EMPTY SPACES OF THE SOUL

Rei breathed in deeply as the side car was jutted again causing pain to her rear as Shinji sped down the dirt road that led to Asuka's house. Granted it wasn't far off one of the main roads but it was well outside of Tokyo three and though you could join the main road it still seemed so far away as it was inside rural land and there were rice fields all over the place.

Maybe Asuka liked to look at the city at night or some thing as even from this distance the lights looked beautiful. Her thoughts were cut off as the side car jutted again causing pain she eyed Shinji as she adjusted the goggles and helmet. "Slow down your hurting me here!" Shinji turned giving her a smile. "You said you wanted fast!" Rei narrowed her gaze. "Where is this house anyway, there's nothing but fields how does she live out…!?" Her next words were cut as they swerved to avoid a huge green tractor, which was making it was down the worn out path if the road was bad nothing compared to how much her body hurt as they sped over the grasslands before slamming back down on the dirt road.

Shinji looked at his sister. "Its Asuka we are talking about here, she's not a people person!" Rei breathed in deeply. "Are we even close to it?" Shinji shook his head. "Misato said that we would know it when we saw it, she said she only saw it when Asuka moved in that was three years ago."

Rei felt them slow down but only slightly. "Oh so she's been here, yet none of us have not once, I find it annoying that Asuka always fobs us off with excuses as to why we can't visit." Shinji looked up catching sight of a house it was the only one and it looked like an old farm house but it had clearly had work done that was really modern, the roof had dark tiling the outer house wasn't white but dark in colour. There were glass windows in the upstairs and downstairs and a large garage add on. The front yard had garden which was filled to bursting point with sunflowers and there was even parking for another vehicle outside the garage, granted both his and Rei's apartments were modern but he had never even thought about buying an old rural house and doing it up this way.

He brought his motorbike to a stop in the parking area watching as Rei jumped out wincing painfully before taking of her helmet and goggles okay maybe her thoughts on the side car were right, maybe he needed much better padding, he eased of his helmet putting it on the handlebars. Rei up her helmet in the side car as she walked up the garden path granted it wasn't that big but it was stunning with all its sunflowers as they were all in full bloom.

She blinked realizing that there was a metal screen where the door was and a machine sensor. They had this on their apartments as well which explained Asuka's keys as she had the special sensor on they key which the machine would read before it would open the metal screen and then you could put in the door key in. She eased up the black key putting the end inside the machines sensor hoping it was right one as Asuka had two. She watched as the numbers appeared and a clicking sound was heard the huge heavy metal shutter flew up as a wooden door came in to view. She eased the key out putting it in the door turning it feeling it open which was such a relief as they both went inside closing the door behind them. Shinji eased up his hands clapping them though the light didn't come on through movement or sound like at his home. "No automatic lights."

Rei caught sight of a panel inside the hallway where you could hang your coat which was lit up in red so you could see it in the darkness. She could see muddy work boots soaking in water and a thicker winter coat hanging up. "Oh I get it's all runs on an IDHS." Shinji eyed the panel. "What do you mean by IDHS?" Rei eased up the second key. "It means it's really specialized and it turns on certain things when you get home it's like an AI which you program to suit your needs. IDHS means intelligent, digital home system. You should stop being so old fashioned and get one fitted, there so helpful." She stuck the yellow key in she was really fascinated to see what would turn on as these things were so personalized.

Toji had one in his apartment and it had been so fascinating to walk around he had said that Mari also had one as well inside her skyscraper apartment. She turned the key hearing the wiring as everything suddenly came alive and all of the lights turned on and the curtains opened giving a view of the city lights in the far off distance.

Shinji blinked eyeing the house in front of him which wasn't Japanese's in the slightest as all of the blinds had been pulled out changed for walls and doors everything had been remade to look more like European house there was a large kitchen area which had a black granite board surface and a wide front room with a leather recliner and two seat sofa as well as a wooden and glass coffee table.

He looked up seeing a flat screen television lower itself from the ceiling turning on as it moved in position so it was in front of the recliner, it instantly turned on playing something while a special coffee maker in the kitchen started up as it made coffee, all of the inside was painted in relaxing subdued colours.

Rei smiled as she looked around. "Talk about missing home, this place looks more like Asuka's grandmothers house back in Germany, well you know with out all the super modern stuff." Rei eased the key out walked over to the TV seeing that it wasn't playing as such but had brought up a list of things of interest the idea was that you spoke to the screen and it played what ever you wanted and it could pause, record and copy things elsewhere. "Sports, music, movies, series, cat videos…this is quite an interesting list."

