Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion…
This Chapter contains: Sexuality, violence, and coarse language. I remind you, this fic is rated R. Watch for my other fics, coming soon, I hope. Sorry it's taking so long.
Chapter 9: Cat and Mouse…
Author: Mosher-24
Story Title: Masochistic
*~*~*~*~*
Shinji didn't know who he was. He didn't care. He couldn't feel his heart; he couldn't feel his entire body. All he cared about was the scream that had escaped the window from Rei's apartment.
His muscles were moving before his brain could think about it. Sweat pouring down his face, his heart racing, Shinji pumped his legs as hard as he could, taking the steps four at a time. The door at Ayanami's apartment was wide open, the door crooked on its hinges.
Shinji could hear Toji come up behind him.
"Split up and we'll look around. Yell if you find anything right?" Toji said, walking into the apartment. It was dark; shadows seemed to move everywhere, playing tricks on their minds.
Shinji didn't care about the shadows, or any danger that may be lurking. Rei was in trouble and that's all that was registering, not even the fact that something had just moved from behind him.
"Stay out of this third child. You shall regret it," said a voice, disguised by some sort of distortion machine.
Shinji spun around and saw a figure dressed in all black carrying Rei over their shoulder. The person had a gun in its right hand and was pointing it at Shinji.
"Let her down and you won't get hurt," Shinji warned. The figure laughed, though it hardly sounded like anything remotely humorous through the distortion device.
"I think not third. Now, back down," said the attacker. The gun was now at Shinji's head.
"Ah!" Toji yelled as he slammed his fists into the attackers head. It fell stumbled, shooting the gun off. It barely missed Shinji's ear but left a pounding silence in his hearing.
Shinji felt the blood start to drip from his ears, but shook it off. He took his chance and kicked the figure in the stomach. It doubled over and Shinji grabbed Rei. She was unconscious, but breathing.
He laid her on the bed and turned around. The figure was grappling with Toji, the gun to the right of the attacker.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" Toji yelled as the figure kicked him in the groin and kneed his stomach.
Shinji made a diving grab for the gun, kicking the attacker's hand out of the way. He came up with the pistol in hand and pointed it at the figure, but he/she was gone.
"What the hell?" Shinji said. Toji pointed to the door and Shinji ran out at full speed. The figure was at the bottom of the stairwell, so Shinji jumped a flight of stairs at a time and was at the bottom when the figure was running out the door.
Shinji ran out after the person, the gun recklessly aiming at its back. The figure was incredibly fast though, and Shinji was falling behind.
"No! Come back!" Shinji yelled, closing his eyes and running with everything he had. He got closer to the figure, but was quickly growing tired.
Fine. So be it, Shinji thought as he took aim with the pistol and yanked back the trigger. The gun jerked back in his hand as the bullet flew through the air and smacked into the figures right shoulder.
"Ah!" the figure yelled out in pain, but kept running. Shinji saw a little blood on the ground as he past the spot where he had shot the mystery attacker.
Shinji took aim again while running and pulled the trigger. The gun jerked back again with the force of the explosion and the bullet smacked into the attackers left side.
"Fuck!" the attacker winced, slowing down to a normal pace. Shinji kept running, panting through several coughs.
The streets were devoid of life and the attacker had led Shinji into a deep forest. The third child saw the attacker draw a glittering knife and disappear into the shadows.
Shinji's heart was racing so fast that he could feel the pumping in his ears. The dark, ominous forest was closing in on him on every side, making him feel claustrophobic. He tried to steady his breathing as not to give away his position, but that didn't work too well. He kept the gun at ready and walked slowly through the maze of trees.
"You should have given up!" said the distorted voice of the
attacker as he jumped out of the shadows, the knife slashing toward Shinji.
He felt a burning on his chest as the knife caught and sliced a long line of
blood. He felt it dig into his shoulder, but fired the gun anyway, despite the
pain. The bullet smacked into the attackers face and he/she fell back with a
yelp and a spray of blood.
The young Ikari's ice blue eyes stared at the dead attacker for a long time. He couldn't believe he had just KILLED someone. Shinji was used to killing angels, but never a person less than five feet away.
"Come on! Let's split!" Toji yelled, coming up behind Shinji. Both were injured, but they sucked it up and ran back to Rei's apartment, where they collapsed on the floor in front of the door.
