Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ Silence of the Angels ❯ Sharing Secrets ( Chapter 6 )

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Disclaimer: I do not own 'Neon Genesis Evangelion,' nor do I own 'Silence of the Lambs.' They are the sole properties of Gainax Studios and Thomas Harris respectively.

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NOTES: Sorry I took so long in bringing out this chapter. I have been extremely busy lately…actually...no…not really. I had this chapter ready for a while now. I just didn't uploaded it. It's a bad habit I have. Sorry!

Remember to review.

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SILENCE OF THE ANGELS

By Northridge

*** Chapter Six ***

SHARING SECRETS

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Mrs. Tillsbury was a frail ninety-year old woman.

And very senile…

With her wizen-white hair and red-only wardrobe, she certainly would stand out in a crowd.

She was a lady often described by the few people that know her as an 'oddball hag,' mainly because of all the rabbits she keeps as pets.

Her house is filled with them. From upstairs to her basement the rabbits made her home their own. Mrs. Tillsbury co-opted one of the rooms in her home to storing rabbit food which piled to the ceiling. Water bowls are placed in every room. Naturally, the rabbits created a sanitation problem for Mrs. Tillsbury, though fortunately her sense of sight and smell are lacking at her age.

The maintenance of her home would be a lot easier if she wasn't confined to a wheelchair.

For a while now Mrs. Tillsbury hadn't been able to properly care for herself. She had become a recluse from society. The last time she had read a newspaper or watched television was the day her husband passed away; fortunately, her next door neighbor comes by every so often bringing groceries and to help her around the home...and to clean the rabbit shit.

At the moment, Kawrou Nagisa gave his elderly neighbor a friendly smile before speaking.

"That's KAWROU, Mrs. Tillsbury. K-A-W-R-O-U. Kawrou. That is how you say my name."

Mrs. Tillsbury rebuked him before he could get back to cleaning the floor.

"Don't lecture me like I'm a child! I'm not senile yet Kowro!"

Kawrou gestured his hand towards his older neighbor to calm her down.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Tillsbury, I meant no offense" he replied with his continuous smile.

Kawrou continued to clean her house, while she sat in her wheelchair in the living room, knitting yet another red sweater. He made sure to avoid bumping the mop into the numerous rabbits that scurried along his path. This was a weekly ritual he has done for the past year. He dedicates an entire day to tend to his neighbor, her house, and her rabbits. From mopping the floor to refilling the water bowls, Kawrou didn't miss a spot. But he noticed this time the the infants rabbits were beginning to outnumber the grown ones.

"Mrs. Tillsbury...maybe you should neuter and spay your pets" Kawrou suggested to her as he continued cleaning. She stopped her knitting.

"Kowro, I told you once, and I'll tell you again, NO! It is unnatural!" she said pointedly.

"Alright, Mrs. Tillsbury" Kawrou replied as he stopped mopping to pick up another dead rabbit and dropped it into a trashbag.

The number of dead rabbits was also increasing.

"How's your girlfriend? What was her name? Hee-car-ee?" Mrs. Tillsbury asked as she continued knitting.

Kawrou replied casually to her question.

"Hikari. Hikari's her name. I'm sorry to say we broke up. The relationship didn't work out as I had hoped" Kawrou replied softly.

"I'm sorry to hear that Kowro! But don't worry, a good boy like you will find another one in no time!" she declared enthusiastically.

Kawrou stopped his work to give her another smile.

"You're right, Mrs. Tillsbury! I've met another woman recently. Things have been going smoothly thus far."

"Oh, tell me her name!" Her excitement made her drop the knitting sticks to the wooden floor.

"Mrs. Tillsbury…" Kawrou began as he went over to her to pick them off the ground."

"Tell me!"

Kawrou sighed in surrender.

"Her name is Rei."

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At the BaltimoreStateForensic Hospital…

"You really don't understand the opportunity we have here, Agent Ikari."

Agent Shinji Ikari was once again meeting with Dr. Ritsuko Akagi in her office. An ashtray full of cigarette buds adorned the corner of her desk. The middle-aged woman was lobbying him with lucrative proposal.

"Dr. Akagi, I'm sorry; but my conference with Sohryu must remain private. It's the only way she will cooperate with the FBI."

