Time for Chapter Three…Boy, I've been writing pretty quickly for me...Which means I'm enjoying this fanfic, hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it, I've been updating a whole lot of my stories lately.

By the way, the chapters are named after certain poems I've written...and at the end of each chapter instead of an omake or something, I have the poem...Most of them fit with the mood of darkness in Evangelion, though not necessarily Evangelion-linked.

Anyway, enough of the Author's Note, let's get it started in here!

Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or its characters. Gainax does, and they rock. Who else could create both Evangelion and FLCL!

Tokyo 3, Japan

Kiriyama Sanitarium

Shinji Ikari watched in utter disbelief as the young woman in the black kimono roared, sending hard slash into the creature that toppled it down back into the rubble.

She spun around and Shinji got a good look at her face as she landed.

She seemed rather slim and slender, with short black hair and delicate skin.

Not able to digest what had happened, his eyes flitted back to Misato, who lay limp and unconscious in his arms and then back to the woman.

"Who're you!"

She strolled by him, sheathing her sword and not paying any mind.

"Hello! Who are you!"

Suddenly she stopped, her back stiffening and she turned with a dumbfounded look at Shinji.

"You can see me!"

She paused, ignoring Shinji's confusion and scratching her delicate chin.

"This is strange…ordinarily no one should be able to see me like this…"

"What're you talking about?"

She ignored his confused voice and stared intently at him, nodding to himself.
"Very well, I shall tell you…I am…a Shinigami…"

"Shini-what!"

She ignored his response, Shinji already getting a bit irritated by this strange haughty-toned woman, and looked around the crumbling sanitarium carefully.

"More of these messengers are coming…It would be a good idea to run…I'll tell you what I can."

Meanwhile, beneath the rubble, the massive creature groaned, a piece of the white mask covering its face crumbled away by the woman's sword slash slowly reforming.

Shinji…SHINJI IKARI! THAT SCENT! THAT SOUL! UNMISTAKABLE! I have been searching for it for a long while…

Shinji stared unblinkingly at the sword-toting woman in black, suddenly wishing he'd stayed in withdrawal after he'd heard her ludicrous fairy tale.

"So…you're a Death God…who…came all the way from a place called 'Soul Society' to vanquish evil spirits?"

She nodded slowly, as if it were the most normal, understandable thing in the world.

He continued on, speaking slowly.

"Which means that the messenger earlier was…an evil spirit?"

"They…they are from Lillith….You know them as 'Angels', an ironic term…some are seen, most unseen by mortals, except the most powerful kinds…"

Shinji raised his tired brow, responding.

"And…they attacked us?"

She nodded, smiling at the idea that he was comprehending.

Shinji broke into laughter, slapping the ground angrily and suddenly feeling the urge to bail the hell out of there with Misato before this maniac spun more mental illness. Hell, she was probably a patient who broke out in the attack!

"Who's in the sanitarium again!"

She frowned angrily.

"You fool, you can see them but you refuse to believe in the existence of what I have told you!"

Shinji looked away, laughing.

"I've seen them before…I fought them long ago…But I've never seen these Shinigami you speak of, or evil spirits or any of that. They were…enemy targets, that's all."

Kawuro smiled serenely as the large Evangelion hand grasped him, tight enough to stop escape, but not too tight as to break his skeleton.

"Ah Shinji…I am glad. Thank you Shinji."

"Kawuro!"

"I wished you to take Unit 02 from me, otherwise I may have survived much longer"

"Kawuro…Why?"

"It is my destiny to live forever, though it will destroy the Lillim. However it is possible for me to be killed, and whether I live or die makes no great difference. The one thing you Lillim have never been able to grasp, is death maybe the only absolute freedom there ever was."

"What are you talking about Kawuro! I don't understand this!"

"This is my last wish, Shinji. Destroy me. Otherwise you will be destroyed. The life that escapes the time of annihilation, and that obtains the future, is only one and, you are not the one who must die."

Shinji looked down, his entire body shivering.

"Shinji? Why do you hesitate? You need the future. It is what you live for."

"Kawuro…."

"Thank you. My life was meaningful because of you…Goodbye"

The woman in black's angered voice interrupted these pained memories.

"Well, you're seeing me right now!"

Shinji sighed, taking Misato's limp arm around his shoulder and shaking his head in exasperation.

"Give me a break!"

She growled imprudently, then smirked.

"Don't believe me? Well then…"

Shinji raised an eyebrow as she reached one hand out towards his chest and shouted.

"Wave of Binding, number one!"

Suddenly, a burst of energy surging through Shinji's body and he gasped, letting go of Misato and falling prostate before the woman in black, onto the ground, feeling like every muscle in his body was seizing.

I…can't…move…My…arms!

