Chapter 20

Shinji charged down the steadily darkening corridor. A brief thought crossed his mind as he ran.

While I'm fighting for my life in here, where the hell is mall security?

Shinji didn't waste time wondering because, at the moment, he really didn't care. All he cared about was catching up to the gang before they caught Misato. Shinji's entire being was focused on this single, all-consuming need. As before, Shinji's panic and desperation lent him extra speed and stamina. Moments later, Shinji rounded a corner to the end of the hallway. What he found made him more furious than he had ever been in his entire life.

What he found was a group of seven or eight teenagers, all apparently between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two, pushing Misato up against the wall and pulling at her clothing. Misato was fighting valiantly, but she was hopelessly outnumbered and outmuscled, and her clothing was beginning to tear. All of the boys were hooting lustily and shouting gleefully, anticipating an imminent gang-rape. With a loud bellow, Shinji threw himself at the boys, bowling two over and knocking one of them out as his knee contacted the boy's head.

"Shinji!" Misato gasped with desperate relief.

The other five would-be rapists turned their attention to Shinji. Several of them produced switch-blade knives. One of them put on two sets of brass knuckles. Shinji chuckled evilly and launched himself into the fray.

In a few minutes the fight was over. All of the gang members were lying unconscious on the ground, their hands bound with their belts and their weapons lying in a heap a few feet from them. Shinji had only suffered a few minor nicks and cuts on his arms from the knife blades. As he caught his breath, Misato stumbled over to him and collapsed heavily into his arms. Her shirt was barely hanging onto her body; hardly enough to cover her decently to get her out to the Corvette.

Shinji solved this problem by stripping one of the gang member's shirts off and handing it to Misato. She gratefully accepted the chance to cover up. Once Misato was garbed in this slightly ill-fitting shirt, she and Shinji left the maintenance hallway and rejoined the throng in the main mall corridor.

"Still interested in doing more shopping, Misato?" Shinji asked, his voice gently sarcastic.

"Just take us home," Misato answered quietly, her voice nearly monotonic.

"Yeah."

Shinji and Misato quickly navigated their way back through the mall and out into the parking garage. Soon, the Corvette's V-8 engine roared back to life and Shinji and Misato were on their way home. Once they were back at Misato's house, Misato retreated up to her bedroom and shut herself in.

"Are you okay, Misato?" Shinji called through the door.

"Just leave me alone for right now, baby," Misato replied, sounding both tired and shocked, "I just…want to be alone…"

"If you need anything, give a yell. I'll be in my room," Shinji said, trying to sound reassuring and gentle.

Give it a little while more, sweetheart, Shinji thought, as he sat down in his room, Then, I'll be able to keep an ear on you from anywhere in the house. I wonder what's bothering her so much about this time. I mean, even when what happened with Kaji was over, Misato wasn't as withdrawn as this. And Kaji threatened her life, for crying out loud! Did Misato have a bad experience with a gang before? Or maybe…dear God, of course. How could I have been so blind? Misato was nearly gang-raped in a place that was supposed to have security to prevent that sort of thing. That sort of experience is more than enough to make anyone feel betrayed and hurt. That's why she's shut herself away. She wants to be in her own space, surrounded by her own personal things, where she feels safe and in control of her surroundings. I know that feeling.

Shinji's own analytical thinking surprised him. He didn't realize that he had it in him to be such a good detective. A sudden stinging in his arms reminded him that he had wounds which needed to be dressed. He entered the bathroom, walked over to the sink, and washed out the cuts on his forearms.

"That's good," Shinji murmured, "These should heal in a matter of hours, thanks to my werewolf metabolism."

Something occurred to Shinji.

"I still don't have all the facts about my werewolf lineage," he realized, as he turned and walked out of the bathroom, "I don't know where my family comes from or if I get my blood from my father or my mother, or any of that. I need to know this. I want answers about my past. But who can I talk to?"

Shinji pondered his own personal question. Obviously, no answer was given, since he was speaking to an empty room. But ponder he did, and he continued to ponder until he saw that the sun had set outside.

"Perhaps a little fresh air will help me think," Shinji said to his reflection in the mirror. Then, he stripped off his shirt and pants and walked, naked, out onto his balcony.

Once there, Shinji looked up into the starlit sky and closed his eyes. He could feel the moonlight on his face, warm as the sun. It called to him; a wild, untamable, yet hauntingly beautiful call. He heard the song of the wolf in his ears. It urged him to surrender his humanity to the allure of the night.

Shinji arched his back and flexed his shoulders, feeling his human flesh give way to the wolf within. Shinji felt the wild rush of power that made him want to howl at the moon that was his strength. However, he fought down the urge to howl, not wanting to draw the potential attention of any other werewolves who might be in the surrounding area. He had learned from some of the printed files that he got from the Moonwatchers that werewolves can hear each other's call from as far away as five miles over open land. Obviously, in a city, open land wasn't exactly a consideration, but a howl could echo through the standing buildings in a canyon effect for, Shinji estimated, about a mile and a half.

Shinji breathed deeply of the night air. As before, he relished the freshness of the gentle smell of the cool, evening breeze. And also, as before, Shinji detected a familiar, sweet scent on the breeze: Rei.

So, Shinji thought, she was here, after all. It wasn't just a dodge to get out of going to the auto shop and mall with us. Not that I really blame her for not wanting to ride in the back of the 'Vette. I'm not sure if it even has a back seat that's fit for riding in, now that I think about it. She smells so soft. It's almost…intoxicating to keep smelling her like this.

