It was an average day at the headquarters, one that nobody would ever suspects something being off. Asuka was lying comatose on the couch, Rei was bleeding into her cereal, and Shinji was sitting alone in a corner. Kaworu, wearing tight black vinyl hotpants and a seethrough white crop top, strolled casually into the room and seemed concerned with Shinji, so he stepped over.
Suddenly, without warning, Shinji jumped up from his corner and faced his fashionable lover. "Kaworu-chan!" He exclaimed, grinning ear to ear, finally prepared to share the exciting news.
"What is it honey baby?" Asked Kaworu as he jutted his hips out to the side and threw his arms out to embrace the other. Shinji, blushing cutely and covering his face with his hands giggled and looked away for a second, before peeking out through his dainty fingers.
"We've got a surprise coming..." he cooed.
"A surprise?" Kaworu asked, curious. "Oooh! Did you get me that pink silk shirt we saw at the boutique the other day?"
Shinji pouted. "Yes...but...that's not the surprise..." He walked closer to Kaworu and snaked his arms around his neck, embracing him closely. "I think we're going to be daddies."
"OH MY GOD," Kaworu shrieked, "are you serious, baby cakes?"
"Yes!" Shinji squealed and held him closer. In a fit a joy, Kaworu lifted his love up and spun him around, flowers bursting open around their feet. The sweet laughter filled the kitchen air.
"Oh, Shinji," he sighed as he placed him back on the floor. "We'll have to buy him some Versace booties for him." Suddenly, he looked down and his voice turned serious. "It will be a boy, won't it?"
Shinji giggled, tickled pink at Kaworu's excitement. "I hope it will be a boy...no...I'm sure of it! We have to be optimistic."
"Oh Shinji, always the optimistic one." Kaworu sighed happily and smiled. "Oh my...we'll have to tell everybody as soon as possible!"
Too happy with each other, they embraced again. Shinji buried his face against the chest of his sweet hunk of man meat and sighed a sigh of happiness too. His life was so perfect. He couldn't wait to break the news to his father and best girl friend Misato.
Holding hands, their fingers intertwined, they went to tell Misato about the new baby. Shinji stepped on clouds, lost in his joy; Kaworu swung his hips in a saucy manner as he thought of all the fantastical designer clothes baby-chan would have.
Misato was thrilled to hear the news!
"SHINJI! I always knew you would be a good father!" She cried, spilling her beer all over the fancy carpet. Shinji sat there and smiled, so so touched at the words...he wiped a small tear out of his eye with the tip of his delicate finger.
"Oh Misato," he choked. He broke down and started crying, this was all too much! He had never been this happy, he simply didn't know what to do. Kaworu's arms, thin and white like a line of cocaine off a hooker's stomach, wrapped around the hunched shoulders in a comforting manner.
"Shinji...Shinji, don't make me cry too, I'll smudge my mascara. I ran out of the waterproof kind..."
"I'm sorry Misato..." Shinji sniffled, wiping away his tears. "I'm just so overwhelmed. You're the kindest person in my life right now."
Kaworu nodded in agreement. "You've been such a mentor to us, Misato. Always cheering us on. We want you to be the godmother. Will you?"
Misato gasped, thrilled by the request. "Shinji-chan, Kaworu-chan!" Rivers of tears ran down her soft pink cheeks, touched that they thought of her in such a way. "Of course I will! I want to be a part of your baby's life!"
They all sat in blissful silence, beaming at one another. Their joyful expressions just seemed to say "pass the smiles!"
Kaworu took his arms away from Shinji's shoulders and waved his hands frantically. "Ooh, ooh! I'll just have to throw one of my famous fancy dinner parties to celebrate!"
"Oh you must!" Misato squealed. "Maybe if we're lucky, Rei will play her guitar for us again!"
"I just love that smooth jazz and blues!" Shinji added.
"Maybe since it's such a grand occasion," Misato added, "She'll even play The Big Rock Candy Mountain in honor of the baby!"
They all shared a hearty guffaw.
"Time to break out the booze!" Came the cry, and suddenly a few cases of various beers were dropped in front of them. "Let's enjoy the moment!"
Absolutely up to the idea, Kaworu tore open a case and pulled out a beer. "Misato, you're so stylish, I always feel like I'm at a fancy wine and cheese party when you throw these kinds of festivities!"
