They cleaned the apartment thoroughly, vacuuming floors, dusting surfaces. Asuka scrubbed the bath and beat the floor mats out on her modest balcony, while Rei scoured the kitchen of any grease and grime that had accumulated since Asuka had last performed that chore (which, she was ashamed to recall, wasn't since she had moved in). Rei had no real experience of proper cleaning, Asuka had been to her apartment at Nerv and been appalled at a) how dirty it was, and b) how messy Rei could let it get without actually having any possessions to cause the clutter. So the young German gave her careful instructions about what she was supposed to be doing, then left her cleaning the kitchen sink. After an hour, she decided to check on Rei's progress and was more than a little concerned to find an absolutely spotless (and veritably glowing) sink, but no other work done. When she'd entered the room, Rei had looked up from polishing the already gleaming taps, with a look almost of hope in her eyes, as if she desperately wanted to be praised for doing a good job.
Asuka had bitten her tongue (with just a little difficulty) and patiently explained that Rei should be a little less thorough and a little more speedy at getting through the various jobs. After all, she reasoned to herself, Rei had never had to clean before. Gendo had obviously never thought it necessary to stress the importance of housework towards his young creations, and Rei had been absent from school so often that classroom cleaning hadn't ever been an issue for her.
This is all new to her, thought Asuka, she's learning as she goes along, so getting angry with her wouldn't be productive in the slightest.
Fortunately, Rei seemed to be a fast learner. When she checked again half an hour later, the blue haired girl was buried in a cupboard with a duster and some polish and had almost finished with the kitchen. And what was more, she seemed to have done a fairly decent job of it.
They carried on cleaning the rest of the apartment, Rei dusting light fixtures, Asuka carrying out the rubbish, Rei cleaning the kotatsu, Asuka rearranging the furniture. At last, at half past six, Asuka flopped back on a chair and swiped her brow with the back of her hand. Rei stood before her, clutching a rag in her hands and looking awkward.
"Good job, today," Asuka told her, "you really got into the swing of things!"
Rei looked mightily relieved.
"Thankyou Asuka," she replied and smiled tentatively.
"Right," said Asuka standing up again, "I'll let you have a bath first."
Rei nodded.
"But don't be taking too long, Maya will be here soon, and I don't want to greet her looking like this!" She indicated her grimy face. Then she giggled. "You look like you've crawled through a dust making factory!"
She was right, Rei had smudges of dust all over her cheeks and forehead and the clothes she had been given the day before were covered also.
"You're dirty too..." Rei pointed out to Asuka.
"I guess you're right," replied the German, looking at her grubby hands and smiling. "I didn't realise how dirty I'd let this place get." She sighed happily, feeling cleansed after the work they'd done, even though she was so filthy. "Right, you," she said spinning a startled Rei around. "Bath!"
While Rei occupied the bathroom, Asuka searched for fresh clothes for her new companion (washing her hands first, of course). She left them outside the bathroom door for Rei to find when she exited, then went and flopped back down in the living room, to wait her turn. They had flung open all the windows and the air that wafted through the house felt fresh and wonderful to breathe in deeply, quite soon Asuka fell into a happy doze.
When she opened her eyes again, Rei stood over her, holding the fresh clothes to her stomach. Other than that, she was completely naked. Her blue hair hung in damp strands around her shoulders as she leaned forward slightly.
"Asuka?" she said quietly, "I've finished in the bath."
Asuka groaned.
"You're going to have to stop walking around my home naked, you know, Ayanami?" she muttered.
Five minutes later she was in her own bath, soaking luxuriously. It was unfortunate that she had so little time, she could have easily stayed in the bath a good hour or so, but as ten-to-seven arrived she reluctantly got out and began towelling herself dry. She did so quickly, wanting to be ready before Maya arrived at seven, swiftly moving from her body to her long red hair.
As the towel buffeted the sides of her head, she failed to hear a knock at her front door. When she straightened and checked how she looked in the mirror, she did hear Rei pad past the bathroom door, but thought nothing of it. She had just begun attacking her hair again with the towel, when an ear-splitting scream made her freeze.
