hers. It was cold, as her hands usually were. But it was a comforting cold.
"But, well... i-if anything, Rei, you... saved me. I mean, you literally have saved my life a couple times, but aside from that, I seriously don't think I woulda made it through the summer without you. I'm... you have no idea how thankful I am. That you're my friend."
When she turned her head, Asuka found herself greeted by the warmest smile she'd ever seen on Rei's face. "I'm glad I was able to help, then," she returned, intertwining her fingers with Asuka's. "I appreciate you telling me about all of this, as well. No matter how much time you needed."
"...Vielen Dank."
Eventually, Asuka pulled her hand free from her friend's and rose to her feet, as much as she silently rued doing so. "Anyway, we should probably give Mom her space, nicht?" she remarked, leaving the room with Rei following suit. "What should we do... oh, hey, you wanna go in the pool? Your Starmie could hang out with us, too!"
"To tell the truth, I should have been in the pool from the moment Zee and I started testing... are the summers here always this bad...?"
"So, that's... a yes, then?"
"Oh! Y-yes, that is a... a yes."
Rei's bashful response managed to get Asuka to crack a smile. "God, you're such a dork... and I mean that in the nicest way possible. Alright, I'm gonna go get changed; meet ya out there."
She spun on her heel and started off towards her room... but she didn't even reach the stairs before something popped into her head. She thought back to their trip to Chargestone. Namely, Rei pointing out that she was hugging her. Even more specifically, the way she'd brushed it off as just being scared.
Suddenly, she felt like she had something to correct.
"Hey, Rei, can you come here real quick? Gotta do somethin' before I forget."
Rei popped out of the hallway in no time, approaching Asuka with a curious look. "Hm? What is i-"
Asuka didn't hesitate for a second, pulling her friend into a warm, tight embrace the moment she was within arm's reach. Unsurprisingly, Rei was completely bewildered at first... but much to Asuka's delight, eventually returned the hug.
It wasn't until they pulled away that Asuka said something, and when she did, she kept it brief. "That one was real."
"...T-thank you."
With that, Asuka began making her way upstairs with what she imagined was probably the dumbest grin on her face. Had she been told she'd be feeling like this now at the airport that night, she absolutely would've laughed it off. Even now, it was difficult to believe.
But it was true. Rei Ayanami cared about her, and she cared about Rei Ayanami more than anything else in the world.
In fact, she might have even gone as far as to say she loved her.