However, while the two laughed and started to drink, clutched his chest and seemed uneasy. Lashes shaded his eyes and he glanced down. A hand touched his face.
"Shinji-chan? What/s wrong, have a beer!" Kaworu encouraged him, his glittery nails stroking down the cheek of his boyfriend.
"But...but, I hear alcohol is bad for babies..." Shinji stuttered, "What if I hurt the baby!"
"Oh Shinji-chan..." Kaworu frowned, but smiled inside at Shinji's concern for their child. "Love muffin, you're the most caring person I know. You would never hurt our baby." He gently took the beer from the frail father-to-be's hand and looked up at Misato.
"Sparkling water for the man and his baby!" Kaworu grinned, knowing that Misato always had an array of fine beverages on hand.
"Right-o!" She got up from her seat and poured Shinji's drink into a champange glass.
"Thank you dearie," Kaworu replied with a nod and a wink. "Ooh, you know, kitten, most fun part of having a baby is thinking of a name!" Passing him the drink, he ran his finger's through Shinji's impossibly soft hair, excited at the prospect of thinking of a name. A name from the heart. A name that would show the world that their chunk of baby was an expression of their love.
Shinji was so glad they understood about his concerns, and he gratefully sipped out of his glass. He leaned into Kaworu's warm body and smiled softly. "Maybe we should consider some right now..."
Misato nodded eagerly. "Absolutely! So we can start calling him by name instead of "the baby"! Do you two have anything in mind?" Kaworu paused and thought for a second. "I want to name him Ai...the word for love, a love so deep as ours that he came from..."
"Oh Kaworu," Misato said softly, "that's so cute! I think that the name should be something fancy, to fit the clothes I know he'll be wearing." She gave a quick grin to the other two, the humor understood between them! Misato was such a card when she wanted to be.
Kaworu nudged Shinji and tilted his head, his snowy locks falling over his passionate eyes. "Sugar face, did you have any ideas?"
A silence. A shy smile.
"Kurtis."
"K...Kurtis?" Kaworu titled his head cutely, a quizzical look on his face. "What does that mean...?"
"I...I don't know," Shinji admitted, a slight blush of embarassment gracing his tender cheeks. "But for as long as I can remember, I've fantisized about having a sweet, sweet lovechild with the name Kurtis. It must have came from my subconscious...deep in my soul." He looked up at Kaworu, anxious to see his reaction.
The pale boy had no expression. His eyes were as cold as a bare ass on a chilly winter's night. Kurtis.
"Shinji..." He said, voice empty. "How could you. WHen you know about my past."
"Kaworu-chan...I, I don't know what you mean..." Shinji looked flustered and afraid at the sudden change in tone.
"Don't do this to me, Shinji. You KNOW. How could you even think about naming our baby that. ...KURTIS." Misato looked uneasy at this, and decided to leave the room as she didnt' want to interfere with a lover's spat.
Kaworu stood up suddenly, a glazed over look in his eyes, tremblign slightly. "All those nights. You know the pain. Why are you doing this to me."
"Kaworu! I don't understand!" SHinji cried at the top of his lungs, scared and suddenly so lonely. His eyes burned, and his vision blurred as salty tears poured down his anguished face. Like a small child, he went to go hold Kaworu and find solace again.
But he would not have this. "NO, SHINJI. I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS." The arms tried to reach him again. Kurtis. The arms, they were everywhere. Kurtis. Kaworu's mind was screaming, flashing on and off, the arms were coming to get him. Kurtis. Letting out a banshee like scream, he slapped Shinji and ran out the door.
"Kaworu," the boy cried hysterically. "Kaworu! Kaworu..."
Misato, hearing Shinji's loud cries of distress, rushed back into the room. "Shinji! What is it! What's wrong?" She quickly embraced him in a comforting hug.
"K-Kaworu...! He...he left!" He sobbed, his tears burning his cheeks like acid. "I-I don't know what I said..."
"Oh you poor thing..." Misato hugged tightly, trying to reassure Shinji. She knew he must have terribly confused, and she felt bad for hiding the facts from him. However, deep inside, Misato knew. Misato knew about Kaworu's past struggles, and why the name Kurtis brought such hurt to him.
