Chapter 28

"Mmm, damn did I miss that," Misato sighed as she tumbled off of Shinji after their eighth time that night.

"Where the hell did you develop so much stamina?" Shinji panted, "You haven't been…?"

"No!" Misato said, insulted, "What do you take me for, some cheap whore? I haven't had sex with any man since you left!"

"Sorry, sorry," Shinji said, hugging Misato quickly, "I just jumped to conclusions when you seemed suddenly able to out-fuck me."

"Well, I've been all pent up for, what, seven months?" Misato asked.

"Give or take a couple of weeks," Shinji agreed.

"Right," said Misato, "Well, as you can imagine, being a male, not having sex for such a long time tends to make one a little bit antsy and, consequently, make one drive themselves harder when they finally get the chance to scratch their itch."

"I'd almost forgotten your penchant for giving long descriptions," Shinji sighed fondly.

"Some things never change, eh?" Misato sighed happily, pulling Shinji's face down to hers and kissing him lightly and romantically.

"Not lately they haven't," Shinji yawned.

"Hey, hey," Misato said, shaking Shinji's shoulder, "You're not quitting on me, are you, lover?"

"Not by choice, babe, believe me," Shinji reassured her between several large yawns, "But you wore me out, and I just…don't sleep well anymore. I'll tell you my whole story tomorrow, okay? Let's just get some sleep."

"I missed this, too," Misato said happily, snuggling closer into Shinji's chest and hugging him tightly, as though she were afraid he would leave again.

Shinji put a grateful arm around Misato, holding her just as close. He planted a gentle kiss on the top of his lover's head and closed his eyes.

It's good to be home, he thought contentedly. Then, he fell asleep in his own bed for the first time in seven months.

Shinji jolted awake after a short time asleep. He had sensed something. Misato was still sleeping soundly, so Shinji gently extracted himself and tucked a pillow in her arms in his place. The fact that something had woken him up was no surprise to Shinji. His last few months on the run from the Council had transformed him into a very light sleeper. Instead of being nervous about what might be after him this time, what Shinji was feeling was pissed off.

My first night back in my own house with the woman I love and someone is ruining it! Shinji thought angrily, Who- or whatever is around here better do some fast talking or I'm going to rip them to pieces.

Shinji prowled quietly through Misato's house, searching for the source of the noise. As Shinji moved through the capacious floors, finding nothing, and no signs that anything was even there, he began to wonder if he wasn't hearing things. Shinji was about to turn around and head back to bed when he heard another noise, slightly louder this time.

Shinji transformed and continued to prowl. He wasn't sure what he was hearing, but he knew that he couldn't afford to not take any possible threat to himself or Misato seriously. The last few months taught him that hard lesson. Shinji followed his ears to the last general location that he had heard the sound coming from.

Azrael, what's going on? Shinji asked, Why does everyone keep attacking us?

Don't you use your other senses? Azrael responded, astonished, Can't you smell everything in this house?

Oh, yeah…

Shinji sniffed deeply and stretched out his senses to fill the whole house. He smelled Misato in their upstairs bedroom, as well as another smell that was much closer to his person. Shinji's jaw dropped to the floor. He recognized that smell.

"Rei? Is that you?" Shinji asked softly, changing back to human form.

"Who's there?" Rei's voice replied from a darker corner of the room, "Who is that?"

"Take a wild guess," Shinji replied, turning on one of the living room lamps, "Just keep your voice down."

Rei dashed across the room and threw herself into Shinji's embrace. Even after seven months away from her, Shinji felt awkward at such a blatant show of emotion by Rei.

Misato's right, some things never do change, Shinji thought ruefully. Unexpectedly, Rei kissed him right on the mouth.

"Sorry," Rei panted as she pulled away from Shinji, "I'm just so glad to see you! How long has it been?"

"About seven months," Shinji answered, "Rei, what are you doing sneaking into Misato's house? It's well past midnight!"

"I'm practicing," Rei replied. Shinji looked confused.

"I'm learning the art of Nin-jitsu," said Rei, "You know: stealth, invisibility. Misato actually installed a home security system a few months ago since you weren't around to protect her. I just circumvented it and climbed in through the window. How did you know I was in the house, anyway?"

"Werewolf senses, remember?" Shinji asked, "Combine that with a forced habit of sleeping light, and not much gets within my range of hearing that I don't know about. I heard something that I didn't recognize, so it woke me up. I didn't expect it to be you that was breaking and entering, though."

