Shinji awoke the next morning before his alarm sounded to discover Kaworu had already returned to his cot on the floor beside his bed. 'I guess he didn't want to be pushed out on the floor again this morning' Shinji snickered to himself. 'I can't wait 'til tonight'
Pulling himself out of bed he grabbed his clothes which were still thrown around the floor from the night before and got dressed. Quietly, he tiptoed across the room to the door. Trying not to wake Kaworu, he eased the door open and went out.
"Shinji!" Misato yawned as she padded across the floor.
"Yes" he said as he stuck his out from around the bathroom door with his toothbrush still in his mouth.
"AH! You scared the shit out of me! Why are you up so early?"
"I dunno. Jusfff goot upff....just a sec" Returning to the bathroom sink to spit out the toothpaste that was building up in his mouth. "There that's better. I beat the clock this morning so I figured I'd get up. I knew you'd be yelling at me soon enough anyway"
Misato laughed "Your starting to act like Kaworu. I guess it was a good idea asking him to stay."
"Sure was" Shinji said under his breath with a smile.
"What?"
"Huh? Oh I said it sure was...ah...he's great...ah...company and I could learn a lot from him. I Mean! Since he's such a good pilot and all" Shinji stammered
"Sure...well finish getting ready and I'll make breakfast. And go wake up Kaworu would ya?." And she padded off towards the kitchen.
Closing the bathroom door behind him, Shinji leaned against it and gave out a sigh of relief.
"Phew! Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.
"This is going to be a lot harder than I thought" he said to himself.
The next few days seemed to blend together. School and training filled the days and the nights were filled with loving passion and dreamless sleeps. But no one was the wiser about Kaworu and Shinji's little secret. Except for may be Rei. She kept close tabs on their new friend. She knew something was going on with Kaworu. Something no one knew.
"What are you doing?" Asuka had been walking down the hall toward her locker Friday afternoon when she spotted Rei, standing alone in the hallway eyeing Kaworu and Shinji who were standing at their lockers talking. "Are you playing James Bond again?"
"There's something going on there but…"
"You can't put on finger on it. I know! You've been saying the same thing for the past week. Give it up! Just admit it, you're jealous. Your jealous of how good a pilot Kaworu is or that Shinji is spending so much time with him and not drooling over you or something like that! Hey for all you know he could be fucking your little Shinji-kun, wouldn't that just kill you! For god sake, just give it up!!" Asuka was almost yelling by now. Annoyed, she turned and stumped off down the hall pasted the boys without as much as a sideways glance.
"I wish she would just give this up! I wonder if she acted this way when I showed up?" she mumbled to herself throwing open the courtyard door.
"I wish I could just find out what's going on with this guy. I know there something up with him. I just can't be imagining it…What The?" Rei stopped in mid thought. She had been standing in the doorway of a classroom so Kaworu and Shinji couldn't see her from where they were standing. Kaworu had even looked around to see if anyone was around and not seeing anyone, he leaned in and gave Shinji a quick kiss before leaving his lover to go to his Physics tutoring.
"Did I just see, what I think I saw?" Rei was amazed. She couldn't believe her eyes. "It can't be! That must be what he was hiding. Oh god! Was Asuka right…about Shinji and Kaworu….Oh god! Shinji!!!" she yelled running to find Asuka.
That night as Shinji lay curled up in Kaworu's arms he began to dream again. The same dream he'd been having the week before. But this time was different and it sent a chill up his spine. Floating through the fabric of space once he witnesses the stars and planets combining into the mass to form the exquisite figure of his lover. But this time there was a look of distress or may be even fear in his crimson eyes. Reaching out for the hand of his lover he noticed that it was covered in blood. Along with his own. As he looked up in fear, Kaworu's shape began to fade but from his mouth, which was now also streaming with blood, a word escaped his lips "Tabris" The mere sound of the word sprung fear in him.
He awoke with a jolt. He was covered in a cold sweat and his body shook.
"What's wrong?" Kaworu asked concerned, he'd never seen Shinji like this before. There was fear in his eyes unlike anything that he'd ever seen. "Shinji…Shinji…calm down" He held the shaking boy in his arms afraid to let go.
"The dream…. What a horrible dream! You…you were in it and you…you died. There was blood everywhere…and you said this word. I don't know what it means but…but it seemed so scary. 'Tabris' what is that?"
For a brief moment a look of fear sprang on Kaworu's face, but Shinji couldn't be sure, but it was quickly replaced with a comforting smile.
"I…have no idea what that is Shinji. Don't worry about it, it was just a dream. Now go back to sleep." Putting an arm around Shinji's shoulders he pulled him in close to him. Shinji could hear Kaworu's heart beat in his chest. It was such a comforting sound. The gentle thump thump in his chest and the peaceful sound of his breaths sent him quickly back to sleep.
"…I can't believe it! Our little Shinji! We are talking about the same Shinji right? Brown hair, short, 3rd Child of NERV Shinji!"
"Yes"
"Dear god! I was right, he was fucking him!"
"We don't know that for sure…may be he just kissed him. That's it, just that one time. We don't know"
"Well did he like it?"
"I don't know"
"Well did he fight back when he did it?"
"No…."
"See! I was right!! Oh my god and I was just joking too!"
"Shhhhh…someone's coming"
Rei had been unable to find Asuka after her encounter with Shinji and Kaworu in the hallway the day before. Luckily they both had gotten to the geofront before the rest of them which gave them time to talk but now someone was coming.
