Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ If I Am Normal, Are You Weird? ❯ She said, “Don’t make me suffer... ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

She said, "Don't make me suffer for your personal cowardices."

Asuka had decided to take a different route from her two damp teammates to the locker room, and that left Shinji and Rei alone in the elevator together. What followed them down was merely an awkward silence.

Shinji's eyes flicked toward his blue-haired fellow pilot as he once again contemplated her situation. She used to be so quiet. But now she's as talkative as Asuka. Everyone wonders why she's acting this way, including me. But why? Isn't this considered normal behavior? And what about what Asuka said? I never asked her to like me. Did I?

Suddenly, Rei's eyes rolled to look at him. Feeling a warmth spreading across his cheeks, he quickly looked away. She caught me staring at her! What if she takes it the wrong way? Is it the wrong way? He quickly glanced back at her.

Her red eyes looked away as she began to blush. His own eyes widened. She had been staring at him!

For a while, Shinji stared at her in bemusement. Then, Rei's eyes flicked back to him, and he looked away.

Shinji gasped as a strange sound filled the elevator. Rei was giggling! Then, with an almost conspiratorial air, Rei's eyes once again rolled to stare at him. It was as if she hoped he'd catch her.

Shinji's eyes narrowed angrily. What was she laughing at? He flicked his eyes at her like two attacking swords.

Rei's gasp of surprise was exaggerated as her eyes quickly looked away. Then, she once again stifled fits of silly laughter.

Shinji snorted as he attempted to contain his own. They were playing a stupid, silly game of eye-tag with each other, and both of them knew it. But somewhere along the line it became fun, so why not admit it? As the tension released itself, Shinji put his hand behind his head and laughed. With a smile on her face, Rei took Shinji's hand.

And it all went straight down the toilet right there.

As Rei's beautiful red eyes burned directly into his, Shinji's breathing steadily got heavier. As he felt the soft skin of her hand on his, his heart began to pound a rhythmic tattoo against the inside of his chest. He swallowed, and cold sweat began to bead on his forehead as her small mouth drew closer to his.

Quickly, he tore himself away from Rei's grip. "Rei…I'm sorry," he said. As the door opened, he sprinted out, running as fast as he could away from her. "I'm so sorry!" he screamed.

Rei's look of shock slowly dissolved as her head drooped to stare at her shoelaces. Damn.

The activities for the pilots that day were a trip into their sim-plugs while in induction mode--placing more emphasis on weapons proficiency than on harmonics and synch-ratios. It was this kind of testing that Rei had looked forward to. She'd show Misato that Asuka and Shinji weren't the only ones with combat-efficient Evas. All right, Unit 00, thought Rei. This is where you show them what you're really made of.

In the control box, Ritsuko sipped her coffee, her face expressionless. "What's the status of Rei's synch-ratio and harmonics?" she asked Maya.

"All readings are nominal. If anything, she's doing better than ever," replied Maya. "I guess her little bump on the head didn't hurt her that much, after all."

"Her brainwaves do show a lot more activity, though," noted Lieutenant Makoto Hyuga.

Ritsuko grunted in acknowledgment. Damn! If only there had been a problem with her synching with her Eva! Why does that stupid clone always have to be so resilient? She shut her eyes tight as the image of the myriad dummy plug Reis laughing at her came back unbidden.

"You okay, Ritsuko?" asked Misato, who had come in to observe the testing.

Ritsuko forced her eyes open. "I'm just fine. A bit of a headache, that's all." She turned to the com window. "Rei, you're wasting ammo. Wait for the crosshairs to position themselves, then fire."

"I can't help it, Ritsuko," replied Rei. "The crosshairs are too slow."

"With a low synch-ratio such as yours, I'm not surprised," retorted Ritsuko. "And call me Doctor Akagi, please."

"Beg your pardon, Doctor Akagi. But if I waited for my targeting computer, wouldn't that give The Angel free reign over my teammates, not to mention myself?"