"I'm not breaking and entering," said Rei, "I'm practicing. Misato knows that I do this kind of stuff from time to time, so she makes sure that her security system is always on at night, to make it real for me."

"She never turned anything off when we came inside tonight," Shinji said. Then, he added quietly, "Then again, we never did come in through the door."

"What's that?" Rei asked.

"Nothing," Shinji replied.

Gonna have to watch the comments around Rei, Shinji thought, I don't know whether or not she still has strong feelings for me.

"So…a ninja, huh?" Shinji asked, "Does that mean that you know kung-fu or whatever now?"

"Nin-jitsu is also a method for self-defense," Rei explained, "since ninjas cannot always rely on stealth. I'm learning about all kinds of ways to defend myself. So far, my favorite is the throwing knives."

"Throwing knives?" Shinji asked, breathless, "You're using throwing knives? Boy, I did miss out on a few things while I was gone, didn't I?"

"A few," Rei said quietly, a blush appearing on her cheeks.

"Such as...?" Shinji asked interestedly, noticing the blush. He grinned as he watched Rei struggle inwardly with the decision of whether or not to tell him.

"Well…um…" Rei stammered, "I…we…I can't say it!"

Rei turned and started to run for the window. Shinji was faster, and caught her by her arm. Shinji was taken by surprise, however, when Rei caught his wrist and used his own momentum to send him flying through the air. Shinji landed on his feet only because his werewolf agility took over and helped him twist in the air to land.

"What the hell was that?" Shinji demanded.

"Reflex," Rei replied apologetically, "Sorry. When I'm trying to escape from something, all of my instincts go into 'escape mode' and I'll do anything to get away."

"Get away from what, Rei?" Shinji asked.

"From you," Rei answered, "and from having to tell you about Misato and my nights together."

"Come again?" Shinji asked.

"Only if you work hard," said Misato from behind Shinji, "Trying the whole 'ninja stealth' trip again, huh Rei?"

Shinji turned around and saw Misato standing at the base of the stairs in a dayrobe.

"Yeah," Rei admitted, defeated, "Shinji must have heard me with those super ears of his."

"I only heard you the time right before I smelled you," said Shinji, "Before that, when I woke up, it was more of a…I don't know…sixth sense, if you will. Six months on the run from a cult that wants to kill you makes you more aware of what's around you. Misato, you really need to upgrade your security system. I'm going back to bed."

"You gonna stay this time?" Misato asked seriously.

"I'll try," Shinji replied honestly, "I really will."

Shinji walked back up the stairs to his bedroom and flopped down onto the mattress. It still felt warm from Misato's presence there. Not like it had felt right before he had left; the cold, emptiness. No, this time his bed felt warm and, though he was currently alone in it, he could still feel Misato next to him under the covers. Five minutes later, Shinji felt Misato crawl back between the sheets with him; without her robe. Shinji rolled sleepily over onto his back so that Misato could cuddle closer to him.

"Hmm…room for one more?" Misato yawned quietly.

"Mmm," Shinji mumbled, still half asleep. Suddenly, he felt a second body join him in the bed, but he was already falling asleep, so he didn't react to it.

In the morning, Shinji awoke with just Misato next to him. He yawned widely and stretched carefully, not wishing to disturb her. Misato mumbled in her sleep and rolled off of Shinji. Shinji took the opportunity and quietly rolled his way out of bed.

"What an odd night," Shinji muttered, "I get home, have over two hours of mind-blowing sex with Misato, and then catch Rei 'breaking into' our house. And then, we go back to bed and I feel someone else in bed with me besides Misato. But, there wasn't anyone else there besides Misato just now. Was it all a dream, brought on by seeing Rei again?"

"What're you talking about, baby?" Misato yawned, rolling over and sitting up next to him in bed.

"Nothing, Misato," Shinji replied, "Just thinking about a crazy dream I had last night."

"Oh," said Misato, stretching widely. Shinji smiled at Misato's unashamed display of flesh for him, even after seven long months apart.

Shinji heard a door close; the bathroom door. He turned around to see Rei walking out in a bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her head. She saw Shinji looking at her and smiled.

Holy god, it wasn't a dream, Shinji thought, flabbergasted, I really did feel Rei lie down next to me last night. What the hell happened while I was gone? They didn't…they couldn't have…

"You okay, Shinji?" Rei asked, drying her hair, "Because you look like you've seen a ghost."