Genesis 4: Lust
"Shinji, Rei forgot to get her new card from HQ after her last few tests, do mind giving it to her before her next trip there?" Ritsuko asked, handing it to Shinji as she, Misato and Shinji had dinner.
"Oh, sure," Shinji said with a slight smile looming over the card and reading it quietly to himself. He truly didn't know a thing about her; not her age, why her eyes were red, what her relationship to people was had any hold on his knowledge.
"Shiinnnnji, you're staring a Rei's picture aren't you?" Misato chimed in with a light, alcoholic slur, which caused Shinji to flinch.
"What uh no! I'm not!" Shinji spat, Misato giggling a little.
"Oh lyes you were Shinji, I caught you," Misato teased, Shinji's face twisting into a grumpy expression.
"It's not like that! I just...I just don't know anything about her," Shinji replied honestly. Ritsuko sighed as she watched the embarrassing display.
"She seems nice enough, but she's not really adept to…" Ritsuko paused, trying to figure out the right choice of words.
"Adept to what?" Shinji inquired hastily, Ritsuko fishing out her answer.
"Adept to living, I guess," Ritsuko explained bluntly. The rest of the night was fairly uneventful, with everyone heading home after a few more hours. Upon the coming of night, Shinji found himself back aboard the familiar train car, a copy of himself and a copy of Rei sitting across from him, their eyes hidden behind a small shroud of darkness. He sighed to himself, accepting the fact that this wouldn't undoubtedly be the last time he would visit this place, his eyes dimly gazing over the two angels.
"It seems that your heart flutters when discussing this Rei Ayanami...is she the one in which you desire?" Shamshel inquired, Shinji already feeling vast discomfort with the scenario.
"I-I don't know...I don't know enough about her…" Shinji answered, Sachiel smirking with smug intentions.
"Yet you risked your life fighting me so that she would not be endangered, doing such a thing for a stranger seems highly improbable," Sachiel's words slapped Shinji across the face, causing him to clench his teeth.
"I would've done that for anyone, Reo just happened to be the one in distress," Shinji groaned, Shamshel rising to her feet before approaching him. Shinji stared in shock as she began stripping down, his face turning red as he shut his eyes to avert their gaze from her. She felt warm as she straddled his waist, pressing her naked frame against him which caused his heart to pound in his chest, his eyes still clenched tight.
"Your heart is racing and your body is trembling...you clearly desire her. Why not show her how you feel?" Rei's mildly distorted voice ringing in his ear, a soft giggle making him squirm.
"I-It's not right! I-I don't even know how she feels!" Shinji spat in rebellion, Shamshel hugging around his head burying it into her bare chest.
"You should give in to your feelings, you'll feel much better if you do…" Shamshel's words were drenched in seduction, which caused Shinji to shoot awake in his bed, his pale skin drenched with sweat as he stared up at his blank ceiling.
"This is crazy…"Shinji sighed, scared to go back to sleep as he decided to plug his ears with music to try and drown out his thoughts. It wasn't long before he blacked out again, this time peacefully with his thoughts kept under duress. The next day was the day he was supposed to deliver Rei her ID card, a task that left him a bit rattled as a result of his night time occurrences. Standing outside her door, Shinji took in the industrial setting of the area; construction vehicles were plentiful with the landscape being under constant repair. It was almost like a living thing, like skin repairing itself after a cut or wound. He shook his head vigorously to pull his nerves together as he pressed her door bell communicator.
"Hello? It's me, Shinji Ikari," Shinji called out, but was met with silence. He tried again, explaining why he was there, but it too was met with silence. He reached for the door handle and found that it was unlocked, much to his surprise.
"I'm coming in OK?" Shinji shouted, slipping out of his shoes before stepping inside. It was very dull and lifeless, no visible signs of color anywhere in the room, just greys and whites everywhere. He was taken aback by this but didn't let it bother him as he continued on. Gazing over the room, he decided to inspect it, contrary to Rei not being anywhere in sight. He found a waste basket full of bloody bandages, her uniform hung by the handle of one of her dresser drawers as well as medications laying on her night stand. One particular thing that stuck out was a glasses case, the only thing truly out of place in the room.
"Rei doesn't wear glasses…" Shinji stated quietly as he grasped the case, opening it to a pair of plastic frames that were slightly warped, one of the lenses cracked. Against his better judgement, he carefully slid them up on his nose, the sudden sound of irritation coming from behind him. He quickly whirled around to find a mostly naked Rei, her breasts covered by a towel that was draped across the back of her neck.
"Oh crap! R-Rei! I-I'm sorry for barging in!" Shinji said in a panic as she took strong steps towards him, each step with a hint of malice as she closed in on him. Shinji, beginning to panic that he had done something horribly wrong, lost his footing as Rei removed them from his face, his bag catching onto the edge of the top drawer of her dresser as he backed into it. Before he knew it, his balance was lost, his body tumbling forward onto Rei as the top drawer was ripped out from the dresser.
They both hit the ground with a thud, Rei's lingerie scattered across the room as the drawer crashed to the floor. For a mere moment, Shinji stared deeply into Rei's eyes, whose gaze was more confused than anything else as they stared back into Shinji's. In that instant, once Shinji realized what he had done, he found himself taking the back seat, his consciousness shrouded in darkness as he was forced to watch his body move without his input. His eyes gently shined as a warm, seductive smile curled upon his lips as Shamshel took control. As Rei went to ask for him to get off, Shinji moved his face up to Rei's, her eyes suddenly widened as Shinji's lips pressed firmly to hers, silencing her. Rei's face turned red as she was in shock, Shinji's hand squeezing one of her bare breasts as the kiss deepened forcefully. They both began to tremble as their bodies began to heat up, Shinji desperately trying to wrestle control of himself away from Shamshel. Before the event could unfold further, Shinji finally got a grasp on the moment, finally yanking control from Shamshel's grasp.