*~*~*~*~*
Shinji's eyes fluttered open, but soon shut as the light from the window hit his eyes. It was morning, but Shinji didn't really care. The birds were singing through the window, even though Tokyo-3 was a metropolis that most would think had scared away all the wildlife.
"Ah, you're up. Took you long enough, you wussy," Toji said from the table of Kaji's living room.
"How did we get here?" Shinji asked groggily, his head, shoulder, and chest hurting immensely.
"Kaji was at Rei's place when we got there, and he took us here. You got quite a list of injuries though, but thanks to Kaji and an insider from NERV, you'll be fine able to pilot your EVA by tomorrow," Toji said, rubbing a bruise on his jaw.
"What about Rei? Is she all right?" Shinji asked, sitting up and feeling the mistake right away. Everything rushed to his head and caused an incredible pain as if his head would pop like a balloon.
"Yea, she's fine. The attacker had stuck her with some sort of serum to put her out for a while. She's taking a long bath now to wash away the effects," Toji replied, leaning back in the chair and sighing.
"Hey! You're up!" Kaji said as he entered the large room. It was tall, about the size of two Kaji's stacked on top of one another. The furniture was expensive, mostly wood, but with a couple love chairs and a couch. There was also a bookcase on Shinji's right, though he couldn't read the book titles very well.
"Yea… Who attacked her?" Shinji asked, not feeling able to be happy until everything that was known was communicated to him.
"A guy named Ferronelli. He was a black ops agent for NERV," Toji said, sitting next to Shinji.
"But why from NERV?" Shinji asked.
"I don't know, Shinji. I don't know."
"Well, what about us? What injuries?"
"You have the biggest. Your ear was bleeding, but we stopped the bleeding and you should be able to hear fine by tonight. Your balance will be off for a few days though. Your chest has been stitched up and isn't very serious. And your shoulder has also been stitched up, but you shouldn't move it very much for a couple weeks. Toji has a few bad bruises and a broken finger, but he's fine other than that. Rei has a few bruises too, and the after affects of the serum will affect her for a couple days, but she'll be fine too."
"That's good," Shinji said with a sigh of relief. He winced, it hurt to inhale or exhale too strongly.
"If you feel up to it, I've got breakfast in the kitchen," Kaji said, getting up and walking into the TV room.
Shinji tried to stand, but he fell back down, the pain in his whole body was overwhelming. Soon, however, he had mastered the pain and pushed it down and was on his way to the kitchen.
There was a large plate of steak and eggs and pancakes with syrup and steak sauce. Shinji smiled and grabbed the silverware, which was laid down next to the plate. He ate with one hand, which took him twice as long as it usually did.
As he took the last bite, he felt something move behind him. Turning, he saw crimson eyes staring back into his own. He smiled and kissed Rei. She kissed back and gently caressed his cheek.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
"For what?"
"That battle was my own, you should not have had to save me."
"I couldn't have just sat back, you know,"
"I know. And for that, I am sorry."
The two kissed again. Shinji did not have the strength or energy to argue, nor did he want to.
"Do you know why you were attacked?" Shinji asked, brushing her wet bangs from her face.
Her face seemed paler than usual, and her eyes were far off and distant. She looked at Shinji for a long while before replying, "I have no idea."
Shinji didn't know if he believed her or not, but if she was not going to tell him, then she wouldn't. Shinji just put his good arm around her and held her for what seemed like an eternity.
"I didn't want to burst your bubble, but you've got to go to NERV tomorrow afternoon, right after school," Kaji said, walking into the kitchen and pulling out a cigarette.
"Why?" Shinji asked. Why right now? I just got fucking stabbed for god's sake!
"You don't need to pilot your EVAs, just need to be there for the initiation test of the fourth child," Kaji replied calmly.
"That's tomorrow? But Toji's still hurt!" Shinji said.
"The commander seems not to be interested in his injuries. He said it will go ahead as planned," Kaji replied with resentment dripping from his voice at the word 'commander'.
Shinji sighed and quietly seethed.
"Don't worry about it Shinji. Toji is not badly injured, he will be able to activate the EVA and operate the basic functions," Rei whispered into his ear.
Shinji felt his anger melt away and he smiled and nodded at the first child.
*~*~*~*~*~*
"So… are you ready?" Shinji said, walking into the guest room, where Toji was sitting on the bed, a cigarette in his mouth.
"No, but I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Toji replied tonelessly, exhaling the excess smoke. He shook his head and puffed again.