"We'll talk later" Asuka whispered to Rei and gave her a wink as Kaworu, Shinji, Misato and Dr. Akagi walked in the conference room where they'd been sitting.
"There you two are" Misato said solemnly "come up to the control room we have to show you something"
Asuka jumped up first and dashed for the door. As Rei began walking through the door Kaworu grabbed firmly onto her arm. "I know you saw us yesterday in the hallway" Rei looked at him shocked. "And I also know that you've been following me. You think there's something wrong with me. Well quit it. You know now so leave me alone!" he said sternly talking low so no one could hear him. Rei stood there shocked at Kaworu's outburst. 'I never knew me could be like that' she said to herself as she walked toward the control room rubbing her arm where Kaworu had grabbed it. 'I know his secret, so why is he still being so protective? There's something else there, something else is wrong'
"An Angel has been detected somewhere within Tokyo-3 city limits" Ritsuko began showing a map of Tokyo. "but we are not sure where it is precisely. The signal is being scrambled somehow. This Angel will be our 17th and being able to scrambled our sensors is a great feat. This Angel must be strong so be careful." as she spoke Kaworu looked at Rei with eyes the color of blood, and gave her a little smile. Sending chills up her spine. She was the only one who seemed to have seen it. "You will be notified as soon as we more information on this creature and it's where abouts. That will be all"
"Well that was a waste of time" Asuka said a little pissed off as they walked out of the control room "they made us get up at 7 in the morning for that!" yawns "Next time I hope they get all there information before calling us all in here. Well training time! Let's go kick some butt!" "In due time Asuka" Misato replied from behind her.
"Ah! Don't sneak up on a person like that!"
Misato laughed "Asuka it's time for your Sync Ratio tests with Dr. Akagi, remember?"
"Oh!...yeah" she mumbled walking toward the lab door.
"Kaworu you come with me. There's some things we have to go over before you pilot Unit-02 again. Oh! Rei and Shinji you can go on to the locker room and get ready. We have some test drills for you to try out."
"Yes Major Katsuragi!" Shinji replied saluting her.
"Stop that and get going" she laughed, guiding Kaworu back toward to the conference room door.
"Come on Rei, lets get going" Shinji pronounced and began walking down the hallway.
"Shinji...can I talk to you?" Rei said, unsure of how to start.
"Umm...sure Rei. What's up?" he said puzzled.
"Shinji I know..."
"Know what?"
"I know about you and Kaworu"
Shinji knew exactly what she was talking about but couldn't bring himself to admit it.
"What....what about me...and Kaworu?"
"Don't act dumb Shinji. I know you and Kaworu are...a couple"
"What!? How?" he was stunned. 'How could she have found out? What does she think of me now?'
"I saw him kiss you in the hallway at school yesterday"
"Oh god" Shinji held his head in his hands. He couldn't bring himself to look Rei in the eye as she continued.
"It's OK Shinji." she placed a hand on his shoulder. "Shinji I don't care if your gay or not. It's not that, that I really wanted to talk about. It's just that I'm afraid for you"
He looked up surprised "What!? Afraid for me? For what?"
"Kaworu. I'm not sure what it is but there's something...not right... with Kaworu." Shinji couldn't do anything but shake his head as she talked "Shinji don't you think it's strange that he just showed up one day directly from SEELE and no one knows a thing about him. About his past. About why he's even here. I checked out his personnel records, they're empty. The guy has no past at all. There's something he's hiding. Look! " she presented her arm which was already staring to bruise from where Kaworu had grabbed her. "He did this! I'm getting close to something that he doesn't want me to know and I have the feeling he'll do anything to protect it." "No No NO!!!" Shinji yelled. He couldn't take it anymore. "There's no way that Kaworu could... he's not bad, so what if he has no past! He's here now and I love him!" Shinji was almost sobbing by now. Small tears started welling up in his eyes. "No Rei. No"
"Shinji...you have to listen to me. He's dangerous..."
"He is not dangerous!" he was crying now.
"Shinji!"
"NO!"
Rei knew there was no reasoning with him. He had to see it with his own eyes and just then Kaworu came out of the conference room door.
'It's now or never' Rei thought 'He has to see it' So with this, she grabbed the sides of Shinji's tear stained face and kissed him.
"SHINJI!!!" Kaworu yelled running towards them.
Shinji was in shock. He couldn't believe Rei was kissing him. His mind went blank, but in the back of his mind he could hear Kaworu yelling.v "SHINJI!!!!" Kaworu was furious. Seeing his lover kissing someone else made him snap with jealousy and rage. Grabbing Rei by the shoulder with one hand and Shinji with the other he ripped them apart. Rei was sent flying against the wall. Shinji fell to the floor with a thump. "What are you doing you little bitch!" Kaworu flew at Rei. But in what seemed like a blur, Shinji jumped up from the tile floor, grabbing onto Kaworu's arm before he could land a punch on her delicate cheek.
"STOP IT!!!" Shinji yelled still holding Kaworu back. Rei was froze with fear. The look in Kaworu's eyes was something inhuman. "Stop it Kaworu"
"How could you! I loved you!" Kaworu cried pulling away from Shinji's hold and ran down the hallway and out of sight. Shinji would have run after him but he was frozen in place. 'What have I done? I have to go after him!'
Crawling to his feet he took off but was stopped in mid stride by the alarm, and then over the intercom "There has been a break-in, in docking bay 2. All available personnel report to Docking bay 2 IMMEDIATELY!"
"Kaworu..."