However, Dr. Akagi wasn't backing down.

"But think of the knowledge that can be gained here! No criminal psychologist has ever gotten her to share her thoughts. If you can probe Sohryu with certain questions I have here, I can finally figure out an accurate psychological profile of her!"

'Yeah, so you can make a name yourself…' Shinji thought.

"And imagine what the public would pay for this!" Dr. Akagi added.

Shinji stated his denial to her request.

"Dr. Akagi, you as well as I know that Sohryu isn't easily duped. I'm sorry, but the FBI will not take that risk. This is an important investigation and I must see her right away."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"That bitch is still my patient Agent Ikari."

"And this is a federal matter Dr. Akagi. Any attempt to block access to Dr. Sohryu will be seen as obstruction of justice" Shinji shot back.

Dr. Akagi leaned back into her chair to consider her options. After a moment, she gave her consent.

"Mr. Rouji will take you to her."

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Dr. Sohryu's cell…

She was drying her hair.

Apparently, she had taken a shower recently.

At the moment, Dr. Asuka Sohryu was sitting on her bunk bed with her back against the far wall of her cell. She had her long legs crossed and stretched out on the bunk. Asuka's feet were bare with the slippers placed neatly on the floor next to her cot. Her blue prison jumpsuit was unbuttoned enough to reveal a white T-shirt underneath.

To Shinji, her firm breasts were much more revealing this way. Normally Shinji would have blushed from embarrassment, but the welfare of his sister was dominant over the rest of his thoughts.

He remembered his "deal" with Dr. Sohryu the night before: a first-name basis, of which he still wasn't comfortable. Shinji stepped up to the glass barrier to address her informally.

"Good afternoon…Asuka."

His greeting was wooden and she stopped drying her hair in noticement.

Dr. Sohryu darted an eye out from underneath the towel. She looked him over and continued drying her hair.

There was silence between the two of them for awhile. Shinji fidgeted slightly with his folders in his hand and quietly sighed in impatient annoyance.

Finally…

"Looks like you haven't shaved today" she remarked casually.

She removed the now damp towel from her head to reveal that her fiery red hair had been cut down to shoulder length. Shinji momentarily forgot about the situation about his sister to take in this new image of the good doctor. Even though her hair was still moist, Shinji thought the 'wet look' suited her.

"What do you think, Shinji? Do I look nice?" Dr. Sohryu asked with a smile.

"It's nice" he replied.

She gave him a sour look.

"Typical."

She threw the towel over onto the table at the far wall and proceeded to comb her hair with a metal brush.

Shinji was surprised that she had such an item in her possession. Dr. Sohryu stopped brushing her hair when she noticed his puzzled expression.

"Oh don't worry, Shinji. I couldn't kill you with this even if I wanted to; there's a glass wall between us" she reassured him.

"I was under the impression that you weren't allowed to have such items."

Dr. Sohryu continued to brush her hair.

"Well true…but you see…this brush is on loan from Kaji. I have to trade it back to him before I can get my dinner; and then I have to trade the dinner utensils and plate back to him or else he comes in and shoots me with a tranq-dart. It's all 'quid pro quo' between him and me" Dr. Sohryu explained with a wink.

"I see."

Shinji didn't know what else to say to her. He fidgeted slightly again. Dr. Sohryu noticed this and smiled with amusement.

"If you need to sit down, go right ahead."

"Thank you."

Shinji took the chair from the wall and unfolded it to sit down. He noticed Dr. Sohryu was looking at him while brushing her hair. Shinji felt her eyes piercing into his soul while he sat there.

He opted on more small talk.

"When did you get the haircut…Asuka."

She sighed with irritation.

"Earlier today. You can't imagine the trouble I had to go through to get it. I like Kaji and all, but he makes a terrible stylist. And the mask got in the way."

'Mask?' Shinji thought.

"It looks like he did a good job" Shinji replied.

Dr. Sohryu gave him a look while still brushing her hair.

"You men don't know anything about haircare."

"Sorry."

She gave Shinji an amused look.

"Such a boring man…"

Shinji didn't respond to her comment.

Dr. Sohryu stopped brushing her hair for a second to study Shinji more closely, and then continued on with her hair care.