"Well… that's just tough. This is how you're supposed to do it, period." She closed the window and went over to Maya. "Raise the level of The Angel's fighting prowess and cut Rei's synch-ratio to forty percent," she ordered.

Misato's eyebrows raised. "Testy today, aren't we?"

"She needs to be taught a little discipline," said Ritsuko simply. Yes, being turned over someone's knee would do her good, wouldn't it?

"Pardon me, but isn't that my job?" asked Misato.

"Yes. One that you do poorly, as I recall."

Misato's hand balled into a fist at her side.

Meanwhile, Rei watched as the crosshairs slowly came to bear on the holographic version of Sachiel. Come on. Hurry up. But if anything, Unit 00 was targeting slower than before. You have to move quicker than this, Unit 00.

Suddenly, the Third Angel rushed up on her and slammed her into a holographic building. Rei let out a frustrated yell before The Angel derezzed and reappeared where it had been before.

Rei's eyes narrowed as she thought the target helmet off of her head. Hell with this! she thought, throwing the gun aside.

Maya gasped. "Her synch-ratio's increasing! It's up to fifty percent! Rising!"

"What?" cried Ritsuko. "I thought I told you to keep it down!"

"I can't!" exclaimed Maya. "And her harmonics are going up as well!"

"Brain activity rising," reported Hyuga. "No signs of mental contamination."

"My God," breathed Ritsuko. Could her Angelic DNA be manifesting itself? It must be! Quickly, she went over to Maya. "Listen to me," she whispered. "If Hyuga should detect any physical anomalies, such as a change in blood pattern, I want you to increase the LCL pressure. Kill her if you have to."

"But ma'am," Maya started to protest.

"Don't argue," said Ritsuko through clenched teeth.

Maya quickly looked away. "Right," she whispered.

Rei quickly popped her shoulder hatch and reached back. Now you'll see what I'm made of! she thought as much to those observing in the control box as the hologram.

"Sixty," intoned Maya. "Seventy…eighty…ninety…Oh my God! Rei's synch-ratio is at one hundred percent!"

Ritsuko just stared in horror. "Impossible! How could she achieve full synchronization with Unit 00? This is only a simulation! The plug isn't even inserted!"

"Cut off all ES and pain stimulators," ordered Misato. "At this ratio, even a hologram might be able to kill her."

"Roger," replied Maya.

"She's engaged the prog-knife," informed Hyuga.

"What the hell?" cried Misato.

"Kiiiiiiiiiyeeeeee!" cried Rei as she perfectly executed a forward roll and plunged the progressive knife directly into the center of the Third Angel's core. With a giant explosion, the hologram winked out of existence.

"Her synch-ratio just dropped down to forty percent," Maya informed, breathing a sigh of relief. "Harmonics are also returning to their former levels."

"Well?" asked Rei smugly from the com window. "How'd I do?"

"That was cool!" said Misato brightly. "Do that again!"

Maya fainted.

Rei danced her way into the girls locker room. "Yes! I rule! I rule!" She strutted over to Asuka, who was folding up her plug suit. "Who's the best? I'm the best!" She leaned on the locker next to Asuka's.

"What's got you all worked up?" asked Asuka.

Rei smirked. "I just achieved one hundred percent synch with Unit 00, that's what!" she bragged.

Asuka snorted. "Oh, is that all? For a minute there, I thought you did something. I mean, I achieve one hundred percent synch and then some with Unit 02 all the time."

"In induction mode?" asked Rei.

"What?" cried Asuka. "You're full of it!"

"Nope," said Rei. She raised her eyebrows. "You mean you can't?"

"That's impossible!" said Asuka. "They keep your synch-ratio down to make sure the automatic pain stimulus doesn't do any permanent damage! They wouldn't allow you to go up to one hundred percent!"

Rei shrugged. "Ask Misato." She looked over Asuka's shoulder into her locker. "Hey, Asuka. Why do you keep that plug-suit separate from the others?"

Asuka's eyes narrowed as she turned to face her. "Because it's different from the other ones! Any fool can see that!"