His arms contorted so that they were around his back as if handcuffed invisibly, and he fell onto his stomach in submission, gasping in surprise.

The creature, the Angel stared from within the rubble, its regeneration almost complete, the sickening smell of the souls close by growing minute by minute.

The light of your soul…A sacred territory in which no one may intrude! But I will invade and devour it, Shinji Ikari! It pulses with delicious strength…Your A.T. Field…

The young woman smirked, staring down at Shinji's paralyzed form.

"Just leave this to me…Mortal…"

He grunted angrily.

"What did you do!"

She smirked in that haughty superiority that was already getting on his tired nerves

"You can't move…This is Kido…the Demon Arts…"

Shinji strained to no avail, gasping as he tried to move his arms, his nerves not responding, his body felt cold and heavy like stone. Finally he sighed, ceasing his writhing while she continued gloating.

"…a noble magic that can only be used by a Shinigami…A death god…"

She sneered, adjusting her kimono and glaring at him.

"Normally I'd eliminate you…But it just so happens that I'm forbidden to harm people that I'm not ordered to…Be grateful…And while I'm here…"

Suddenly she reached for her hip, drawing the katana at her side and raising it over her head in Shinji's direction.

Shinji flinched suddenly, shutting his eyes in pained resignation, waiting for the blow to come.

Asuka…

It never came…and slowly, he opened his eyes.

The woman in black had shifted over to the nurse's corpse, and above it hovered an exact duplicate of the nurse that had taken care of unresponsive Shinji all these years, except she was translucent and glowing with an ethereal light.

The nurse's spirit stared at the woman in black, cowering over her own corpse.

"Please no! I don't want to go to hell!"

The woman smiled kindly, shaking her head.

"Do not be afraid, your destination is not hell…It is Soul Society."

She slowly placed the hilt of her blade over the nurse's forehead and it began to glow.

"Unlike Hell, it's a relaxing place…"

The nurse gasped in what seemed to be utter and total release, her ethereal form slowly vanishing into the ground.

Shinji's eyes blinked.

Once, twice, thrice.

Can't be…real?

"What…did you do to her!"

The woman smiled slightly, not looking towards him.

"I sent her to Soul Society…In your language you'd call it 'going to Heaven'."

She quietly slid the blade back into its sheathe and explained as one would explain phases of the moon to an elementary school child.

"That is one of a Shinigami's jobs…There two spirits, those that are known as the pure of soul, the Pluses, and those that have been corrupted, the 'Angels' as they are known to you or the Hollows as we more appropriately term them. We have two jobs, one is to lead Pluses to Soul Society through the Soul Burial I just used…and the other is to kill Hollows and purify them…You experienced a massive resurgence of powerful Hollow souls after the event you called Second Impact…yet the majority of the stronger ones were annihilated without our assistance."

Shinji grit his teeth, confused and helpless.

"And why are they after me!"

The Shinigami simply shrugged.

"I…don't know…Even we do not understand their full goals…"

Suddenly, the ground shook with a roar and the creature burst out of the rubble, flinging rocks and stones across the ruins.

Shinji wormed his way to cover Misato's limp form with his own, but the Angel sent one large clawed hand down and sent him flying, grasping the older woman first in his clawed fist.

But first…an appetizer, Shinji…

The Shinigami rushed forward, swinging her blade in a flying leap at the Angel, whose massive form rolled nimbly away, roaring and swiping its open paw at the Shinigami, who was just barely dodging.

Shinji growled, watching helplessly on the ground.

"Hey! Dammit! Misato!"

A rush of air around him and he saw the Shinigami fly from a swat the Angel had delivered, a direct hit, the woman however managing to roll onto her feet, blood streaming from the corner of her lip.

Shinji growled and gasped helplessly, struggling and worming his body forward towards the Shinigami who stared at him with widening eyes.

"Stay back!"

"Misato!"

He gasped in pain, struggling farther across the rubble.

The Shinigami's eyes widened even more and she gasped to herself.

"He's moving even under the Kido magic!"

Putting away her momentary shock, she stared at the Angel holding Misato helpless in its hand and then flitted back to the squirming Ikari.

"You're in my way…Move!"

Ikari's only response was a roar of pain as he somehow drew himself up to his knees, his arms trembling as he tried to break free of the paralysis, his body burning with strain and agony.

She gasped in worry and surprise.

"Don't! It could never be broken by human strength! If you force it…your soul can't survive that…"

Shinji's cooking were interrupted by soft sobbing. At first Shinji reached for his face, thinking he had been crying without himself realizing it, as he often was these days. Yet his face was mostly dry, and on closer inspection, he realized the sound was emanating from Asuka's room.

Shinji slowly inched his way towards the closed door and then froze, sweat dripping off his brow. He remembered the last time he had tried something...she had been having these nightmares for weeks it seemed.

