Interlude 3: And the Bars Fell Away

Misato's Apartment, May 23rd, 2015
Shinji had expected some things out of the training regimen that Asuka had put together for him. The physical fitness continued with her arrival, and perhaps even got more difficult with her physically present. The one gun range that was in Tokyo-3, within the Geofront, became a familiar location as Asuka drilled the four rules of gun safety into his head, making him practice with firearms that were at least roughly analogous to what was in the arsenal of the Evangelion.

But there were a few things that Shinji had found… rather strange to be included in any kind of training.

He sighed as he let the controller drop to his legs, Asuka sighing quietly as a glitzy victory card flashed on the screen of the fighting game that they had spent more than a few hours playing at her insistence.

"Lehrerin," he said as they came back to the character select screen, "I've got to ask… why are we playing Street Fighter, exactly?"

Asuka drew herself up, at least as best she could from sitting against one of the beanbag chairs. "Besides finally having someone who I can watch learn this game for the first time, it's a remarkably decent way to train your brain's immediate response to situations. When it comes to combat, even in a giant robot, being able to think quickly on the fly could mean the difference between life and death."

Shinji couldn't quite argue with that, much as he found the game before him rather confusing. "I guess so…" he said as Asuka queued up another fight, choosing the big, burly Zangief.

Before he could begin to chose his character, the doorbell rang, Shinji and Asuka looking over at the entryway for a moment before Shinji stood. "I'll get it," he said, making his way quickly to the door.

Pausing before it, he opened the door to see Hikari standing there, a bundle of papers under an arm and an expectant expression she directed at Shinji. She looked somewhat odd to him, outside of her school uniform as she was, dressed in an orange t-shirt and black jeans, a pair of black sneakers largely completing the outfit.

"Good afternoon, Ikari," Hikari said. "Would you be able to help me with something?"

"Uh…" Shinji began, his training as it were pressing into his mind as quarter-circles and target combos swirled in his head.

"Who is it?" Asuka asked from down the hall, her tone unmistakably tinged with annoyance. "We've got work to do, rookie."

Hikari blinked as Shinji spared a glance down the hall to see Asuka peering out at him. "Oh. Asuka's here too?"

"Yes, Horaki," Shinji replied. "We're working together on a project."

The mention of Hikari's name seemed to draw Asuka to the door, her annoyance replaced by surprise. "Oh. Hi there, class president."

"I don't think we've actually met," Hikari said, smiling slightly. "I'm Hikari Horaki. It's good to meet you, Ms…"

As Horaki trailed off, Asuka frowned for a moment before nodding. "Oh. Soryu's alright, but you're fine just calling me Asuka."

Horaki nodded. "Good to know, Soryu. Anyway," she said as she looked back at Shinji, "I heard you know where Ayanami lives from Suzuhara. Would you come with me to deliver some homework to her? I would do it myself and check in on her like I've been meaning to, but the school somehow doesn't have her address registered."

Shinji and Asuka looked at each other, then back at Horaki. "Mind if I come with?" Asuka asked. "I've wanted to get a look at Ayanami's place too."

Horaki smiled slightly. "Not at all, Soryu. It gives us time to get to know each other."

She turned aside. "I'll wait for you to get ready."

With that, Shinji and Asuka pulled on their shoes, Shinji looking towards the entryway to see Penpen looking out at them with what Shinji might consider wonderment.

"We should be back in time for dinner, Penpen," he said as he finished tying his shoes.

The penguin waved, threw his arm up, really, and turned to go back into the kitchen. "Wark."

As Shinji and Asuka stepped out of the door, Horaki tilted her head. "What is Penpen?" she asked.

"Oh, just Misato's pet penguin," Asuka said glibly as they set out, Shinji relegated to leading the way.

Horaki was silent for long moments, a frown slowly creasing her face. "Oh. That's… different than what I expected."

"There's a whole story behind it, apparently," Asuka replied. "Apparently, she got him before she was in Germany. Never saw the stinker, though. He was apparently here in Tokyo-3 with Doctor Akagi…"

With that, the trio walked on, conversation largely passing between Asuka and Horaki and leaving Shinji largely to his thoughts. The path to Ayanami's apartment lay before him. Now, his task was to lead others to the shambles which he'd laid witness to.

'Hopefully, she isn't showering like she was last time…' Shinji hoped, a blush coming to his face despite himself. It was the middle of the day on a weekend, after all. It would be odd to do something like that… right?

"Hey, rookie. Hoping for something?"