"So…why did you come here again; to look at my tits?" she asked casually. She jutted her chest out to bounce her breast.

Shinji ignored her comment and display to speak his message.

"I'm sure the news has reached you by now" he stated cautiously. He wasn't sure what her response would be.

She smiled with quiet humor.

Then…

"I'm afraid not" Dr. Sohryu replied with passive anger.

"What?"

Shinji was confused. He noticed from before that she always kept herself informed and entertained with reading material. Then he realized that the books and newspapers from her table were gone.

"Bitchy Akagi has been depriving me of my news. For some reason, she puts the blame on me for Migs cracking his skull open! Can you believe that? I mean, all I did was offer words of encouragement."

She chuckled while undoing a knot of wet hair.

Shinji remained silent for a moment, he was being careful of how he was going to respond to her depraved indifference.

"I'm afraid you do share some blame in his death" he replied bluntly.

She gave Shinji a hurt look.

"I had to do something! Your honor was at stake. Unless you wanted him to smear some more man-juice on your face?"

"That's not the point" Shinji started.

"Whatever…so…what news are you talking about?"

She was still brushing her hair.

Shinji prepared himself.

"Another body has been found…"

Dr. Sohryu sensed he had something else to add.

"Yesss…" she slurred with expectancy.

Shinji closed his eyes and responded.

"…and it appears that Carl has taken another woman yesterday…late at night."

She stopped her activity, and gracefully placed the metal comb on her bed.

"Ahh" Dr. Sohryu purred softly.

He opened his eyes.

Shinji cringed with slight anger at Dr. Sohryu's response of his sister's abduction.

"So…what's her name?"

Shinji now had her complete undivided attention.

"…" He was silent.

"The one that's still…alive" she clarified with another playful smile. She made sure to leave the last word in doubt.

"…"

"Well…Shinjiii…?" she trailed off.

"…"

Finally…

"Rei Rokubungi."

She continued to observe him.

"Anything special about her?"Dr. Sohryu asked bluntly.

'Yeah, she's my sister' Shinji thought grimly.

"By your hesitation, I think there is something special about her."

"She's the daughter of Gendo Rokubungi."

A half-truth, but still a lie of omission.

"…" Now it was her turn for silence.

Shinji went on.

"He's the CEO of-"

"I know who he is," Asuka responded to cut him off, "I was just speechless. This will certainly get interesting, don't you think?"

Did she suspect?

Director Fuyutsuki ordered him not to disclose his sibling relationship with Rei to Dr. Sohryu. He warned that she would only use this against him.

"She feeds off other people's pain."were his exact words.

Shinji calmly stared back at her.

Dr. Sohryu looked at him for several seconds and then positioned her body to lay down on the bunk bed. She laced her fingers together and rested her head on top of them.

Shinji was again insulted by her relaxed manner in response to his news; but he continued on.

"I think you can understand why I'm here then…Asuka."

He still felt uneasy about the situation.

Dr. Sohryu's eyes were staring at her cell's ceiling. She then spoke in a cheerful tone. Her response was like one leisurely pondering a puzzle.

"You'll get use to calling me Asuka; and yes, I do know why you're here. You've come to present me my deal…though I'm curious, shouldn't someone more important than a TRAINEE be sent to me for this type of thing? Delivering a questionnaire is the job of a lackey…like you, but this sort of thing is fit only for someone higher up…like Old Kozzie."

Shinji explained his scripted response to her in an insulted manner:

"You've given Director Fuyutsuki the impression that you'll only talk to me; I'm sorry…I'm talk to my superior about sending someone 'more important' to deliver your deal."

He got up to leave. Fuyutsuki told him to do this in order to show Dr. Sohryu he meant business.

"Idiot, I'm just playing with you!"

She hadn't taken her eyes off the ceiling, nor had she got up to face him.

Shinji stopped in his tracks and replied in a stressed tone.

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel that it's the time to play when a psychopath has a young woman in his grasp!"

He meant every word.

Dr. Sohryu sat up slowing. She then proceeded to the glass barrier to face him up close.

She didn't bother to put on her slippers.

Her eyes were in a menacing manner and her hair was still damp with moisture.

Her tone was s l o w and soft, but threatening.

"There's always the time to play and you will play Shinji."