Shinji stepped closer to her. "You know you shouldn't tamper with that, we are here to feed her cat not to go through her things." Rei stepped away from the flat screen. "Well then let's find her cat." She caught sight of a two doors one led to the garage while the other led outside and had a cat flap while there was an opening to the upstairs.

There were various engineering magazines for cars and motorbikes but they were tossed around on the coffee table like she had read them but gotten bored of reading them. Shinji went in to the kitchen eyeing the now smoking coffee which was sitting in the machine ready to be drunk, though he had no intention of drinking it as German coffee didn't appeal to him and Asuka drank it strong. He opened the large fridge which was filled to the brim with food, most of it junk food though there was a whole section which had all German food. While one of the lower shelves was filled to the brim with German and Japanese beer and lager he groaned inwardly it was like being in Misato's fridge all over again he really hoped that Asuka had not picked up her habit of a morning beer to start the day.

He looked around at least it wasn't really messy though like Misato's apartment had been, himself and Rei had always ended up cleaning up her place as kids. There was a sense of something not being right though it was the way things were tossed around it was like boredom or frustration of some kind.

Rei walked up the stairs seeing a long hall way with three large rooms she opened the first which was the bathroom only to close it again. She moved to the second seeing a bedroom come in to view as interesting as the front room was the bedroom was always the most interesting in terms of people it was more private and personal, the room had a large window which over looked the city.

There was a VR helmet sitting on the double bed which had a wooden frame again it hadn't been put away but lazily thrown there. She could see a long mirror for getting ready and lots of shelving and cupboards for clothes and a book shelf filled with books both in, Japanese and German though it was mostly regarding mechanics.

She picked up the VR head set she had one of these they were, where you could view the World Wide Web and talk to family if you wanted have a more private conversation away from your computer or phone, but they could be used for video games and simulations as well. Asuka's had to be for video games, she turned on the visor slowly putting it on, okay it was rude to pry but she was curious. She watched it went from black to shimmering colours only for a naked woman to appear on the screen in a very sexual position she suddenly didn't feel so good and now she regretted even putting on this helmet, because one thing about VR's head sets was that they tapped in to your brain and made the sensations feel very real. The woman moved towards her touching her and she felt the sensation instantly she yanked the head set off almost in panic, switching it off wishing that she'd even touched it. It wasn't that she hated the idea of a woman touching her in that manner, she just hated make out sex on VR head sets with a passion because they messed with your head.

Nothing about them was real, not even the person you were having sex with and anything was better than them including sex toys, why would Asuka even have one of these things anyway? True it was no secret that Asuka was bisexual but in the past she had gotten dates easier than any of them, yet now she was reduced to this unreal stupid sex simulation.

Asuka's sexuality had never caused anyone to blink an eyelid as same sex marriage was considered a social norm in over a hundred and eighty two countries now including all of Japan. She eyed the head set again if Asuka wanted this she could go out to a club and get it.

She looked around her, maybe she was missing something obvious here but she just couldn't wrap her head around Asuka being so withdrawn this way, it was just strange because she's always been so outgoing in the past when they were younger. She looked up as Shinji appeared poking his head around the door as he spoke. "Did you find her cat?" Rei stood up dropping the headset on the bed. "No, she's not up here."

She adjusted her trousers as she walked towards him. "Just all her clothes but we should pick some of them up she might need them in the hospital." Shinji eyed the VR headset. "Was there anything interesting on her VR headset?" Rei tensed slightly. "No…just private e-mails, I shut it down." Yes that was a lie but she wasn't going to tell her brother what was really on it despite that she didn't like the idea of Asuka getting of on sex simulations what she did in her personal time sex wise was her own business.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Shinji opened the door to the final large room stepping inside realizing that he was suddenly in a cave of wonders as there were book shelves filled with computer games all lined up and ordered as well as comic books and graphic novels there were also model kits on display along with a separate small area where she painted them and two computer chairs so she could move in between desks.

There was a large desk with a computer gaming unit which had a keyboard and mouse as well as a controller and normally the VR would be here to be it was in her bedroom. This was a purposely built games room, all the rooms had images here and there but in this room had a huge wall scroll with unit 02 on it on its side wall, it was literally the only thing of her unit in the house and it was here of all places.