"I-I'm sorry for that…" Shinji's words shook as he backed his lips away from Rei's getting off of her hastily before offering his hand to help her up. Contrary to her lack of feelings on the matter, Rei felt her heart pounding in her chest as she stared at Shinji, as if subconsciously asking for more as she stepped away and began to dress herself without a word.
"I...um...didn't mean to scare you if I did...o-or push my boundaries touching you...I'm actually just here to give you something…" Shinji stuttered as Rei averted her now shy eyes. After completely dressing in her uniform, she immediately left her abode, Shinji following her as she went on her way. Both of them boarded the personnel metro that headed for NERV HQ, sitting across from one another as they rode. Shinji noticed Rei occasionally shifting her gaze to him, her face slightly blushed each time before shifting her glance away.
"Hehehe...it appears she also has feelings for you now…" Shamshel said with a soft giggle in Shinji's mind, his teeth clenching in frustration at her intervention.
"It wasn't fair using me to figure that out!" Shinji thought, Rei standing up. Shinji watched curiously as Rei stepped across the aisle, planting her rear next to him so they could be next to one another.
"Ikari…" Rei spoke softly, Shinji fixating her gaze on her in response.
"Yes Rei?" Shinji replied. Rei uses her soft pale hands to grab one of his own. She placed his hand over her heart with a blank expression. It was pounding against his fingers harshly, as if terrified as her eyes gazed into his.
"What...does this mean? I don't understand why my heart is beating so fast…" Rei sounded genuinely confused, with a faint hint of curiosity in her words as Shinji blushed lightly.
"Well...it can mean a lot of things, like excitement or fear or even love," Shinji smiled as Rei released his hand, placing it in her lap.
"I see...thank you," Rei replied, a faint smile on her face. Shinji then handed her the ID card he'd been in charge of delivering, to which Rei accepted graciously.
"Isn't Unit 00's reactivation today? Aren't you a little scared?" Shinji inquired, which was met with another soft reply.
"Not really...it's necessary to fulfill my purpose," Rei's response rubbed Shinji in a strange way as he looked over at her.
"Purpose? What purpose?" Shinji asked, Rei looking back into his eyes.
"To pilot the Evangelion. That is my purpose," Rei replied blankly, to which Shinji decided to let go of the topic.
Operation Yashima, 1 hour till deployment
The two Eva pilots, separated by a screen, began prepping their battle attire; Shinji felt his nerves wind up tight, nervous about the operation after being so ruthlessly attacked prior to now by the angel. He looked over at Rei's silhouette, who clearly had nerves of steel going into the operation.
"I'm really nervous about this operation Rei, how do you deal with that? You seem as calm and collected as ever..." Shinji inquired, hitting the bottom on his wrist to tighten the suit to his body. Rei quietly did the same, her head continuing to face away from the screen.
"Don't worry...you have no reason to be nervous," Rei replied bluntly, sitting on the bench for a moment.
"I have every reason to be nervous, the fate of the world is on my shoulders right now!" , sighed, his heart aching in his chest.
"You don't have to worry because I will be protecting you...goodbye," Rei what Shinji, who took a hefty breath before letting it out in a steady sigh, giving her a nod. It was true, she was in the more dangerous position for the operation, if anything, she was the one who was in the position to be nervous about.
Operation Yashima, Zero Hour
"High energy readings are coming from the inside of the target!" Aoba shouted, Remiel showing visual signs of powering up. Shinji clenched his teeth tightly as he pulled the trigger, the angel mirroring him as one of its own blasts was fired right back at him. The impact from the enemy's blast nearly carried unit 01 off the ground, bracing both the gun and ground to maintain his position. As Shinji readjusted, the enemy began charging up again, immediately firing when ready. Shinii clenched eyes shut and braced for impact, only to be blinded by it's shining light. Opening his eyes, he saw unit 00, shielding the blast as it began melting it.
"AYANAMI!" Shinji cried out, readying the next charge. He began shaking vigorously with vast impatience, every second leading Rei to an inevitable demise.
"HURRY UP, HURRY UP!" Shinji shouted at the targeting system as it zoned in on the target, finally locking on after what felt like minutes. With one final pull of the trigger, the massive blast from the positron cannon pierced through Remiel, causing it to cease its fire and fall to the ground with a massive crash.
As the enemy's blast fizzled out, Shinji immediately made a dash for unit 00, using a progressive knife to pry the entry plug insertion point into view so the plug could release. Hopping out of his own Evangelion after disengaging his own plug, he immediately grabbed the emergency door release, which caused him to shout out painfully from its intense heat. Shinji fought through the pain, the palms of his plug suit beginning to burn away until he was able to finish the manuel turns.
"Ayanami are you alright?!" Shinji shouted as he moved half his body into the plug, Rei clearly not in the best state, but in one piece nonetheless. As she opened her eyes, she saw Shinji sobbing and smiling, panic filling his words.
"Ikari...you're crying," Rei said quietly, Shinji trying desperately to clear out his eyes as he crawled further in.
"I'm so glad you're OK, I was seriously worried you were hurt!" Shinji said, finally tightening up his sorrowful demeanor. Rei felt her heart begin to race as his words of concern filled her ears, her nobody seemingly beginning to move on its own as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Shinji's neck. He froze for a moment as Rei began to tremble, prompting Shinji to return the embrace. He couldn't tell what she was thinking or feeling, trying to guess if she was in fear or joy. All the same he didn't care, sharing a comfortable silence with her; holding her in firm embrace as the warm night continued on without skipping a beat, another successful mission in their pocket.
To Be Continued...