Shinji looked over at a rather smug Asuka and a puzzled Horaki. "No," Shinji said indignantly, a slight grimace twisting his expression. "I thought you'd be for getting back to my training quickly. There wouldn't be a chance for… something like that."

Asuka chuckled. "I think it'd be worth it to see that blush get bigger. You're too much fun to see flustered."

As Shinji struggled with a reply, Horaki came to his defense. "Soryu! As I recall, Ikari isn't just your schoolmate, he's your teammate! There's no need to antagonize him without cause."

Asuka shrugged. "He's a rookie. I'm his teacher at the moment. And hey, if he doesn't get a push every once in a while, how's he gonna grow and get a tough skin along the way?"

Horaki seemed rather unconvinced. "Even still, there's surely a better way to go about it all…"

Asuka sighed quietly, shrugging again. "Well… I'm still learning myself," Asuka admitted, the words somewhat slow in coming. "My… well, we'll call him my adopted brother

gifted me a book to learn about leadership."

"Oh?" Hikari asked as Shinji looked back at her. "Which one?"

"The Tao Te Ching," Asuka replied.

As Horaki's expression lightened and she and Asuka began another discussion, Shinji looked back on the path they were taking, spotting the first of the run-down buildings, the sound of construction and demolition crews working on the buildings lightly brushing against them. Asuka and Horaki paid more heed to each other for the moment, but Shinji was sure it would change the further in they got. A part of Shinji took a silent bet of when, exactly, they might notice the dishevelment of their surroundings. When they passed a shuttered storefront? A demolition team? The ruins of a building?

So, he waited, keeping an ear on Asuka and Horaki's conversation. 'Something tells me I shouldn't be surprised that Daniel gave her that book,' he thought with a slight smile. After a few moments, the smile faded away. 'I wonder how much Daniel's told her about?'

How much did he need to tell her, really? She was an actual Evangelion pilot from the get-go, as opposed to him. Maybe she knew more than him in that regard. It couldn't help but hit home how far he had to go when it came to this hidden part of the world.

"Oh. I guess this area is under construction, still…"

Shinji glanced back at Horaki, following her gaze as they passed by a partially demolished building, a demolition crew taking a break. "No," Shinji said, his tone darkly tinged. "Nothing's being built here. Not right now, at least."

The proclamation left the trio walking in silence as Shinji looked around. They were close.

They turned a corner and, once again, he stood before the crumbling monolith that was Ayanami's apartment building. Where Shinji regarded it with no small amount of resignation, the other two instead had wide-eyed expressions of shock.

"Mein Gott…" Asuka said, looking over at Shinji incredulously. "This place isn't much less of a wreck than some of the demo sites around here! You really didn't think of bringing this up to… Misato? Anyone? Really?"

Shinji looked at the ground with a blush, his insides roiling with shame and embarrassment. What could he say? That he went and fell on top of Ayanami and groped her? Just reveal perhaps one of the most awkward moments of his entire life?

Asuka sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright. Come on. No need to stand around any more than we already have."

Asuka walked ahead of him, and Shinji took a deep breath before following her. He noticed that Asuka once again fell behind him, joining Horaki's side once again, as he guided the pair to Ayanami's door.

As the trio paused before it, Asuka prepared to ring the doorbell, only pausing as Shinji raised his hand. "The doorbell's broken," Shinji said quietly before knocking.
"Ayanami?" he called out. "It's Shinji, Asuka, and Horaki."

It was a few moments before the door opened, Rei standing before them in her school uniform. "Hello," she said levelly. "What can I help you with?"

"We had some homework we wanted to drop off," Horaki replied, her brow creased with concern. "That and we just wanted to check in on you. May we come in?"

Rei was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Come in," she said as she stepped aside.

Shinji walked through the door into the familiar surrounds, the few lights that still worked flickering over the bare concrete walls and illuminating the crumpled mail ads and junk letters scattered across the floor. The 'kitchen area', if it could even be called such, cluttered with dishes.

Asuka and Horaki took in the sight with wide, shocked eyes. "You… you live like this?" Asuka said, her voice lowered almost to a whisper. "No wonder Shinji didn't say anything. I don't think I would have really believed him without seeing… this…"

"I live in a manner sufficient to my needs," Rei said as she led them into the 'living area', a bed, a desk, a dresser, and a mini fridge its only furniture.