"Looks the same to me," said Rei. "Same number…same trim…same ugly shade of red…"

"That shade of red is not ugly!" yelled Asuka.

Rei shrugged. "Whatever. But you don't wear it that often, do you?"

Asuka finally turned her full attention to Rei. "Rei," she said stiffly, "this conversation is over." She stuffed her half-folded plug-suit into the locker.

"No," said Rei.

Asuka whirled on her. "No?" she repeated incredulously, her voice going up several octaves. "No?"

But Rei was unfazed. "No," she said simply. With a wicked smile on her face, she grabbed the special plug-suit and vaulted around the set of lockers.

"Hey!" cried Asuka. "Give that back!"

"I've got Asuka's plug-suit!" came from behind the lockers.

Asuka let out a predatory growl. "You're gonna get it! You have to come out of there eventually!"

"Not really," replied Rei. "I can just have Shinji sneak food in."

"What? Omigod! You'd let a boy in here? You're sick! And what are you doing to my plug-suit?"

Asuka's question was answered immediately as Rei came out of hiding.

Wearing the suit.

"Yup," said Rei. "Not much different from your other suits."

"What are you doing? Take that off right now!" ordered Asuka.

"Except for this button, here. Wonder what it does," said Rei coyly.

Asuka gasped. "No! Don't push it!"

Needless to say, Rei ignored her and pushed the button. As soon as she did, her entire body began to swell up, getting rounder.

And rounder.

And rounder.

Rei looked down and suddenly realized that she couldn't see her feet. She waddled around in bemusement as Asuka broke into laughter.

Rei blushed as she looked at the Second Child, and then she too began to crack up. "Now I know how Violet Beauregarde felt," she said.

"You look like a big cherry!" Asuka laughed.

"I can't believe I offered to replace you for that operation," said Rei.

"I can't believe I stopped you!" said Asuka. "Of all the disgusting things they've ever had me do, wearing that thing was most humiliating experience of my life."

Rei nodded.

"I mean, sometimes I think they just make this stuff up to make fun of us," Asuka continued. "Do you know how much heat that thing kept out? None! And besides, my Eva had flame-retardant equipment on it. What was the point of putting on a special suit?"

"Well then, why do you always agree to it?" asked Rei.

"So I can pilot my Eva, of course!" Asuka smiled. "I couldn't just leave Unit 02 in anyone else's hands! It's like… It's like it needs me and…and…and why the hell am I telling all of this to you?" She suddenly screamed. "What, do you think I'm your friend or something? Give me a break! I'd never be friends with an emotionless wind-up toy like you!"

Rei's mouth hung open as if she'd been slapped, but Asuka continued nonetheless. "That's all you are! Just an emotionless doll! It's all you are, and all you ever will be! I don't care what they say about you being normal!" With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out.

"I see," whispered Rei to herself. Brushing a stray tear aside, she began to get out of the suit.

After changing, she headed out of the locker room to see Ritsuko waiting for her. "I hope you realize that what you did today was dangerous," she said.

"What?" asked Rei.

"Don't play dumb with me!" snapped Ritsuko. "You know what! That little synch-ratio trick during testing today."

"What are you talking about?" asked Rei. "I had nothing to do with it. I just…"

"I know what you did," Ritsuko cut her off. "Anyway, the real reason that I came down here was to tell you that Commander Ikari will be seeing you the day after tomorrow." She whirled and, much like Asuka, stalked away from her.

Rei looked away from Ritsuko's retreating form. "Why does everyone hate me?" she wondered aloud, her voice barely above a whisper. "Emotionless," Asuka called me. God, I wish I were.

Asuka stormed into Misato's apartment and through the living room, where Shinji was lying on the floor, listening to his SDAT. Noticing her, he turned it off and got up to greet her. "Hey, what's up? You were late for dinner and…"

"Shut up!" Asuka snapped. "Can't you see that I'm angry?"

"Sorry," replied Shinji.

