Hello everyone, this is my first attempt at a Shinji/Nnoi story. I absolutley fell in love with this couple and i think they deserve a little angsty love just like everybody else. So here is the first chapter of A Penny For Your Thoughts. Read, review and enjoy!

~~ A Chance Encounter~~

Working night shifts at El Dorado was the worst. Not that I was ungrateful for my job or anything - which had been pretty hard to come by, as crappy as it was- but serving drinks in a dimly light, crowded bar with flashing strobe lights and smelly drunk losers wasn't exactly how I liked to spend my Friday nights. Worse than that was the fact that every guy in the place thought it was cool for them to put their clammy hands on the servers, like me. You name it, they had grabbed it and/or tried to hump it. In fact, if I could get through the night with just a couple smacks to the ass and lewd gestures from the smelly mob, it had been a good day. The other servers bitched more about the low wages and crappy tips from customers but that didn't bother me as much as those slimy touches. Over the years, I had prided myself on being able to feel relatively numb towards others; The sort of aloof apathy that allowed me to ignore lewd phrases and the leering stares that came with working at a bar. In fact when I came to Karakura, one of the first things Shunsui, the bar owner, told me to do was hide my immense displeasure for human interaction. The look that I had on my face was "Cold enough to freeze the tits off a snowman" according to him. And since I'd spent most of my childhood trying to 'please' others, it had become second nature for me to adapt to what he wanted; So I trained myself to smile more. Flirty smiles, happy smiles, pouty smiles, I learned them all and wore them like a smooth mask. But at work, the way those creeps looked at me, those drunken leers and their sour breath on my neck made my skin crawl and bring back the kind of filthy memories I'd been trying to push away for years. More than once I had ran from the floor, hyperventilating in the storage room until someone came in to calm me down. So why work in a sleazy bar like this one where I was expected to take on pervy advances? Because at the end of the month, I still had a rent to pay- which I was already two months behind on- I was in danger of being evicted and the bar tips helped me stay afloat.

El Dorado was a hole in the wall place on the corner of 151st street and Wabash Ave in the poorest, dirtiest part of Karakura Town. From the bumbs in the back alley to the hookers on the corner, we were a sleazy bar for a dirty good time. During the day, El Dorado was still a bar but at night it doubled as a strip joint for all the high rollers of the slums with deep pockets and dirty little fantasies. And it was just my luck to be working the floor every night for the rest of this month in the strip club where the real sleaz balls stayed. On the bright side, the guys usually kept their eyes glued to the stage back where there was enough bared skin and topless chicks to keep everyone very entertained but sometimes their attention got diverted to the servers. And who could blame them? Why strain your eyes at a stage where you knew your chances of getting lucky with the dancers was almost nonne, when there was fresh meat walking past you ever five seconds? It didn't help that Shunsui made us wear these tiny little black shorts that cut off about two inches under our butt cheeks and rode so low I was surprised my pubes stayed covered. The tops were no better either: skin tight, white wifebeaters with El Dorado printed in thick black letters across the chest. Did I mention they ended right above your navel? There was no doubt in anyone's mind who worked at the bar that we were all on display.

Shunsui made it especially clear on training day that we weren't just selling drinks, we were selling ourselves (sex sells, right?), hence we needed to play up our assets. The smirk he had given me during that little speech didn't go unnoted. After getting mobbed by a bunch of guys asking about the 'hot blonde piece of ass' working behind the counter, Shunsui had been quick to put me on the floor for the rest of the month. Apparently, my chin length blonde hair was such a hit that he had even begun to beg me to consider stripping for him, to which I vehemently said no. Being naked in a roomful of guys who wanted to eat me alive didn't exactly put my nerves at ease nor stop the hyperventilating; and Shunsui would be pissed when I ran off stage half way through my act. A little extra cash would have been great if it was thrown my way since I knew I could work the pole as good as anybody but it wasn't something I bragged about; it made some other servers, like that effeminate brat Luppi a little jealous. Anyway, most nights my customers tended to be overly touchy, gross and absolutely repulsive but always attentive. So imagine my surprise tonight when I find a clean cut, lanky man with shiny long black hair that made my fingers itch to run through it…and he was totally unaware that I had been standing there for five minutes.

"Oi," I hollered over the blaring music so he'd actually look up, which he doesn't. "Oi! Yah buyin a drink o' what, mister? 'Cause this aint no nappin spot."

The man braced himself on his forearms and leaned up, slowly to reveal a strikingly sexy face that made my brain short-circuit. His arms were long and wiry, muscles bunching threateningly underneath his black Metallica t-shirt with long legs that disappeared underneath the table far past where the I could see. Then I noticed his eye, the iris gleaming a hazy violet that probed my body hotly, making me want to dive right in. But strangely enough a white bandanna completely eclipsed the other in a deep sloping sash.

"Yo…Sunshine," he rumbled, deep voice cracking like thunder as his head lolled back onto the booth chair with a thump; but the words barely registered since I was focusing on the way his inky black silk hair fell across his wide shoulders. "Gimme two shots o' tequilla but none o' that frilly shit."

