I don't own anything. (My new idiot-proof disclaimer.)
Lycanthrope
-Chapter Three: First Day Back
Shinji stared out over Tokyo-3 and sighed. It was a quarter past two in the mourning and he couldn't sleep. By all rights he should had been unconscious. Ritsuko had set up an elaborate and exhausting synch test and he and Misato had gotten home at twelve. Asuka had already gone to bed, so they had just had a small dinner and retired to their rooms, but Shinji quickly discovered that his tired body just wouldn't turn off. He had tried everything from turning up the volume on his SDAT to watching infomercials. Nothing had worked at all. "What are you doing up here?" Shinji turned and watched as Misato walked across the apartment's roof.
"I couldn't sleep," he said simply, turning back to his view of the city.
"Is something wrong?" Misato asked. "Should I call Ritsuko?"
"No," Shinji said. He glanced at the waxing gibbous moon and felt a strange tug deep inside him. "Nothing's wrong, I just can't sleep."
"Maybe you could stare at the city from inside our apartment," Misato suggested. "It's freezing up here."
"Is it?" Shinji asked. He turned fully and noticed that his guardian was shivering, her arms wrapped around her skimpily clad shoulders.
"You can't tell?" she asked.
"No," Shinji said. Misato reached out and touched his bare shoulder.
"You're burning up," she said in concern.
"Didn't Ritsuko tell you?" Shinji asked. "My body temperature has gone up several degrees."
"Not everyone is that lucky," Misato said as she hooked an arm around Shinji's and tugged him closer to her just to embarrass him. "Now let's get inside before I freeze to death."
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Shinji yawned and stared at his alarm clock. Someone knocked and Shinji turned his gaze on the door. "Come in." The door slid open and Misato stepped inside. "Don't you have work today?"
"I have the day off," she explained. "Are you going to school today?"
"If I do then I'll be late," Shinji said, pointing to his alarm clock. He had overslept and apparently Misato had kept Asuka from barging into his room to wake him up.
"I'll drive you to the school and tell the teacher you had a synch test," Misato offered.
"Sure," Shinji said as he climbed out of his bed.
"What happened to your arms?" Misato asked, concern obvious in her voice. Shinji glanced at the long, deep scars on his forearms and shrugged.
"Fell down yesterday," he said, the lie slipping out with an ease that Shinji had never known before.
"And your stomach?" Misato pressed. Shinji reached down and rubbed the short, but extremely deep scars.
"Happened yesterday," he said simply. "Can you leave now so I can get changed?" Misato nodded and walked out of the room. Shinji moved to his dresser and quickly pulled out his normal school outfit. He stared at the blue T-shirt for a moment before hunting through his dresser again. He found a black T-shirt and nodded approvingly. He quickly changed and tugged a pair of black boots out of his closet. He had gotten then a few years ago when his old teacher had forced him to hike in the woods for exercise. He pulled the boots on and stepped out of his bedroom while pulling on his white school shirt.
"Will ramen be okay for breakfast?" Misato called from the kitchen.
"That'll be fine," Shinji said as he stepped into the bathroom. He stared in the mirror and watched as the unfamiliar reflection stared back. In seventy-two hours his hair had grown almost down to his shoulders. He tried to smooth the wild spikes and brush his bangs out of his eyes. His reflection's golden eyes stared back. 'Bob said that they were linked to emotion,' Shinji wondered. 'Am I emotional now?'
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"What's with the new look?" Shinji glanced up and took the offered cup of ramen noodles.
"What new look?" he asked. "You mean my hair? It's been like this since yesterday."
"I mean your clothes," Misato said. "I didn't know you owned a pair of boots."
"I just wanted to wear something different," Shinji said as he pulled the lid off his cup and pulled his chopsticks apart.
"I know!" Shinji watched as Misato rocketed out of her seat.
"Whatever," he muttered as he pulled a group of noodles from his cup and slurped them down. Misato reappeared from wherever she had run off to and laid something on the table. "What's that?"
"It's a necklace," Misato said happily. "I can't really remember where I got it." Shinji picked up the string of over-sized black beads. It was surprisingly heavy and he guessed that the beads were made of metal. He pulled it on over his head and decided he liked the way it contrasted against his white school shirt. "You like it?"
"Yeah," he said, rather surprised by that fact alone. He had never really been one for jewelry. "Thanks Misato." He picked up his chopsticks again and quickly finished off his noodles before moving on to find more food.
"I see your appetite is still going in overdrive," Misato commented.
"I guess so," Shinji said as he tugged out a bag of ancient beef jerky and began devouring it with gusto.
"Better be careful," Misato recommended. "You'll ruin your girlish figure." Shinji glanced down at himself and rubbed his stomach. "You keep rubbing those scars and they'll reopen."
"Yes mom," Shinji muttered as he finished the jerky. "You ready to go?"
"Give me a minute," Misato said in annoyance as she chugged another can of beer. "Can you do anything about your eyes?"
"My eyes?" Shinji asked in confusion.
"Gold isn't a normal color," Misato said.
"Ayanami has crimson," Shinji said with a shrug.