It had been a warm summers day nought but three years ago. That had been when Misato had found Kaworu, living on only bread crumbs and his last shred of dignity.
Misato, pitying Shinji, told the tale.
Kaworu was the abandoned son of a shoe maker, his mother died of severe allergies and his father ran off with a cow whom he was having an affair with. Kaworu was left to fend for himself.
One day, as Kaworu was stumbling in the desert covered in scratches and sand, he collapsed. He cried a little, because he landed on a small cactus, but not much damage was done. A shadow hovered above his frail and forsaken body.
"who are you?" He asked hoarsely, squinting up at the figure, sun glaring in his eyes. The man leaned down to him and whispered into his sunburned ear.
"Kurtis."
Kaworu's eye's widened. "I've been waiting for you, Kurtis."
Kaworu's glance met the man's. He looked into clear, blue eyes, set against dark skin. This man was exotic...this man...was Kurtis.
"Kurtis." Kaworu hissed the name through his teeth. "Did you...bring it."
The man dubbed Kurtis nodded, his orange dreads flapping in the sunlight. "Yes. But you might want to take care of that cactus."
The boy with the snow-white locks looked down at his stomach, his soft flesh riddled with cacti needles. "Uuuughhh," he groaned, watching fresh blood tainting the sand he was kneeling down on.
"Allow me." Kurtis' soft voice rang out as the large man kneeled next to Kaworu and extended a hand. Kaworu cowered back a bit.
"It's okay." Kurtis reassured him, seeing his hesitant form. "I'm a doctor."
Kaworu looked doubtingly at Kurtis. "Fine," he mumbled, "but then, I need it. I muts have it."
"I know." His darkly tanned hand thrust into Kaworu's abdomen and grabbed at something; he twisted and gave a grunt and he tore his hand back out, bloody and dripping.
"JESUS CHRIST," screamed Kaworu in agony as he writhed on the ground, gushing blood and shaking violently. "WHAT DID YOU DO, KURTIS."
Orange dreads like flames covered up the swan lakes of his eyes and he dropped something onto the sand, standing there as a wind kicked up and blew his leapord print trench coat around him wildly. "It is dark." He looked down at the boy. "And I have killed it."
"I NEED IT. KURTIS. KURTIS." But the man was no where to be seen, only the sound of a helicopter could be heard far off. "KUUURRRTISSSSSSSSSSS!" It all spiraled out of control.
"And that, Shinji...is what happened."
By this time, Shinji's tears had ceased considerably. He was looking at Misato intently, listening as she told the tale.
"But...what...who...was Kurtis?" He asked, sniffling. He hadn't known. It had seemed like his lover had gone through so many trials and so much pain, and yet smiled all the time. Behind those saucy hips and bright white smile was the heart of a very trouble individual. And this hurt Shinji deep inside.
"We don't know," Misato answered, her head bowed, giving the room a dark atmosphere. "We...we have insider information that Kurtis may be part of a black market trade circuit that's located under Tokyo-3."
Shinji gasped. This couldn't be happening. Life was so perfect. He didn't want anything to ruin it. "What does Kaworu have to do with any of this...!" He cried out, demanding answers.
"SHINJI, CALM DOWN, HOLY FUCK." The woman's voice raised at a startling speed. Shinji cowered back. Upon seeing Shinji's trembling form, she sighed, and gave him an apologetic look.
"Look...I know you love Kaworu. But you have to know. You have to learn what Kurtis' organization did to him. It's the only way you'll understand."
Shinji felt so helpless, so lost. This was too much. Why didn't Kaworu ever tell him this? He thought they shared everything...and now...what could he do.
"Please Misato," he begged. "Please tell me. Please. Oh god." He fell into her lap and let out tears of frustration, of sadness. Misato calmly stroked the sprawled out boy's head.
"It is dark. And frightening. Are you sure, Shinji?" He nodded. He was ready to face whatever horrible truths he had to.
Misato let out a long sigh before speaking, piecing the words together in her head before they fell from her lips. "Kaworu was...special. Ever since he was young, Kurtis and his lackey's had been keeping a close eye on him, monitoring him. They were the true cause his parents were gone."
"What did they want from him?" He spoke barely above a whisper.