"Shot huh?" I muttered breathily, seriously considering flirting for the first time in this bar without being utterly repulsed by the recipient. "Yah sure yah wanna start out with the hard liquor, big boy?"

"All shots, straight up, no chaser. That's how I roll Sunshine."

"That all you want?"

"That…and a little piece o' mind," he stated, turning his head to the side to look at me so intensely I froze for a moment "but I doubt you got anything like that behind the counter."

Nearly stumbling on my own feet as I backed away and he watched me retreat, I felt something flutter in my chest curiously, making me frown. I didn't like the feeling. Moving quickly to put some distance between us, I put in his order, leaning against the bar for a minute to settle down. My emotions towards men had a three degree spectrum: complete disgust, pleasant tolerance or a means of quick sexual gratification. The last of those feelings was rarely experienced, usually spurred on when I woke up from one of my night terrors that left me breathless, painfully hard, and aching for a release to take my mind off the shameful memories still fluttering in my head. So how was it that I was feeling that familiar burning sensation starting in the pit of my belly right now… Why was I feeling breathless all of a sudden? Shinji Hirako turned the world upside down, shook people up, not the other way around. So why did I feel like he had snatched my breath away? Shuhei slapped the shots down on my tray and I jumped, startled out of my thoughts to wheel around with a smile plastered back on my face like a mask. On the way back -deeply immersed in my shaky feelings- I passed three men two tables down from the tall man, who was now peering at me with a curious tilt of his head, and they began the routine of dirty 'compliments' which I ignored. We locked eyes across the floor and once again I faltered, standing still as his eyes roamed my body like he was inspecting me, looking for something very important. It was the strangest feeling in the world like his fingers were roving under my skin and I felt pulled towards him, my feet moving of there own accord, lips falling open to say something, anything…until someone reached out and grabbed my arm, whipping me around fluidly.

"Hey sugar, how come you aint servin us tonight?" some swine slurred haphazardly, probably trying to sound sexy but just coming across as gross.

"Sorry baby, but I've already got a customer," I said nodding towards the tall man who now raised a brow at the scene and running my fingers down his arm. "A payin customer. Yer gonna have to find someone else fer tonight."

"I'm a payin cuztomer too, so wazz he got that I aint got?"

"I don't know I aint seen all o' yah yet" I teased but put a hand in his chest when he leaned closer "And I aint tryin to tonight. Sorry."

Turning, one of his friends stood, blocking my way. "Who said your fine ass could leave yet? We werent done talking." Moving in, the man's wet tongue grazed my ear as he whispered "I bet you get all the guys askin for you, right? Well we aint that easy to blow off…but yah can sure try." The third one sneered, hand snaking out to sneak up the leg of my shorts. His sour breath coupled with the sudden squeeze to my ass made me snap. The gross touch reminded me of those nights in my childhood, the smell of sweaty man and beer that made me feel like I was drowning in sin. Snatching his arm and twisting it behind his back, a dark look slipped on my face and all three guys froze as I bowed my head low, conscious of the fact that Shunsui would be pissed if he saw me treating customers so harshly.

"Look you drunk assholes, no means no so if yah need a helpin hand, go jerk each other off in the alley. Now chill the fuck out and watch the rest of the show before I snap your arm, okay?" I ended darkly and they all nodded. With a bright smile, I batted my eyelashes and walked off with extra wiggle even though I wanted to puke. "By cuties!"

By the time I finally made it back over to the tall man, he was lounging in his chair, long legs spread obscenely, eyes squinted like the room was too bright but still looking at me and as I reached to put down the tray he snatched up a shot and knocked it back.

"You alright with dudes touchin you like that?" he drawled, slapping a twenty on the table and momentarily distracting me from his hazy eyes, my inner server making me quirk a brow and lean in closer.

"A paying customer is still a customer, even if he don't have any manners," I smiled half heartedly to flirt with him "As long as they're payin, I'm at their service."

"…So does that mean yer fer sale too?"

"Fer a couple more of those," I nodded to the twenty and cocked my hip, letting the strobe lights strike my belly button ring till it sparkled. "I'm whatever you want me to be."

Taking the other shot, he slid over in the booth and gestured for me to sit as he slapped down three more twenties. With a flutter of butterflies in my belly and a moment of apprehension, I put on my sexiest smirk and sat, draping myself over his long legs but surprisingly he pushed me away. "A penny for your thoughts, Sunshine, not your insides."

Eyebrows shooting up, I felt the zing of rejection race up my spine. It was an odd feeling. Usually if I wanted a guy, I got him; if I wasn't interested, I passed by him like a spring breeze, completely uncaring of his intentions. My tongue clucked in irritation and I backed off. "What ever you say, big guy. And it aint Sunshine, the name's Shinji. Hirako Shinji."

"Shinji, Shinji, Shinji…kinda rolls off the tounge ne…"

"That aint the only think I can make roll of mah tongue," I tried again, suddenly anxious to get some sort of reaction out of him. But the bored expression I got in response only reinforced my previous dejection.