"I know what you mean. They took me without any prior training too… I know you can do it though Toji, you can do everything else right?" Shinji said with a grin.
"Yea, I can do it. I just hope I can pilot as well as I can fuck," Toji laughed.
"Then we'd all be in trouble!" Shinji replied and the two friends laughed for a long time before silence gripped the room again.
It was a dim room, the blinds were shut, the lamp was off, only slits of sunlight shone through the cracks in the blinds.
"Well, thanks Shinji. I'm gonna go tell Kensuke. He's been calling my house every hour or so, the crazy bastard," Toji said with a smirk and he stood and walked out of the room. Shinji heard him walk down the stairs and later heard the door open and shut.
As the third was about to leave, he spotted something that made his fingers tingle, and his stomach jump: a knife.
Shakily, he reached out for the knife. It was clean, gleaming even in the dim room, or was that just Shinji's imagination? He couldn't tell, but all he knew was that he wanted to cut. To slash. To feel the self-inflicted pain that temporarily made him whole.
As it was in his hand, he could not really feel it. His whole concentration was on his arm and the blade. He brought it to his skin and let it sit, the coolness resonating somehow to his arm. Then with a sharp downward stroke, he cut into his arm.
The wound gleamed red for a moment for bleeding into a stream down his arm. The cut was about five inches down the middle of his underarm, toward his wrist.
He brought it down again, this time across his arm. It bled more, dripping to the carpet. Shinji seemed fixed on the sudden pricks it sent down his arm, and then the burning of a healing wound.
After five slashes, Shinji felt content and hid the knife away, out of sight. He wiped his arm clean with a Kleenex and sat on the bed, studying his new scars. He had several on his arms now, all around and up and down.
Unbeknownst to the third, Rei was watching from the doorway. Her lips were pressed into a slight frown as she watched her loved one hurt himself. After Shinji had finished, she turned around and silently left the hallway.
*~*~*~*~*~*
*BRING*
"Ikari."
"Commander… as you know, the kidnapping did not go as planned, and the third and first are still tightly together…"
"Yes. I know all this. What do you want Akagi?"
"Shinji is still hurting himself."
"This does not concern me. You deal with it. Our first priority is the dummy plug system. Then we will worry about the Commencement Project, then Shinji. Any questions?"
"No sir."
"Good." *click*
"…"
*~*~*~*~*
Gendo Ikari sat back in his chair. The room was dark, only the door and the light beyond visible, but Gendo knew the office like the back of his hand. He could navigate it after being spun in circles.
He was putting the finishing touches on the Commencement Project in his head. He grinned at his own cleverness.
"Soon Yui, we will be together again,"
*~*~*~*~*~*
Shinji put on a long-sleeved shirt and walked back down stairs. It was dark now, after a long nap and some TV. Kaji and Rei and Shinji were the only ones in the household and all the activity was now in the TV room.
"Hey, kiddo. We're gonna watch a special on Deadsy, wanna watch with us?" Kaji asked, thumbing the remote.
"What's a Deadsy?" Shinji asked.
"They're a band. You'd like them, they're… Goth rock I guess. They have a lot of cool synthesizer effects and stuff," Kaji replied.
"Sounds interesting," Shinji said, sitting next to Rei.
She laid her head on his shoulder and leaned against him. The two were on a couch next to Kaji, who was in a big chair.
Kaji smiled and looked to the TV as a picture of Deadsy came up. There were six guys all dressed up in weird clothes and make-up with a cool song playing in the background.
Shinji put his arm around Rei and the two sat through the special, not really paying attention to the TV.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Toji was scared. More scared then he had ever been in his life. Sweat poured off him and into the LCL like his courage, which was draining rapidly.
The screen came online and he saw Dr. Akagi's face.
"Just calm down Toji. We're activating your EVA right now. Relax and close your eyes," Akagi said soothingly.
Toji closed his eyes and felt the rush of the EVA starting. Everything went smoothly until they were almost done, when Toji felt a pain in his stomach.
He moaned, and it got worse. He heated up and felt the pain crawl along his stomach walls and spread to his whole body in a matter of moments.
His head felt as if it were going to pop and he screamed, but couldn't hear himself. The pain turned into a tingling like a thousand fingers poking him from the inside.
'Don't fight.' came a strange voice.
'What?' Toji thought.
'I'll set you free.'
……….continued
Author's notes: That one went quickly. Hope you liked it. Deadsy really is a band too, they're pretty cool. Check'em out.