The Third Child nodded to himself as if silently affirming something and then began to slowly and silently open the door, as if he hoped Asuka would be asleep and he wouldn't have to do anything.

The opened door revealed Asuka silently dozing on her bed, her eyes red from tears, but evidently sleeping and not cognizant of Shinji's intrusion.

Shinji smirked to himself, glad that he hadn't actually encountered anything and spun around to leave when his foot caught on something and slammed him down on the ground.

Shinji swore silently as Pen-Pen skittered off after accidentally tripping him. Then he noticed where he was lying.

He was on the ground and his face was inches away from Asuka's slumbering countenance, so close that he could almost feel her warm breath on his face.

Shinji stared at the face and blushed deeply.

She was like an angel in slumber, even when she was so teary-eyed.

He could stare at it for hours, yet he knew it was time to do something, mainly flee as fast as possible before she woke up, or...

In a fit of bravery caused by a mix of empathy and hormonal passion, Shinji slowly edged his face closer to the beautiful face in front of him. Each second as he drew close seemed like an eternity.

But finally their lips touched, and Shinji drank in a light yet satisfying peck on her lips, fully expecting to die when she woke up. But he was in peace now, and would be willing, he told himself, after that.

Suddenly Asuka moved her face closer, her eyes still closed and clamped her lips onto his, responding in a deep kiss, which sent Shinji in a biological frenzy and almost gave him a stroke as he felt her tongue slashing against his lips and her slow pleased moans.

Suddenly the Second Child's eyes opened wide like some demon's, and she stared at the face in front of her wildly.

"SHINJI!"

SHINJI SHINJI SHINJI SHINJI

"Asuka…Misato...I won't let you die..."

Shinji let out a shattering roar, wrenching his arms away from his back and rising with a scream, turning to the Angel which sent a roar of its own back.

The Shinigami gasped.

"A human dissolving Demon Magic on his own!"

Before her confusion could be satiated, Shinji had leapt forward and grabbed a metal folding chair from the rubble, charging full speed at the Angel's form.

The Shinigami couldn't believe his foolhardiness.

"No! You idiot! Wait!"

Misato moaned, wondering why she was floating in the air…by herself…

And why Shinji was rushing below her with a folding chair.

What…in the hell!

She could feel something holding her, but she couldn't see it, it was as if the air itself had pressed into her chest, holding her still.

"Major Katsuragi, your report!"

Gendo! Gendo! You…bastard…Never cared about your son…never…

Misato Katsuragi screamed as the shimmering form of the Angel was revealed to her for the first time and she simultaneously glimpsed Shinji rushing in to attack. A foolish maneuver.

"Shinji! No!"

Shinji hadn't any time to respond to Misato's shriek or the massive fist batting his foolish charge away and sending him slamming into the ground.

"Misato…"

The Angel let out a predatory roar, its massive fist reaching down for Shinji's form.

Ikari quickly rolled out of the way with a pained gasp.

That's gotta be a rib at least…

Just as he did so, the Shinigami hurtled forward, her sword drawn in a flash to slice open the arm holding Misato, sending the Angel roaring in agony and retreating with a leap into the night air and Misato hurtling dangerously down towards the ground.

Shinji gasped, sprinting forward and leaping just in time for his body to intercept her impact, gasping as he felt her form collide into his already pained body.

"Misato…"

The Shinigami glanced at the two, sighing as she searched for any sign of the retreated beast.

"Don't panic, her A.T. field is intact…her soul is fine…"

"Really!"

She nodded, a serious look dawning on her face.

"Yeah…I see it now…It's seeking souls with high spiritual power…Wait…That's it!"

Shinji glanced at her in confusion.

"What…do you mean? What's it?"

"I don't know why, but until just now your soul was subdued to the lowest level…So I didn't sense anything from you, and none of them attacked you…until now…"

She paused, looking grim, then continued.

"It's just a guess…but the pulse that was sleeping inside of your body, the pulse of your soul, the light of your soul…it was awakened earlier today…"

Inside his padded, gray enclosure, Shinji's cerulean eyes flitted up to the padded cell that enclosed him, both figuratively and literally, speaking two quiet words.

"Unfamiliar…ceiling."

All the years that Shinji Ikari had tried to escape from in the madness, all those memories, of her, of what happened, they finally caught him in this deranged marathon called life.

He let out an unearthly scream, something surging in his body as he felt nothing but her. HER! HER! Her essence, her smell, her smile, her laugh, her eyes, her face, her touch, her clothes, her legs, her voice, her heart, her soul! HER!

"Asuka..."

He screamed.

Shinji's cerulean eyes widened in pained shock as the female continued.

"This creature…sensed your strength here, it sensed your field…It's after you!"