Rei looked around wishing now that they had been able to visit at least once because she loved the idea of playing these games and using her games machine. "What a collection, I mean some of these are old game are conversions."

Granted ninety percent of games were streamed now but some people liked to port twenty century games and older but they had to put on a special disc and as it was difficult to do it and it was expensive as these games had to be done in batches. Again though there was something not quite right about the room it looked like it hadn't really been used in a while as one of disc cases sitting on the desk was dusty and the modelling desk had no current kit on it to be painted. Shinji put his hands in his pockets. "Let's check the garage and the kitchen again I mean I saw a cat flap near the back door." Rei breathed in closing the door, Asuka had never really liked sliding doors but personal she found the entire idea of doors to every room really strange.

She watched as Shinji opened the garage door she caught sight of the empty space which was clearly for Asuka's motorbike which was cruiser like her brothers but with a much faster engine, she'd seen her drive in to work on it countess times it was a very plain looking thing and not that colourful just a toned down grey.

There was something though on the far side of the room that was large and covered with a blanket and there were all manner of tools lying around. This was Asuka's hobby at least this was the one they all knew about as she liked to tweak engines so they ran smoother or faster she had even helped Shinji with his bike a year ago she had just brought him the extra parts and fitted them so it was a smoother ride and she'd asked for nothing in return even though he'd tried to pay her it.

Rei moved over to the cover, she knew it was wrong but she was desperate to see what was under there. Shinji looked up sharply. "You know you shouldn't touch that she's obviously working on what ever is under there." Rei felt a sly smile form. "Yeah right like I'm not going to look, I always knew that cruiser wasn't the real deal and just her get to work bike, its way to tame for her."

She pulled the cover off watching as a black monster of a motor bike came in to view it had huge tires and thick black and red plating. Granted all bikes and cars ran on power cores but this thing was soaped up to the max. She breathed in feeling her heart race. "A Trident X309." She looked over seeing that this monster could go even faster than her sports bike it had a long planed glass and a huge front but what made it interesting was how you sat in it, you sat low in it like in a chair as it had a backrest made of pure leather and because of this it had a huge wheel at the back and least one other person could sit on it.

What made the Trident bikes so special though was the three core engine it meant a lot less charging and dangerous amount of speed she felt bad for doing it but she eased her leg over sitting in the seat putting her hands on the handlebars. "This thing can go so fast I mean how did she even get hold of this? I can't get hold of this the waiting list is two years long for it, I mean I have the money for one but I can't even get a second hand one because everyone wants one and people even pillage second hand ones for the engine and parts because their so top of the range."

Shinji breathed in deeply. "Well it didn't come from her step father or step mother maybe her grandmother poked the German Nerv division or something, I heard the other divisions like to spoil pilots, they give them perks for good behaviour because they represent their county." Rei lay back against the seat. "Yeah and yet our father doesn't spoil us at all he just ignores us." Shinji narrowed his gaze. "Tell me about it? I mean I wouldn't even want this death trap of a bike but something would be nice you know for the fact that we risk our lives on the Evangelion program and have been doing for years." Rei looked at him sadly. "You know if mother was still alive she'd give it to us she did nothing but love us, he never cared about us to him we were both throw away items and as soon as our mother died he put us on our grandparents doorstep."

She took in a painful breath trying to hold back the sting of her own tears. "You know I just wanted him care, you know just once." Shinji moved forward putting an arm around her. "I know Rei I know, just remember its not you it's him." He held her close he had tried so hard to protect her ever since they'd come to Nerv when he'd been fourteen and she had been thirteen but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't protect her completely from Gendo and he responded very differently to them both.

To him he threw out insults about not being man enough to do what was needed to done and he'd gotten to the point of just shutting off to these insults. What ever his father said didn't define him as a person but to Rei he was much crueller he treated her like she wasn't there and never faced her when talking to her, it was cold indifference. He knew why it was there it was because she looked like their mother she had her dusty brown hair and green eyes this was no fault of her own though and didn't deserve Gendo's hatred.

He gave her a gentle kiss on the head. "I mean we have our own homes now, our own lives, we are away from him." He heard a low meow behind him he turned watching as a short haired tortoiseshell cat appeared looking at them with its large pleading yellow eyes it was a rather odd looking little cat as it had a chewed up right ear and pointy teeth. "Ah there you are been we've been looking for you." He eyed his sister who breathed in as she wiping her eyes of the tears. "What's her name?" Rei got off Asuka's bike watching as the cat came close rubbing against her leg. "She called Erika it's German."