Oh my god! she thought, She's seen her already!
She wrapped the towel around her quickly and dashed out of the bathroom. This wasn't how she had planned it. Asuka had wanted time to prepare Maya for the return of the first child, to talk to her calmly on her doorstep before reintroducing the pair in her living room. Heck, it would still have been a shock, but it would surely have been better than this was undoubtedly going to be...
The scene that greeted her in her entrance hall was like a tableau from a waxwork museum. Rei stood in the middle of the hall, having retreated several steps from the doorway in shock at Maya's reaction to her. Her eyes were wide and her hands were bunched in the front of the dark blue T-shirt that Asuka had given to her to wear.
Well, what did you expect? Asuka found herself thinking, in exasperation of the blue haired girl.
Maya still stood, frozen, outside the open door. Two bags of groceries lay at her feet where she had dropped them, a single tomato had escaped and was rolling across Asuka's doorstep. Maya's hands were held to her mouth, only partially obscuring the look of terror on her features, eyes so wide Asuka thought they might drop out of her head.
The former lieutenant drew a breath, ready to scream again, but Asuka rushed past Rei and clapped her hand over Maya's mouth before she could.
"It's okay!" she cried, "Maya, it's okay, she's not here to hurt you!"
Maya shook her head violently from side to side, mumbling into the German's hand. Tears were starting in her eyes.
"Rei!" said Asuka, sharply, drawing the frightened girl's attention, "Could you go into the living room and wait for us there, please?"
The blue haired girl nodded and retreated swiftly. Her disappearance did little to ease Maya, however. She turned her terrified gaze on Asuka, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks.
"Asuka..." she breathed.
"I'm not going to hurt you, either. You're safe Maya, nothing bad is going to happen."
Maya collapsed against her, sobbing into her shoulder. Asuka put her arms around her friend and stroked her hair as she wept.
By now other people from her apartment block were appearing on the entrance gangway, attracted by the scream, each of them looking worried at the weeping woman that Asuka held. Even one or two people in the street below had stopped what they were doing and were craning their heads towards the pair.
"It's okay, she's just had some bad news," Asuka told them, "it's, er, a family member, you know?"
She pulled Maya into her apartment and closed the door, breathing a sigh of relief. Then she sat them both down on the step and held her at arms length. The tears did not lessen.
"You're going to have to get hold of yourself now, Maya," she said sternly, "I know you've had a shock, and I'd hoped you wouldn't have to, but weeping like this is not on."
The former lieutenant looked at her with tear-stained, and still slightly shocked, eyes. Asuka wasn't sure quite how compos mentis she was, but she didn't look like she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown any more, so that was a small positive. Ibuki drew a shuddering breath.
"R-Rei..." she began, "I saw Ayanami-san..."
"I know," replied Asuka, "now don't go off on one, but... she's here. She's back."
Maya drew another frightened breath.
"She's... here?"
"Yes," replied Asuka, nodding, "she's not here to do any harm, she's not here to hurt anybody, May–"
"Oh my god – Fourth Impact!" whispered Maya.
"NO!" said Asuka, forcefully. Maya looked momentarily taken aback. "No," repeated Asuka, more gently this time, "I don't think she could do that, even if she wanted to. She's just a girl now, Maya. She's just Rei."
Maya looked at her ex-colleague and her previously wild eyes gained some focus. Then she looked down.
"Asuka... did you really go outside dressed like that...?"
The young German looked down at the towel that was still wrapped around her, barely covering her various charms.
With
the howl she let out, it was a wonder her neighbours didn't batter her
apartment door down to save the inhabitants from being murdered.
Twenty minutes later (and having apologised profusely to her neighbours for the disturbance) a fully clothed, under control Asuka sat uncomfortably at her kotatsu. Rei sat at her left and Maya at her right, and while the former lieutenant couldn't seem to take her wide and wary eyes off the fourteen year old in front of her, Rei didn't seem to be able to look up from the hands that were clasped in her lap.
"So, that's how it is," Asuka was saying, her eyes darting from one girl to the other, "I've decided to have Rei stay here until she can get on her feet and fend for herself. We're intending to look for work for her in the next few days. I was hoping you could help with that, Maya. Maybe check to see whether anything is going at your company..."