Asuka whirled to face him. "That little bitch! It's all her fault! She tricked me into liking her! She tricked me!"

"Who?" asked Shinji.

"Rei, that's who!" roared Asuka. "Why the hell did she have to be so damn… likable? I hate her! I've always hated her! Why should I start liking her now?" With a frustrated grunt, she stormed into her room and slammed the door shut.

For a while, Shinji looked at the closed door of Asuka's room. Asuka said that Rei tricked her into liking her. Was it like the way she held my hand today? I used to be so comfortable with the way Rei acted but now…I guess I just want her to leave me alone. Why doesn't she just leave me alone like everybody else? What does she see in me that everyone else doesn't?

Shinji contemplated those questions for the rest of the evening.

The next day at recess, Shinji was greeted by another girl of his acquaintance as he sat on the bench studying his physics. "Oh, Shinji!" Mana Kirishama, the representative of classroom 2-B, called out to him.

"Oh…uh…hi, Mana," said Shinji, somewhat absent-mindedly.

Mana plopped down beside Shinji and scooted as close as she could get to him. "So where's Asuka the grouch?"

"She's off with Hikari somewhere," replied Shinji.

"Oh," said Mana. "Shinji, I'm in trouble. I need…"

"There you are, Shinji!" Shinji's eyes widened as Rei came down the escalator. She quickly bounded over to him and sat down beside him, opposite of Mana.

Mana cleared her throat, her eyes narrowing at the intruder. "Anyway, I'm having some trouble with some of these Algebra problems. Would you mind doing them for me? Please?"

"Well…I guess I could…" stammered Shinji.

"Wait a minute!" cried Rei, frowning at Mana. "Why should he do your homework?"

"Because I asked him too, that's why!" replied Mana angrily. "And anyway, what business is it of yours?"

"It's my business because I care about him!" retorted Rei. "He's got enough work as an Eva Pilot without you piling more on it. Right, Shinji?"

"Well…er…" said Shinji.

"Wait a minute! You were going to do those problems! Now you're going to back out just because she asked you to?" demanded Mana.

"I wonder what your teacher would say if he knew that you were passing your work onto someone in a different class?" threatened Rei. "I imagine that he'd be angry."

For a while the two girls sat, their eyes boring into each other like two pairs of laser beams. Then, Mana relented. "Fine!" she cried, getting up. "But just remember what you passed up, Shinji Ikari!"

"Oh, please!" snorted Rei. "What did you have in mind? Riding his baloney pony?"

She turned to Shinji. "Well, now that that's settled, maybe we could talk about…" Her hand began to move toward his. "…other things?"

As her hand came to rest on his, he quickly moved it away. "Don't touch me!" he cried, moving away from her.

Rei's jaw dropped, and then her hands balled into fists in her lap. Her eyes narrowed at him. "What is wrong with you?" she demanded, her voice barely above a whisper.

Shinji just stared at her, but Rei continued, her voice rising in volume. "You act like you're scared to touch me, but I know you like me. I can feel you staring at me, Shinji. Feel it! Those eyes of yours, they're always there, just burning into the back of my head. Do you know how long I've wondered what that was about? And then, I finally figured it out. You were attracted to me, and I… I liked it! I liked you! Couldn't you understand that?"

"I don't know," said Shinji. "I guess… I guess I want…"

"What?" cried Rei. "What do you want? Do you want me back the way I used to be? Some quiet, blindly-obedient shell of a girl who barely said two words a day? Is that the kind of girl you want? You know, maybe the reason I am the way I am isn't because Asuka knocked me into that wall. Maybe I was just sick of being that girl, and decided to just not be her, anymore. And I figured, 'If I can do that, Shinji should be able to, since he isn't nearly as bad off as I was.'"

"Rei, I… I'm sorry…"

"Well, you should be," retorted Rei. "I'm sick of this." She angrily stood up. "Whether you like me or not, that girl you seem to be longing for is gone, Shinji. For better or for worse. So you'd better get over it!" This time, it was her turn to stalk off.