He gasped, choking out the words as if they were razor-sharp daggers.

"They're…after…me…"

Suddenly, the ground shook with a roar and the creature burst out of the rubble, flinging rocks and stones across the ruins.

Shinji wormed his way to cover Misato's limp form with his own, but the Angel sent one large clawed hand down and sent him flying, grasping the older woman first in his clawed fist.

He rasped out the words in disbelief and then cold conviction

"After…me!"

Asuka fell to her knees, the explosion rocking the street as Shinji rushed towards her with wild eyes.

The creature grasped her in its fist, shimmering with strength…The 19th Messenger…

Suddenly, the ground shook once more and the Angel burst out again, its arm still damaged but its fury apparently heightened far more.

The Shinigami turned towards it, gasping and motioning towards Shinji.

"You go, run!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

Shinji shook his head wildly, falling to his knees and slid up against the ground, trembling, limp, and his back against the wall as he clutched his face, ripping into it with his fingernails, shedding blood.

The Shinigami stared in bewilderment as the Angel stomped laboriously towards them.

"What're you doing!"

He sobbed, an oddly tinted fluid that was obviously a mix of his tears, sweat, and blood flowing down his face.

A brilliant glow surrounded the cowering young man, a glowing human form radiating him, the form of a young woman with brilliant eyes.

"Asuka…"

Shinji Ikari rose, the blazing feminine form behind him seeming to fuel a new fire in his soul, and his eyes, oh his cerulean eyes, now swirling with a look of defiant anger.

The Shinigami stared at the trembling young man, feeling a surge of power coming from him that she could not comprehend; however, he simply rose resolutely, posing her with a simple question

"You're saying…it attacked because of me!"

She raised an eyebrow, frantically glancing at the approaching beast.

"What're you getting at…"

He laughed, an empty pitiful noise and screamed his response.

"It's…my fault! My burden!"

Shoving her aside, he roared, charging full speed at the Angel, which as if anticipating this, moved forward with its claws outstretched.

"Hey! No!"

The Shinigami gasped as Shinji stopped defiantly in front of the Angel, clenching and unclenching his fists and speaking in an empty tone.

"Hey…you want me, don't you?"

The Angel only responded with an echoing roar and reached out to rend the former Third Child apart with its claws.

Shinji closed his eyes, awaiting the final blow.

It never came.

A dripping noise, a pained…female gasp?

He opened his eyes, which widened in shock as he glimpsed the Shinigami grasped in the claw of the beast, having intercepted the blow meant for him.

She gasped in pain, blood dripping from her shoulder and arm and falling in a thick pool onto the ground.

Roaring, the Shinigami strained against the Angel, slashing at its arm and then leaping forward to send a heavy blow at the white mask on the angel's face.

It stumbled backwards, a heavy part of its mask falling to the rubble, though the Angel quickly covered its face and shrieked in bestial agony.

Meanwhile, the Shinigami fell to the floor, gasping as blood poured from her wounds, toppling onto her knees as blood stained her black kimono and hakama.

Shinji's eyes widened, his rage forgotten, only feeling an emptiness and worry as the Shinigami finally fell in a pool of blood onto her belly.

"Shinigami!"

More hurt because…of my weakness…

She shook her head, gritting her teeth from what seemed like obviously intense pain, spitting out the words as blood dripped from her delicate attractive young face.

"You…fool…You should know…that you're…nothing against that…"

She groaned, painfully trying to use her hands to push herself back up to her knees, blood dripping down her arms.

"Or did you think it would all end smoothly if you gave it yourself! A sacrifice! Fool! Don't you value your life at all?"

Shinji turned suddenly, startled by a sudden shriek, the Angel clutching its face and dropping its massive arm.

He could see it now, the lower quarter of the fierce, bestial white mask that covered the head of the Angel cleaved off…to reveal…an eerily familiar smirk.

Death By...

Wring my neck, smother my soul

I know in truth, you hate me, hate me, all.

All of my cursed body and mind

You'd smash them all, if you could find

A way to discard your foolish conscience

Stick that knife in my gut

Break my skull, deepen the cut

Hang me until I scream and scream

Rip me apart at my very seems

Slice me, cut me, choke me, kill me, please

Ignore the screaming, ignore the crying

Strangle, smother, crush, flay

But in the end, I'm not afraid of dying

Because pieces of me die everyday.

Copyright Sanbud Tehrani

Things will be getting very interesting…

I love crossovers, if you've seen the greatest crossover fanfic ever, my insanity, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Madness.

For Memento Mori however, worry not, it will only be Evangelion crossovered with Bleach, and you don't necessarily need to have seen Bleach to follow along, so don't fret, stay on for the ride…

You'll be surprised how I link the two series deeper as we go along…It'll be fun hopefully, see you next chapter.