She glanced back to Maya, who neither indicated that she had heard nor, in fact, moved in any way.
"Maya...?" said Asuka.
"Mmmm? What?" replied her friend, more than a little – well, no, really very – distractedly.
"What do you think?"
"About what?"
"About everything," sighed Asuka.
"So... she's not here to remake the world?" asked Maya, tearing her eyes away from Rei's down-turned face, at last. Asuka sighed again.
"We've been through all that..."
"Well, if she's not here to start Fourth Impact, or to get revenge on all of us, then what is she here for?" said Maya, almost angrily.
"Why don't you ask Rei that," replied Asuka.
She supposed that her friend's reaction was not at all unexpected, or even unjustified, but the way Maya was acting still riled Asuka, somewhat.
Can't she see that Rei is no danger to her, or anyone else? she thought to herself, She hasn't made one threatening gesture since she arrived!
Of course it was going to take a lot more than that to convince her, Asuka knew that. Maya had been through a lot, just as she had. It would be only natural for her to focus her feelings of anger and loss upon Rei, but Asuka also knew such vitriol would be unfair if vented upon the blue haired girl. Rei didn't pull the trigger that killed Ritsuko and she wasn't solely responsible for the remaking of the world. She might have formed the bridge between this world and the LCL, but even that wouldn't have happened without manipulation from Gendo and complicity from Shinji. Rei alone could never have caused Third Impact. Asuka had long since come to the conclusion that they were all responsible, Maya included. After all, her work could have done nothing but hasten Gendo's twisted plans and therefore the arrival of the subsequent terrifying events.
Still, try telling that to someone who's lost the only person they ever loved because of those events.
"She killed doctor Ritsuko," said Maya, her pretty features beginning to twist of their own accord into an expression of intense dislike.
"No she did not!" cried Asuka, angrily, "Gendo did that, and you know it!"
Maya gritted her teeth and looked away. Asuka could see the beginnings of tears glistening in her eyes, but at least the hateful look had gone.
"I was not a real person," said Rei, startling Asuka and causing Maya to look back, eyes sparkling. The blue haired girl was staring at the surface of the kotatsu. "I was a fake soul born into an artificial body. One of many and none of them."
"Rei..." began Asuka.
"I was created solely for Commander Ikari's plans; to bring back his dead wife."
"You think that excuses what you did? All the people you killed?" shot Maya, bitterly.
"Maya!" warned Asuka again.
"The ones that were taken by third impact are not dead, they are in the sea of souls. The ones that are not came back."
"Not all! Not all came back! Doctor Ritsuko didn't come back, did she? She wasn't in the LCL and she didn't come back!"
"I am sorry for the ones that died, but I am not responsible for that," said Rei, suddenly looking directly at Maya. Her gaze caught the former Lieutenant like a trap. "If you wish to hate me even so, you can."
This took Maya by surprise.
"Hate you?" she flustered, "It's not a matter of hate... I'm just saying... you don't understand..."
Asuka decided to step in.
“She doesn't hate you, Rei, but you have to understand what you represent to her. She associates you with the loss of the person she loved.”
Maya opened her mouth in astonishment, but before she could speak, Asuka had turned to her.
“I know it still hurts, Maya, and I know you've had a shock, but I won't let you attack Rei because of that. We're every bit as much to blame as she is for Ritsuko's death.”
Maya closed her mouth again. In her eyes, Asuka saw the hurt her last comment had caused.
“I'm sorry,” she muttered, “but it's the truth.”
Maya gritted her teeth and looked away, but then nodded.
“So will you help us?” asked Asuka. Maya turned and looked at her directly. Her eyes were hard.
“Even if I did, do you seriously expect to be able to take her out in public?” she asked, “If you think my reaction has been bad, it'll be ten times worse for her when there's lots of people around. They all know who she is, Asuka, just like they all know you and they all know me!”
Asuka groaned internally. How other people would react wasn't something she'd even considered. Maya was right, the collective terror of the patrons at the café yesterday was enough to prove that. People were still people, after all.