"But she's always had red eyes," Misato argued. "Your eyes just changed color all of the sudden. So, can you do anything?"
"I've been working on it," Shinji said. In fact he was sure that was the reason they were still gold. The harder he tried to change them the more aggravated he got. The more aggravated he got then the longer his eyes would stay golden.
"Well just wear these," Misato said, laying a pair of sunglasses on the table. Shinji picked them up and examined them. They were a simple, black, frameless design.
"Alright."
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"Hey look its Ikari's guardian!" Asuka watched in disgust as every boy in the class sprinted to the window.
"Get back in your seats!" Hikari bellowed. The boys completely ignored her and continued to ogle Asuka's guardian.
"Hey who's that guy?" someone demanded.
"Is that her boyfriend?" someone else asked. 'Kaji?' Asuka wondered as she burst out of her seat.
"He's wearing a school uniform," another guy interrupted. "Is he a new pilot?"
"What a babe!" one of the girls squealed.
"Oh my God!" someone else exclaimed. "That's Ikari!"
"Bullshit!" someone else yelled.
"Get in your seats this instant!" the teacher roared, catching everyone off guard. The boys quickly walked back to their seats and stared at the old man. 'I didn't know that he could do that,' Asuka thought in amazement. Four minutes later the door to the classroom slid open and Misato stepped inside.
"Sorry about this," she said cheerfully. "Shinji had a synch test this mourning." A young man stepped into the room and ran a hand through his wildly spiked jet-black hair.
"Sorry," he said bowing slightly.
"I just thought I'd stop by to explain that," Misato said as she walked out of the door.
"Take your seat Ikari."
"Yes sir," Shinji said as he moved to his seat. Asuka stared at him and wondered what had happened.
"And button your shirt." Shinji quickly buttoned his white school shirt and toyed with the beads around his neck. "And remove those sunglasses."
"I have to wear them," Shinji said somewhat nervously.
"Why?"
"It's a side affect of the new test," Shinji said, his nervousness disappearing at the drop of a hat.
"Bullshit," Asuka snorted.
"Silence," Shinji growled lowly. He turned back to the teacher, "I have a note from my guardian if you want it."
"That's all right Ikari," the teacher said. "Lunch will start in about a minute." Shinji nodded and sat down at his desk. Asuka glared at him and tried to decide just how she would make him pay for his disrespect. The bell rang and Asuka was already moving before Shinji had even stood.
"Oh Third Child?" she called pleasantly. The young man turned and Asuak slapped him as hard as she could. His glasses flew off and broke against the far wall. "That will teach you for talking to me like that," she added smugly. Shinji's head whipped around and Asuka watched as the blue of his irises began to turn gold. Before she could say anything Shinji's hand whipped out, wrapped around her throat, and lifted her clear off the ground. He snarled and Asuka stared at the fangs that had replaced his teeth. Her vision began to swim and she desperately tried to pry his hand from her throat.
"Stop it man!" Kensuke yelled. "You're going to kill her!" Shinji's eyes widened suddenly and he let go. Asuka stumbled backwards and landed painfully against a desk. She glanced up and watched as Shinji turned and ran out of the room.
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Shinji stared at the blue sky overhead and took several deep breaths. "I'm in control," he muttered. "I'm in control. I'm in control. I'm in control." He slowly stood up and glanced around. 'Control?' he wondered. 'Yeah right.' His hands throbbed suddenly and he looked down to see that his palms were bleeding from eight deep crescent-shaped cuts. He watched as his own deep red blood ran down his wrists and swallowed. The door to the roof banged open and Kensuke and Touji rushed out.
"What the hell was that?" Kensuke demanded. He paused and glanced at Shinji's hands. "What happened to you?"
"I fell," Shinji said. 'How many times am I going to use that lie?' he wondered absently. "It's not bad, see? They've already stopped bleeding." In truth the marks were bad and probably would have required medical attention, had it not been for his over active healing abilities.
"That's a lot of blood for a scratch," Touji commented.
"They aren't bad," Shinji insisted, holding his hands out. "Look!" Kensuke peered at his hands.
"They aren't bad," he commented.
"I just said that," Shinji growled.
"I'm joking," Kensuke said. "We brought your lunch by the way," he added, tossing a bento at Shinji. He caught it and quickly flipped it open. He was starving again. He downed the contents of the box and groaned quietly. Eating had caused his hunger to arise from deep inside him.
"You okay?" Touji asked.
"I'm fine," Shinji said tiredly.
"You look like shit," Touji prodded. "And your eyes are yellow."
"Gold," Shinji corrected.
"Why did your eyes become gold?" Kensuke asked. 'Become?' Shinji wondered. He guessed that sitting through the teacher's lecture, even a few minutes of it; had made him calm down enough for his eyes to turn blue again. 'I guess that boring old bastard has a use after all,' Shinji thought in amusement.
"Are you listening?" Kensuke asked.
"I am now," Shinji said with a sigh. He mentally prepared himself for the approaching onslaught of NERV-related questions.
"What happened to you?" Kensuke repeated.
"What do you mean?" Shinji asked in surprise.