"Sufficient?" Horaki said, clearly rattled. "This place…"

"It's a jail cell, Wondergirl!" Asuka said sharply, Shinji wondering how long that nickname had been brewing. "I wouldn't wish a place like this on… anyone…"

Asuka trailed off, her gaze directed to the mini fridge, and the copious amount of pill bottles on top of it.

"I was assigned this place on Commander Ikari's orders," Ayanami said as Asuka walked over to the fridge, beginning to study the bottles. "No other space has been provided for me."

Horaki looked over at Shinji, a stern look on her face that made him wither. "Your father did this? Why haven't you spoken up about this to him? This sort of injustice shouldn't go on!"

Shinji looked down at the floor. "Well, he's the Commander. And I…"

"Also, Wondergirl," Asuka said offhandedly as she began to take pictures of the pill bottles, "what's got Shinji so hot and bothered about his last visit here? He can't say more than two words about it without blushing."

Shinji, unsurprisingly, began to blush again. 'Please don't…' he silently pleaded, unable to even speak the words.

"We had an altercation," Ayanami said, her tone utterly without inflection of any kind. "As Shinji Ikari studied a personal effect, I tried to grab it from him after emerging from the shower. We lost balance and fell, his hand landing on my right breast. It was a memorable experience."

Shinji could feel Asuka and Horaki's gazes on him, seeming to burn a hole in his scalp as he desperately tried to do… something. 'Come on! Do something! Be helpful!'

After an agonizing second, his body moved, and he began to pick up what little was on the floor, focusing on cleaning the space as best as possible.

"A memorable…" he heard Asuka say, stuttering for a second after. "A memorable experience? And you did… nothing at all?"

"How absolutely mortifying," Horaki said. "The shame of it must have been unbearable."

"Shame?"

Shinji looked back at Rei, the others also regarding her with no small amount of shock.

"Shame?" Asuka asked incredulously. "You… haven't even been taught shame? Not even your mom to give you some pointers?"

"I have no mother," Ayanami said matter-of-factly.

"No mother…" Horaki said quietly.

The words hung in silence for long, agonizing moments before there was a knock on the door, drawing all eyes to the door again.

"You're a popular girl today, Rei," Asuka remarked as Ayanami made her way to the door.

"Who could that be?" Horaki wondered. "As far as I'm aware, we're the only ones that know about this place."

"We're the only kids who know about this place," Asuka corrected. "I'm sure Section 2's got their eyes on this place. They've probably been watching us this whole time."

Shinji grimaced slightly as he recalled the imposing men and women in their black suits and shades, so alike to the 'men in black' of some of the stories that Daniel had told him about. What would they do with them if they did something that they thought disturbed Ayanami too much? Were they helping to keep her here?

And why put her in such a secluded place? Was she that needless? Or, perhaps, was she somehow more dangerous than they thought?

He heard the door open, and two familiar voices were all too easy to hear. "Rei? Daniel and Shinji said this place was bad, but this takes it to the next level."

As Shinji sighed in relief at hearing Misato's voice, the second voice spoke up. "You have a visitor, I see. May we come in?"

"Yes, Captain Theisman," Ayanami replied, emerging back into the living area after a moment with Misato and Daniel behind her.

Daniel and Misato looked around the room, Misato mostly focused on the surroundings while Daniel took stock of those that occupied it. "Well, the whole gang's here," Daniel said, his gaze resting on Horaki as he extended a hand to her. "I don't believe we've met, miss. I'm Captain Theisman, Asuka's guardian."

"Hello, Captain," Horaki said as she took Daniel's hand. "I'm Hikari Horaki, the student president for our class. It's nice to meet you. Circumstances notwithstanding."

"I wouldn't worry, Hikari," Misato said, scanning around and moving over to the desk, starting to gather things together. "We're going to be changing those circumstances. Rei, start packing."

Rei remained where she was. Along with the rest of the children, their confusion dimly mirrored in her expression and the tilt of her head. "Has this been authorized by Doctor Akagi?" she asked.

"Not yet," Misato replied. "But right now, it's better to ask forgiveness than permission," Misato replied.

Shinji looked at Rei as she furrowed her brow. "Is this an order?"

Misato finally looked back at Rei rather incredulously. "What? No, no, it's not an order."

Rei nodded slightly. "I see."

And with that, she remained where she was, still as a statue. Before anyone could react, however, and Asuka seemed ready to do so in a big way, Daniel stepped forward, going to a knee to come to eye level with her.

"Rei," he said quietly. "Would you want to come with us?"

Rei frowned slightly. "What I want is immaterial. I am a pilot of NERV. I do what I am ordered."