“Worst case scenario,” continued Maya, “she'll get lynched. Brave new era or not.” She banged the flat of her hand on the table, leaning forward. “And you and me would be nowhere near enough to protect her from that.”
“You would protect me?” asked Rei, a look of curious surprise filtering through the girl's usual blank expression. Maya was taken unawares and disarmed by the question.
“Well... I... I wouldn't just stand by... it's not like I'd want you to get hurt...”
Maya trailed off, looking frustrated. And, despite the gravity of the topic, Asuka found herself smothering a smile at the nature of the former lieutenant. She was still basically a good person, despite the horrors she had endured.
Asuka reached out a hand, placing it over Maya's on the table top.
“Thankyou,” she said.
Maya sniffed, avoiding their eyes, but she didn't take her hand away.
“I don't like violence,” she stated quietly.
“I
know,” smiled Asuka.
Their grumbling stomachs soon put paid to any more talk and Maya retreated to the kitchen with her groceries to cook them some food, leaving Asuka and Rei alone at the Kotatsu. They sat in an uncomfortable silence (at least it felt uncomfortable to Asuka; Rei, as always, seemed unconcerned by the lack of conversation) until Maya returned with three steaming bowls full to the brim with delicious looking Ramen.
“Good job I took you at your word when you said bring lots,” Maya stated as she set the tray she was carrying down and handed a bowl each to the two girls.
She sat in front of her own bowl, but rather than picking up her chopsticks, she placed her hands flat on the table on either side of her bowl and stared at it.
“I have one question,” she stated. “And before you protest, Asuka –“ for Asuka had indeed opened her mouth in preparation for a defensive rebuke “– I'm not going to ask why you're helping her, or how you know she's not lying, or even what you hope to achieve by taking her in.” She held up a hand, as angry words bubbled up in Asuka's throat. “I'm not asking you that, Asuka. But I do want to know, why did she come to you?”
She looked at Rei. A hard, direct look that brooked no evasion. Evasion was not on the blue haired girl's mind, however. She stared right back at Maya with her deep red eyes, not a trace of emotion showing on her face.
“I came to Asuka,” she replied, “because she is special to me.”
Asuka could feel the flush creeping on to her astonished face. She struggled to come up with a reply that didn't misinterpret the former eva pilot's words –
It was a misinterpretation, wasn't it? To take it that way?
– or a reply to make light of them, or simply any kind of response at all. Unbelievably, her mouth could only work silently, not a sensible word coming out of it.
Maya, on the other hand, seemed satisfied. She nodded, curtly, and picked up her chopsticks. A moment later, she was attacking her Ramen with a will. Rei, for her part, looked down at her food, her face unreadable. Asuka couldn't think what to say.
“Eat up,” said Maya, making Asuka jump, “before it gets cold.”
And
although she didn't look up from her food, Asuka thought she saw just
the hint of a smile and an odd twinkle in Maya's eye.
The food finished, Asuka, made them all coffee (Rei's black with one sugar, Asuka's black with two and Maya's white without). The mood had eased considerably, and a small amount of conversation was managed. No further mention was made of Rei's situation, or of third impact, or of any of the hurtful events in their shared past. Eventually, Maya took the dishes out to the kitchen to wash, leaving Rei and Asuka alone at the Kotatsu. Before another uncomfortable silence could mount, Rei spoke up.
“Asuka...?”
The young German looked at her friend.
“What Maya said...” she stopped, then started again. “What you said...”
“Rei –“ began Asuka, but the blue haired girl shook her head, stopping further words. She looked distressed, conflicted.
“No matter what you say, Asuka... Third Impact couldn't have happened without me... why do you... why did you agree to help me?”
“Because you asked,” replied Asuka, simply.
They lapsed into a far more comfortable silence, Asuka sipping at her coffee, Rei simply staring at the surface of the Kotatsu. The German studied her friend as she drank. Was it her imagination, or was there a look of... contentment on Rei's face.
Before she could decide for sure, Maya's voice floated in from the kitchen.
“Asuka? Is this a new sink?”
The redhead choked on her coffee.
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