Shinji leapt off of his balcony and landed noiselessly in the yard. It amazed him that a creature as large as a werewolf could move silently. Shinji began nosing around the rim of the pool, detecting signs of Rei's presence in that area. He smelled her on the diving board and the pool ladder, as well as a trail of her scent leading over to the Jacuzzi house. Shinji noted that the trail to the hot tub seemed fresher than the other scent trails.

There's no trail leading away from the tub house, Shinji noticed, That worries me a little bit.

Shinji's mind ran through a short list of possible reasons for the lack of a return trail.

She could still be in there; sleeping or unconscious, Shinji thought, There could be a few troublesome reasons for that. She could also have doubled-back onto her own trail to throw me off. But how would she have known that I would come out here and sniff her out? I'll discard that one for right now. I'm gonna go on the assumption that she's still in there and possibly in trouble.

Shinji leaped from one side of the pool to the other with ease and crossed the yard in a few bounding strides. As Shinji pulled the glass doors open, he saw that they were fogged; indicating activity in the hot tub. The lights were also turned off, but Shinji's werewolf eyes had perfect night vision and he saw a body sitting in the tub. The smell of hot tub chemicals was potent in the room, but Shinji detected an unmistakably human aroma underneath them. Shinji reached for one of the towels that hung on a rack near the door and reverted to human form.

"Rei? Are you in here?" Shinji asked, wrapping the towel about his waist.

"You certainly took your time getting here," came Rei's voice over the rumble of the hot tub jets, "I'm beginning to get pruney."

"You…were expecting me?" Shinji asked, confused.

"Sort of," Rei said coyly, "I hid outside until nightfall and looked up at your balcony. I saw you walk out and look at the sky. You know, it's kind of scary to see you transform into a werewolf."

"Sorry," said Shinji apologetically, "I wasn't aware that anyone was watching; especially not you."

"Why not?"

"I thought you would have gone home hours ago," Shinji replied, "Do your parents know you're still here?"

"Mom and dad are away on a business trip this weekend," Rei replied, "I'm on my own."

"Business trip?" Shinji repeated, "What kind of business?"

"Mom and dad own their own art consultant firm," Rei answered, "Dad handles the money and accounting while mom goes out and meets with clients. Generally, one of them will go out, usually mom, and meet with a buyer or prospective investor. However, at times like this, when they're both gone on 'business' at the same time, I suspect that they've taken a weekend to get away and have a romantic weekend for two."

"And this doesn't shock you?" Shinji asked.

"Not really," Rei said with a shrug, "They do it every few weeks or so. You know, you are allowed to come in and join me."

"I don't know if I should," Shinji said reluctantly, "I mean, I should stay out where I can hear Misato if she needs me."

"Did something happen today?" Rei asked, suddenly concerned.

"I'll say," Shinji grumbled, "Misato was almost gang-raped by a group of hoodlums in the mall this afternoon."

"No!" Rei gasped. Then, she stood up abruptly, revealing…everything. Rei was bathing nude. This shocked Shinji a little bit, but he turned around quickly, thinking he heard something.

"Sorry, Rei," Shinji said, "I have to go."

With that, Shinji quickly re-transformed and trotted back to the house. He stopped and listened hard. Through the walls and floors, he heard Misato's voice:

"Shinji? Where are you?"

As she repeated the question, her voice got more and more frantic. Shinji tensed his legs and sprang for his balcony, easily clearing the railing and landing near his balcony door. He reverted to his human form and grabbed his pants. Once he yanked them on, he rushed over to Misato's door and opened it. Misato heard the door open and practically threw herself into Shinji's arms, weeping like a twelve-year-old girl.

"I'm here, sweetie," Shinji murmured gently, "It's okay now."

"That gang," Misato hiccupped, "Th-they were going to—,"

"I know, baby, I know," Shinji cooed, "But they didn't. You fought them off until help came."

"Until you came, Shinji," Misato corrected him, "I fought them off until my werewolf protector came to my rescue. Is this how it's always gonna be? I get in trouble and you save me?"

"Is that such a bad thing?" Shinji asked gently.

"Well, it's definitely gender stereotyping," Misato said cynically, "I become the 'damsel in distress' waiting for my 'brave prince charming' to come and save me because I'm a helpless little woman."

Misato's voice was dripping with sarcasm throughout her entire last sentence. Shinji rolled his eyes, but tried to hold back any sniping remarks. The sound of a door closing brought Shinji's attention back to reality.

"Misato," he said, "There's something you should know."

"What?" Misato asked, beginning to sound tired.

"Rei's still here."

"She's still here?" Misato repeated, not sounding as tired, "What's she still doing here?"

"Well, I found her out in the hot tub," Shinji said, not wanting to release too many details to Misato in her frazzled state.

"That's all fine," Misato said dismissively, "but I would have thought she would have wanted to be home before dark. Her parents usually get worried when she's out late."

"She said they were away on business," said Shinji.

"Another business trip?" Misato wondered, "Where do they go all the time?"

"I don't know," Shinji replied, "But I told Rei about what happened today. She's worried for you, Misato."

Misato shook her head in disbelief. It was as if she didn't know or think that anyone but Shinji, or maybe anyone, for that matter, would care that she had just had a near-miss experience with gang-rape. Shinji smiled gently at her.

"What?" he asked, "She is. And so am I, darling. I love you."

"I love you, too, Shinji," Misato replied.

"I'm gonna go see who's downstairs," Shinji said, "You wait here."

"No way," Misato refused resolutely, "I'm not going to sit here like a scaredy-cat, I'm gonna help you."

After what Misato had just ranted on about being a "damsel in distress", he didn't say anything more. He respected Misato's wish to want to be more involved in her destiny. After all, wasn't it what he wanted as well?