"But you're not a machine," Daniel replied with a quiet, weary sigh. "And even then, no one puts a machine in a place like this and expects it to work out well."

Daniel glanced down at the floor for a moment, then back at Rei. "What do you want? You could stay here, or you can come with us. The choice is yours."

Rei was silent for long moments. "Why do you ask me this?" she said.

Daniel smiled, a slight, somewhat sad thing. "Because there is always a choice, Rei. And sometimes, all you need to learn is that you can make a choice. We've chosen to care for you enough to try and move you out of this place. Now, the choice is yours whether to accept it or not."

Rei's expression was nearly unreadable, and Shinji felt the old and familiar words stir memories of… better times before he chose to pilot Unit-01. But then again, he'd made the choice, didn't he? Even with the pressure of a broken Rei to try and sway his decision, he could have left, and left the world to its fate. Unfair of a choice as it might have been, he still decided to… what? Spite his father? Try and make Daniel proud? Try and be a hero for Rei?

He still wasn't sure, even this far on. He didn't know if he ever would be.

Finally, however, Rei nodded slightly. "I see. Then… I will go with you."

Daniel nodded as he stood. "Alright. Thank you, Rei. I'm glad we could help you."

Misato looked back at Rei. "Rei, could you help me pack your things? With what you have…"

She trailed off as she looked around the room. "You shouldn't take up too much space… wherever we put you."

"I'll take her in," Daniel said. "She can crash out in what's currently our office, and we should be able to fit any belongings she has into our apartment."

Misato nodded. "Works for me. Shinji, Asuka, could you help me out here?"

As they worked, Shinji looked over to the dresser, gently grabbing the pair of his father's glasses and walking over to Rei. "Here," he said, holding the glasses out to her. "These mean something to you, so I figured you want to keep them safe."

Rei took the proffered glasses slowly, looking down at them with a flicker of some emotion in her eyes, then looked back at Shinji. "Thank you, Shinji," she said quietly.

"Of course," Shinji replied.

The quiet little moment was broken by Asuka putting an arm around Rei. "So, Wondergirl, do you really not have anything other than your school uniforms to wear?" she asked, and Shinji found the brash boldness that she displayed as she usually did… unusually strained.

"I have not needed any other articles of clothing," Rei replied. "They are suitable for any tasks I undertake outside of piloting."

Asuka was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Well, there'll be time to take care of that. Let's just get you out of here first."

It took time, but eventually, all of Rei's meager belongings were packed into Misato's car. However, that left little space for any other occupants.

"I can take Rei and one other person," Misato said, looking at the gathered group. "Who should I take?"

"Take Hikari," Daniel replied. "The rest of us can make our own way home, and we'll get Rei's stuff taken care of. I'll call Eleanor and let her know you're coming."

Misato nodded, waving to the trio before getting in the car, Horaki and Ayanami getting in as well before Misato drove off.

As the trio set off, Daniel pulling out his cell phone, Shinji looked over at Asuka, finding himself rather unsettled by the expression on her face. One that seemed conflicted, perhaps even… haunted.

"Asuka?" Shinji finally said after gaining the courage. "Is… something wrong?"

Asuka blinked, looking over to Shinji. "Well…"

As she paused and sighed, Shinji had never expected to see her so… uncertain. "I think," she continued, "I've got a call to make when we get home."

. . .

Shinji would only find the explanation for such a mysterious proclamation as Asuka brought Daniel with them into Misato's apartment, sitting down on the table and texting the images of the pill bottle labels to Daniel. Misato, Shinji noted, was still absent, helping alongside Eleanor to get Ayanami settled in.

After a moment where she took a deep breath, she dialed a phone number, turned on the speaker function, and set the phone down on the table, watching it intently as it rang.

Finally, the line connected. "Hallo? Wer spricht da?" a woman's voice said.

Asuka grimaced slightly before smoothing out her expression. "Es ist Asuka, Stiefmutter. Could you speak English please?"

'Stiefmutter?' Shinji thought as the line went quiet for a moment. With his current grasp of German, that probably meant…

Asuka's stepmother cleared her throat. "Strange request, but I can manage," she said, her accent still quite noticeable. "What has you calling me, of all things?"

"I… need your help with something," Asuka said, hesitation pulling at the words. "I know something's wrong, and I know there's a way to fix it, but I need your help with the specifics."

"Did something happen to you?" Asuka's stepmother asked, her voice tinged with what must have been concern. "Or is this someone else?"