She leaned down picking the cat up who just seemed happy for the attention. "Hello there you must be missing Asuka." She watched as her brother pulled the sheet back over the Trident. Shinji leaned over stroking the cats head it was clearly very friendly even if did look a little beaten up. "Let's get you some food ha, you know just until Asuka's grandmother gets here then she can feed you full time."

8

There are distant voices so distant yet close it feels like being in the void there's just nothing in this place but darkness I remember the tank and being pulled out, did I pass out? Yes I did, because I hate being that deep in water the sensation is too much for me. "Wake up!"

Asuka turned seeing Bardiel in the shadows again moving on his huge clawed feet. "If you don't wake up I'll give you the real sensation of drowning because I will fill your lungs up with your own blood so that you'll really choke." Asuka looked at him for a long moment he had to be a dream he couldn't be real. "I am real now wake up!"

Asuka felt the pain as she opened an eye but found she couldn't open the other one at all, it remained in blackness as she stared up at the white ceiling of what had to be the hospital wing. It hurt every time she took a breath her right arm was heavily bandaged along with both her legs which were up in the air and she had a breathing mask on.

She closed her only good eye again feeling the pain as it hit her fully it was just plain awful. "Asuka?" She heard a voice causing her to slowly turn realizing that Misato was seated beside her with concern in her eyes as she stood up she eased up her only good hand pulling the breathing mask off. "Misato."

Misato leaned over putting her hand on the younger woman's face. "How do you feel?" Asuka narrowed her good eye. "Like Scheisse." Misato breathed in she'd never been so happy to hear Asuka swear in her whole life because it meant that she was very much herself. "I'm so happy you're okay for a moment we all thought we'd lost you." Asuka raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been here?" Misato leaned against the bed. "All night its early it's five am the others will start coming in soon and they want to see you."

Asuka spoke despite that every word hurt "Don't bring Mari here." Misato shook her head. "She's not coming down here Asuka I've already punished her for what happened and some one from Nerv's British division is going to come down here and kick her ass, I know because they told me that her plane is going to be landed in an hour or so." She put a hand on Asuka's good one. "I promise you I won't allow Mari down here while you are recovering."

Asuka looked at her. "How bad is it, what did I break?" Misato looked down sadly there really was no point in keeping this from her. "You shattered some of your ribs, both your legs and your right arm were broken and there was a fracture in your spine and you had internal bleeding and part of your gut had been pulled out Maya and her team fixed that first." She looked up slightly. "Then they reset your legs and corrected the broken bone and fractures. They're going to put you on some of the best drugs to help you heal faster and plenty of pain killers." Asuka breathed in painful. "My left eye?" Misato took in a deep breath she had not been looking forward to this moment telling a woman this young that she could be blind was not easy. "Your eye it's very badly damaged, we think you might have lost your sight in it but it's too early to tell, I'm so sorry Asuka this was my fault I just wish I had gotten Shinji and Rei there faster."

Asuka looked down sadly. "Please don't blame yourself it was my fault for stepping into that stupid UN Alpha test unit, didn't think it was going to suck me into the core like it did and I didn't think that Mari would get such a kick out of stabbing me in the face…that hurt so much." Misato took in a deep breath squeezing her hand tighter. "If you do loose your sight in that eye its not the end of the world I mean we can fit you with a robotic one they're really good you can't even tell the difference."

Asuka shook her head. "No really I'm not up for that…" Misato gave her, her best smile. "Your grandmother is also flying in she'll be here very soon." Asuka breathed in deeply. "She's flying in from Germany?" Misato leaned against the bed. "Yes as soon as she heard she was on a plane over here, she's said she wants to see you and take care of you and look after your house until your back on your feet and walking again."

Asuka tensed as something important drifted in to her mind "My cat…no one fed my cat!" Misato put a hand on her arm. "Don't worry I took care of that I had Shinji and Rei go around to your house and feed your cat just until your grandma gets here." Asuka eyed her for a long moment. "You know if they touched anything in my house other than my cat they're both dead." Misato leaned closer. "Now there's the Asuka I know, I have not seen her in a while." Asuka breathed in leaning back on the pillow closing her good eye she wanted to go back sleep everything just hurt so much. "She just pops in from time to time…but the world is still better off with out her."

End of part 3

Silvermoonlight