He matched her manner and stared back. This was his sister dammit!

The other "residents" were making nervous movements in the silence.

Finally…

She laughed.

Not maniacal laughing; it was more like one amused with a small child's antics.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh Shiiinjiii, you are so fuuun to play with!"

She slurred his name with obvious enjoyment.

Shinji didn't respond.

Dr. Sohryu crossed her arms and spoke:

"So where's my deal?"

"Here's your deal" Shinji replied as he dropped a folder into the metal tray and slammed it to Dr. Sohryu's side.

"You could be nicer about it."

"Sorry" he replied without value.

Shinji went back to the chair to sit down and waited for her to finish glancing over the folder's contents.

"Wow…I get to upgrade to a suite at the Pennsylvania State Women's Penitentiary…and a private cell…with a window!…good…heh?…nothing else?"

Dr. Sohryu looked up from the agreement to stare at Shinji with dissappointment.

"Sorry, but what did you expect Asuka?"

"Something better."

"That's the best we're willing to offer…and the only one that's feasible, sorry; and the deal's only good if we get Ms. Rokubungi back…alive."

"I don't know about this…" Dr. Sohryu mulled.

"There's not much else I can do, Asuka."

She stopped her mulling as if coming up with an idea.

"Ah, but there is something else you can do…Shinji!"

Shinji didn't like where this was going.

"What are you talking about?"

"Let's add an addendum to the proposition: 'quid pro quo.'"

Shinji really didn't like where this was going, but he listened on hesitantly.

"Yes…?"

"I get to ask things about you…personal things…"

Shinji was surprised with her proposition.

He voiced his reaction.

"What possible value could you find in knowing my personal life?" he asked skeptically.

Dr. Sohryu just shrugged.

"Because I'm bored."

"That's your reason?" Shinji asked.

She winked.

"That's the only answer you'll get."

Shinji didn't like the idea at all; but he was still considering it. His privacy was a small price to pay if it meant that Rei would be saved!

"What if I do answer your questions? What do I get in return?"

Dr. Sohryu went back to sit on her bunk.

"Along with my interest..." Dr. Sohryu began as she started undoing more buttons on her jumpsuit.

"...I'll give you tidbits about our friend Carl…"

That wasn't nearly enough for Shinji.

"Why not a name?"

"His name's Carl" Dr. Sohryu answered simply.

He was getting tired of her games.

"His real name" Shinji clarified sharply.

She shook her head slowly with exaggeration.

"Sorry, Shinji, the game doesn't work that way; because there's no fun in simply giving a name. You have to find it yourself…with my help of course."

Shinji was beginning to get angry.

"How do I know what you'll reveal will be the truth?"

Dr. Sohryu began to weave her arms out of the long sleaves of the jumpsuit.

"It's part of the fun, Shinji, you don't know."

"This deal isn't fair you know."

"That's one of the things I like about you, Shinji; you're a terrible negotiator."

"…"

"What's your answer, Shinji?" she asked with a grin.

Dr. Sohryu leaned back against the wall after adjusting her clothing. Only her white T-shirt covered the upper portion of her body. Her lower half was still in the jumpsuit.

"Better hurry. Little Rei's cooter might be poked by the time you answer."

Shinji gave his answer.

"Sign the agreement and I'll answer your questions."

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Elsewhere…

"Well that should do it Mrs. Tillsbury!" Kawrou said, giving her a small peck on her wrinkled cheek.

"Don't be late next time."

"I won't Mrs. Tillsbury. Good Night."

With that, Kawrou Nagisa walk out the front door, he was careful to not let any of the rabbits out. It was a short walking distance to his house 'next' door. The air was crisp cold and Kawrou bundled his red sweater closer to his thin frame.

"The moon is really beautiful tonight" Kawrou said to himself. He began humming 'Ode to Joy' as he walked along the worn trail. At that moment, the moonlight revealed a stray rabbit in his path. Kawrou stopped humming his favorite tune to give it a smile before speaking to it.

"Hello there! You must have snucked out this morning. That's very naughty" Kawrou scolded the rabbit as he kneeled down to scoop it up into his arms.

He gave the rabbit a pat on the head before snapping it's neck.

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TO BE CONTINUED……

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