"Someone else," Asuka replied. "Can I send you pictures over text? It has to do with prescriptions."

Another moment of silence. "I can do that, yes," she replied.

Asuka wasted no time sending the pictures, silence reigning for long moments as they waited for a reply.

"Citalopram, bromazepam, alprazolam…" Asuka's stepmother said, her voice trailing off as she examined the labels of over a dozen medications. "If I didn't know any better…"

A pause. "Now, this is an extensive list of medications concerning anxiety, depression, and the treatment of mental illness. Are you looking for potential side effects of taking multiple of these? Which ones are your friend taking?"

Asuka glanced over at Shinji as she took a deep breath. "All of them. All at once, as far as we can tell."

It was silent again. "Mein Gott…" Asuka's stepmom finally said, her voice a strangled whisper. "I… I can see why you called me…"

"We need to find a way to wean her off all of these drugs," Asuka said. "As far as we can tell, she doesn't need… any of them, as far as she's told us."

"You're going to have to be extremely careful," the stepmom said, her tone completely professional now. "Deprescribing polypharmacy, especially with drugs as serious as these, is a delicate balance that may take months. Monitor your friend closely, and don't make or let them go cold turkey on anything right now. Something might be there to cover for the symptoms of another medication. Even then, especially if she's been medicated like this for any great length of time, there may be lasting consequences that are completely out of your control."

"Alright," Asuka said with no small amount of apprehension, "where should we start?"

"Give me a day to examine these and write up a plan that I'll send you," the stepmother said. "Right now, the place to start would be the antidepressants, the citalopram and sertraline especially. Lower the dosage and monitor for any effects for at least a week before you go any further, if not more."

"We'll be looking forward to your plan," Asuka said, pausing for a moment. "Thanks, Hera."

Another pause on the other end of the line. "You're welcome, Asuka," Hera replied. "I hope that I can help your friend."

With that, the call ended in short order, Asuka sitting back in her chair with a weary sigh.

. . .

Sometime later, as they returned to their 'training', Shinji still noticed the… well, the 'off-ness' of Asuka's temperament. Even though she did her best to mask it, he was winning more of their matches than he would expect from his current skill level.

As another match ended in victory, he looked over at Asuka. "Is… something wrong?" he asked quietly.

Asuka looked at Shinji, her expression briefly one of indignation before the expression dissipated into… tiredness, and she glanced around the still-empty room. Misato had only briefly popped in after the call to say she was going to the Geofront to sort some things out.

Finally, she closed her eyes and sighed as she set down the controller. "You're not a dumb guy. I'm pretty sure you could tell that things… aren't exactly the most cordial with my stepmother."

Shinji nodded. "Yeah, I got the impression," he said quietly.

Asuka looked at the screen for long moments before continuing. "When my mama died, dad was pretty quick to shack up with the nurse that had been taking care of her. She put me through a pretty crazy course of meds from…"

Asuka frowned slightly. "4 to about 8. Not all at once like Wondergirl, but I recognized most of those names from when I was younger. I guess she did too. I didn't really understand it at the time, but I knew dad wanted me to go back to being a nice, happy, obedient girl. I guess he figured being hooked up with a nurse would help with that."

She shook her head after a pregnant pause. "Being older now, I recognize she could have done a hell of a lot worse than she did. She was at least trying to help someone who was really messed up by how her mama died, in a lot of ways. But I hated how I felt. How I didn't feel. I really, truly hated her for a long time after Misato became my guardian."

Asuka sighed. "But when dad went back to America without so much as a word to either of us, right around when Daniel arrived, Hera reached out to try and apologize to me for… a lot of things. Turns out dad was working on her right after my mama's accident. The bastard was ready to just… drop everything he'd had before for a fresh new thing, and no one was really smart enough to see it."

She shook her head. "I was ready to just let the woman who tried to replace my mama talk to a brick wall. But Daniel… he helped me talk to her. Recognize we were both kind of suckered one way or another."

It was silent again, and Shinji frowned slightly. "Why… why are you telling me this?"

Asuka looked over at Shinji with a wan smile. "Same reason you make a good trainee; you just shut up and listen. You get that from Daniel, or do you come by it naturally?"

Shinji blinked, but before he could try and reply, Asuka took a deep breath, her smile widening to its usual confidence. "So, I think we've gotten the most out of this kind of training today. I think it's time for something a little more strategic."

Shinji nodded, standing with Asuka. "Yes, Lehrerin," he said, pondering for a moment on how… alike they were.