"Silence, you bastard, I'm getting to that." Misato said soothingly, looking out the window on the other side of the room. It was a beautiful day, but it was so terrible in this stifling room. "Kaworu was something of a medical miracle. He had a mysterious organ that served no life function to him, but caused him great grief as it was almost parasitic and constantly stole his life force. They knew this, and more...they knew the powers it beheld. The Fountain of Youth so many sought was not a fountain...no, it was this organ. It could used to create vials of liquid that could sustain anyone forever, and bring them back to their youthful vibrance."
"But, how? How did they know? I don't understand, Misato!"
"Don't you see, Shinji? They did it to him! It was all planned! He was a test subject! And now they HAVE IT. THEY HAVE IT. AND KURTIS IS USING IT FOR GAIN. But Kaworu still suffers. His life has been cut in half because it had already taken so much of his health."
A sharp, stabbing pain hit into Shinji's fragile heart. He sat up and stared at Misato, with pleading eyes and a gaping mouth. "no. No. Is he...Misato, Oh god...Is Kaworu..."
"Yes. He is."
"K...Kaworu is..."
"Yes, Shinji. He's a carrier."
Shinji stiffled a sob. It couldn't be true. He had heard it in legends his father told him when he was a wee boy, but he never in a million years would have believed it to be true. And never would he have imagined that the love of his life, the apple of his eye, the long to his cat.
"Why...how could it be..."
Misato sighed, hating to see Shinji in such pain, but he had to know so that he could begin to accept it. "It's true...his mother was raped by an Angel before Kaworu was born. The new organ was a result of that, as the Angels are immortal. It's their way of marking their territory. It grew inside of her, and when she become pregnant with Kaworu, the gene transferred into him. However, his mother was allergic to the organ, and died as a result. It didn't matter to Kurtis and his organization, however...the organ is useless inside of a woman. It only holds the gift of internal youth if it develops in a man."
Shinji gasped, as things slowly started to piece together. He looked at Misato, his eyes wide in shock and revelation. "That means...! Kurtis..."
"Yes...Kurtis is an Angel. It was planned way ahead of time. A long time ago, Kurtis' little club broke into NERV's files and discovered Kaworu's family's connection to us, and how Kaworu would be the 5th child. So they planned to rape his mother so that she would transfer the organ's genes into Kaworu and it would grow the youth formula."
Shinji sat there on the floor, staring at his hands limp on his knees. He thought over what Misato said once, twice, maybe even three times. But he couldn't deny anything, it all made so much sense. "oh my god." A cold shiver went up his spine.
"Shinji...do you understand? Do you understand now?"
"yes," he choked out, "Yes I do. I don't want to though, Misato! I don't want to! Why did this happen to me!" He held his head between his hands and bent over in a pitiful position. "I'm so sorry Kaworu, I didn't know...I didn't know..."
Suddenly, a thought struck him. Why did he feel so connected to the name Kurtis for the baby? How did he know this name? Was he connected to this without ever even knowing it...? Until he remembered...that night. That one fateful night so long ago when he was out in the park on his way home. The memories washed back, a tall man, a ride on his shoulders. He knew Kurtis. He knew now what he meant when he told him all those strange things he never understood at the time. But why was the name so special still...? He started to hyperventilate. Oh god. He realized it now.
"SHINJI. CALM DOWN." She laid a hard smack to Shinji's head. "There are more important matters at hand, whatever you're thinking about! Do you know how much danger your baby is in?"
Shinji caught his breath, and grasped his chest, ignoring what Misato said. "Mi-chan...does...does my father know about all this!"
He thought back to that time at the park, when the man he was sure was Kurtis took him home. Shinji's father had thanked the man. He wondered if his father, too, still remembered that night. Kurtis' organization had broken into NERV's files so surely his father must be aware of all of this! And Kaworu, too. But did Gendo know that the man he had so graciously thanked for bringing his son home was the Kurtis...? Did the people of NERV know what he looked like? Shinji shook his head, thinking that they were silly thoughts. His father was so loving and caring. There was no way that he would have simply let Kurtis go.
Misato sighed, tired of being the bearer of bad news. She popped the tab on a beer and took a sip before answering. "Of course. He didn't know until the organization broke into NERV. He demanded more information and I had to tell him, since I knew about Kaworu's situation."
"Father..." Shinji whispered, deeply troubled. What would become of Kaworu and his relationship?