"So Shinji," he buzzed staring off into space "how much do you think your soul is worth?"

"Whoa, you the devil o' somethin?"

With a barking laugh he answered "Nah not at all, but I'm sure as hell gonna meet him one day and I wanna know how much my soul is worth before I lose it."

"The way yer talkin, it kinda sounds like you already don't got one…"

"You're one to talk."

"Excuse me?"

"Sorry Sunshine but when I look into your eyes I don't see a lot of soul," he stated with a coolness that pissed me off.

"I think yer smashed outta yer mind."

"Maybe," he quipped then turned to bore me with a soul burning stare than had me pinned to the seat, "But you see your friends over there, the customers? Even they got some soul in 'em. I can see it in their beadly little eyes, the tarnished piece of shit they call a soul swimming behind their drunken stares. And they fuckin love that shit, they'd kill for it, sell their mother for it. They got some emotion and every time they look at you Sunshine, they're searching fer somethin in yer eyes that's just as hot, just as precious as they think their souls are. But they aint really lookin at yah o' theyd know aint nothin in there. Those big, pretty hazel eyes o' yers aint windows to yer soul, they're the openin to a bottomless pit that I would hate to fall inta."

As I listened to his words, my hands shook and my body felt oddly cold. His speech struck a cord in me that singed my heart, the accuracy of his statement surprising. Was he really the devil, to see through my fake smiles and forced laughter so easily? I knew how I must look to other people. Beautiful, flirty, a little slutty and always playful. Light hearted even. They didn't need to know the fire that raged underneath my skin late at night, the burning shame that stained my life and I fought so desperately to subdue. Recognition of pain meant pity and I didn't want pity. I didn't want anything in this world but to make it through another day without flinging myself off a cliff 'accidentally.' How could he possibly see so much in me that people I had know for nearly half a year never picked up on? Yet, right after my baffled fear came anger. This jerk was a nobody, another piece of scum off the streets but here he was making me feel uncomfortable in my own skin. The private little bubble I made for myself was air tight; I didn't need anyone in here with me especially if they were uninvited.

"Look mister," I seethed slowly, "I don't know where yah get off talkin to me like this or what the hell you're on right now but if yah think I came here just fer yah to piss me off yah can take yer money and shove it right up yer-"

"Jiruga," he cut me off suddenly.

"What?"

"My name. Nnoitora Jiruga. And I wasn't tryin to piss yah off Sunshine I was just makin a simple observation. Guess I was right though…" he trailed off dazedly. "Its been a while since I've seen that sort o' vacant look on somebody who aint strung out or suicidal. I mostly only see that shit when I look in the mirror."

"…I see," I frowned as I blurted out my next question before I could stop myself. "Which one are you: suicidal or strung out?"

Nnoitora suddenly stood, a wide grin splitting his face that made my insides crinkle heatedly. Holy shit, hes tall as fuck! What an asshole…an incredibly sexy asshole, I thought, checking him out as he sauntered out of the booth and turned to leave. "I guess I'm a little bit o' both Shinji. Just like you."

"Hey I aint no druggie or suicidal yah giant! Clearly yah have no idea what yer talkin about. And by the way yer people skills are fuckin shot!" Like a moth to a flame, I stumbled out of the booth following him to the back exit. Though I was annoyed by his presence, I was intrigued by his disturbingly accurate description of me and wanted to hear more. By the time we reached the door, he had swerved and nearly keeled over three times and needless to say I was a little worried about him. "Dude, yah cant leave like this, yer completely wasted; and yer bandanna's coverin yer eye, fix it!"

"Well yah said it yerself, that tables for drinkin not nappin and I'm shit faced," at my deepening frown he smirked crookedly. "Don't worry cutie. I'm a big boy, I'll get home just fine. Shit, I could probably get their blindfolded and hoped up on angel dust" With that he turned, stumbling out the door and running his fingers along the brick wall like it was the most amazing this he'd ever seen in life. Humming weirdly as he went.

"Nnoitora!" I yelled over the music and traffic outside of El Dorado. "How much is your soul worth then?" Nervously biting my lip, I got the feeling that his answer held the weight of the world on its shoulders.

A sudden frown overcame his face as he glanced back at me and stopped cold. "Che. I'm not really sure I do still have one…my soul's probably blacker than those scum in yer bar. But I know fer sure it aint worth the price of another man's life no more…wish I could trade it back." he growled sadly an walked off without another word.

Standing in that doorway, I felt exhilarated, confused but fearful that he would never come back to El Dorado so I could ask him what he meant; that he would never come back and make me feel as alive as I had tonight, which was more than I had felt in years. A penny for my thoughts, huh?… Then how much are you gonna pay for warping my entire fucking mind? I thought, gripping the doorway tightly before backing back into the swallowing darkness of the barroom floor with a prayer on my lips that we might meet again.

I really like this story in my head but if no one else is feeling it, i guess this will just be a one shot kinda thing *tearful frown* If enough people want more, i'll put up the next chapter so gimme a heads up if you think i should continue, okay! See you next time! (maybe?) lol