"You were out for two days," Touji said. "Not even the Devil knew where you were."
"I was in the hospital," Shinji said with a shrug. "I got attacked by a big animal when I was walking home."
"What kind of animal?" Kensuke asked. "Was it an Angel or something?"
"It was an animal," Shinji said in annoyance. "And no one knows what it was." He stopped and looked around. 'The Twelfth Messenger approaches,' a voice hissed.
"Now what's wrong?" Kensuke asked.
"It's here."
"What is?" Touji asked, obviously starting to get annoyed. His only answer was the wail of the angel alarms.
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Shinji looked around the briefing and rolled his shoulders anxiously. On a large screen on of the walls a large black and white ball hovered over Tokyo-3. "So far we haven't been able to detect any kind of AT field," Ritsuko said. "We have no real way of knowing the Angel's strengths."
"So what's the plan?" Shinji asked.
"We are going to attack it," Ritsuko said simply. "The lead unit will attempt to engage the Angel at close range with the other two units proving cover fire."
"So we're going to try and provoke a response?" Shinji asked. 'Oh this is just fucking great.'
"What happens if it responds?" Misato asked.
"We have no way of knowing," Ritsuko said. She was glaring at Shinji like it was his fault that the plan was ridiculous.
"So who's going to be the lead unit?" Misato asked.
"I think Shinji should do it," Asuka said quickly. Shinji turned and stared at the girl. Did she want him dead? "Like you said before," Asuka continued. "He does have the highest synch ratio."
"I also have the most battle experience," Shinji cut in. "I will take lead on this mission." That caught Ritsuko, Misato, and Asuka off guard.
"Very well," Misato said finally. "You two will provide cover fire. Understood?"
"Whatever," Asuka declared loudly.
"Yes ma'am," Rei said. Shinji glanced at the blue-hair girl and felt something close to panic claw at his insides. 'There is something wrong with her!' the voice from before screamed. 'She is not human, but not like us or any others.' Shinji forced the baseless fear down and rubbed his temples.
"Did you hear me Shinji?"
"What?" Shinji asked.
"Are you okay?" Misato repeated. "You seemed kind of out of it."
"I'm alright," Shinji said with a smile. "Just felt a little weird for a minute."
"Should I call Ritsuko back?" Misato asked. Shinji shook his head. He really doubted that Ritsuko could do anything to help him.
"I'll be just fine," he said reassuringly.
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'So here we are again,' Shinji thought as he looked around his Eva's plug. His shoulder throbbed suddenly and Shinji cursed in surprise. "What the hell?"
"Is something wrong?" Maya asked.
"No," Shinji said as he moved to stand next to a large building. He glanced down at the Eva's hand and stared at the massive Desert Eagle magnum. He ordered his Eva forward and glanced around the corner of the building. He had meant for it to be a quick look, but he found himself staring at the black and white sphere. 'Something is wrong.'
"Move back into cover!" Misato snapped. "You're exposing your position."
"Something isn't right," Shinji said as he watched the sphere float.
"What do you mean?" Ritsuko demanded. "Has the sphere made any moves?" In the background Shinji heard one of the bridge techs saying that the Angel couldn't have. They would have detected it.
"Something isn't right," Shinji repeated, backing away from the Angel.
"A blue pattern has appeared!" someone screamed. "It's underneath Unit Zero-One!" Shinji leapt back and watched as the Angel's shadow flowed towards his landing point. He brought the Desert Eagle around and emptied the clip into the shadow. The Eva's feet hit the shadow and Shinji watched in shock as they disappeared into it. Shinji glanced at his weapon and noticed that the chamber was locked open, proving that the gun was empty.
"Son of a bitch," he muttered quickly. He pulled back his fist and hurled the Desert Eagle at the shadow.
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"We have to do something!" Misato watched as the Eva began to sink into the ground. She glanced at the image of Shinji sitting in his plug. He was staring at the Angel's shadow with a dull resignation. "Asuka do something!"
"Don't," Shinji barked. "I'm dead, don't bother killing more to save me."
"But we can't just let you die," Misato said. "You will die in there. You know that right? They Angel will kill you!"
"The Angel won't kill me," Shinji said. "I'll take care of that." The video feed was cut from inside the plug and Misato was left to watch as Eva Zero-One attempted to tear its way out of the Angel.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Misato asked.
"No," Ritsuko said. "We can't do a damned thing." The Eva finally sank deep enough into the Angel's shadow up to its shoulders. Suddenly the massive purple monster threw back its head and let out a long howl.
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Bob winched as the howl rippled through the air around him. He had heard that sound enough times to know exactly what it was. It was the sound of a dying lycan. "Ikari."
"That was Ikari?" Angel asked, looking rather shaken. "What the hell is going on?"
"Can't you tell?" Bob asked. "He's being killed."
"He's being killed?" Angel repeated.
"That's correct," Bob said. "And there's nothing he can do about it." He sat back against the shelter's wall and sighed.
-End
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-Author's notes. Here's another chapter. I think I might get chapter five up in about two weeks. Over spring break I'm going to Florida and loosing all connection to computers. At least I get to work on my tan! :-)