"Straight and swift to my wounded I go"

He had been heading towards the library, having need of certain textbooks for an assignment due the next day, when it happened.

An older man, tall and grim of face, had unexpectedly stumbled against him, knocking his violin case to the ground. Mumbling an apology, the man had bent down to retrieve it for him, and it had only been when he stood up to give it back that he realized who had bumped into him.

Director Ikari.

Surprised, he had replied that it was all right, and had waited for Ikari to move out of his way. The Director however had come to a complete stop, and had stared at him through those tinted red shades, the expression of his eyes hidden. Feeling a little unnerved, he had been about to ask if the other could move out if his way, when Ikari beat him to it.

"It's Nagisa, isn't it?"

He had replied that it was so.

"You're quite the skilled musician, or so your teacher tells me. Didn't you win first place at the competition last year?"

A nod.

"I see." There was a pause. "I believe you also know my son, Shinji?"

Surprise. It must have registered on his face for Ikari had added dryly:

"It's not something I brag about."

Trying to get over the shock of this startling new information, he had replied that he and Shinji were very good friends. Ikari had nodded, apparently taking this as a confirmation of some sort. Now thoroughly confused, he had asked if that was all. Startled out of his thoughts, Ikari had replied to the affirmative, and had apologized once more before walking off.

Later that day, he had learned through one of his friends that Ikari's wife had died some time ago.

Kaworu was frustrated. For three days now he had been unable to get a hold of Shinji, who apparently didn't want to see him. Every time he got anywhere near him, the other would immediately take off, ignoring Kaworu's cries to the contrary. He had never been able to catch up.

And to make matters worse, the few times he had managed to catch a glimpse of Shinji, what he saw alarmed him. Something was wrong. The younger boy looked pale, even thinner than before, and perfectly miserable to boot. His left arm had been bound in a makeshift cast, hanging limply at his side, while clutching every now and then at his stomach. It agitated Kaworu to no end.

He knew all this had something to do with what had transpired last week, the only problem was finding the connection. The circumstances in themselves were very suspicious. The fact that the request, or rather, command, had also not had a reason for it continued to bother him. That day, he had sulked about it for some time, extremely angry at the Director for interrupting what would have been a very special moment.

The reason Kaworu had asked Shinji to wait for him that day was so that when they were alone, he could ask the younger boy out on a date. He had planned to take Shinji to a nearby park, lovely and secluded, where they would have enjoyed a nice little picnic, all of Kaworu's devising. It would also have been a way of showing Shinji that he liked him as more than a friend, a fact he took no pains to conceal.

Of course, that wasn't what happened, and Kaworu had alternated between fits of anger and bouts of worry for almost an hour. When he had finally calmed down, though, the sudden idea had come to him of going to see whether Shinji had come out yet. Berating his stupidity for not thinking of it sooner, he had raced off to the Director's office as night slowly fell.

Once there, he noticed two things: the door was still shut, and there was trail of blood leading off somewhere. Upon closer inspection, he had discovered that the blood was still recent, though the owner was undoubtly long gone. Wonderful. As if that weren't enough, he had then noticed that there was a noise coming from behind the door. Moaning, it sounded like, from what was most definitely a girl.

Curious and not a little unafraid of what he might find, Kaworu had crept towards the door, taking particular attention not to make any noise. Upon reaching it, he had pressed his ear against it. There were two voices, one panting and one moaning. Unable to contain himself, Kaworu had opened the door, surprisingly unlocked, and was met by the following scene.

Ayanami Rei lay flat across a desk, back arched as Director Ikari, who stood over her, buried his face in her neck while at the same time roaming underneath her skirt. Kaworu had stood there for what was perhaps a few seconds before Ayanami noticed him and gave a little cry. Not giving Ikari a chance to get up, Kaworu had slammed the door so hard he was surprised the glass hadn't broken. He then took off as if his life depended on it.

Kaworu had been sick to his stomach for the entire weekend, unable to get the image of the older man pressed up against the younger girl out of his head. He still hadn't told anyone. He wanted to tell Shinji, but obviously, he couldn't. Then again, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea to break the news to Shinji that his father was pedophile. There was enough to deal with.

Like how he was going to talk to Shinji at all. He had been searching for Shinji ever since lunch began, but had had no luck. Sighing, Kaworu leaned against the wall for a moment, taking a moment to catch his breath.

Rather tired, he surveyed the surroundings once more before stopping abruptly as his eyes focused on one spot in particular. A tree. Shinji was there, sitting beneath it. His eyes were closed, a pained expression on his sweet face. And despite the chilly weather, he still wore his summer uniform. Now was his chance. Kaworu tentatively took a few steps forward in Shinji's direction, praying that he wouldn't run off this time.

Luckily for him, by the time he reached Shinji, the younger boy still had his eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to the outside world. From where he stood, Kaworu could see that things were much worse than he had thought. A long, white scar was etched on Shinji's cheek, prominent against the flushed skin of his face. Kaworu suspected he knew all too well where it had come from.

Shinji stirred, his eyes fluttering open.

"Kaworu?"

It was almost a whisper, low and gentle, full of sadness and longing. Shinji's dark, angelic eyes bored into Kaworu's.

"Shinji." Spoken softly, like a caress.

"What are you doing here?" Surprise.

"I've missed you." The truth.

"Please, Kaworu, you've got to leave." Dark hair shaded eyes.

"Shinji, don't you like me anymore?" Pain.

"No! I...I just can't." Shinji burst into tears.

Kaworu sat down, his face a mask concealing the emotions that threatened to overthrow him. He put himself closer, until their faces were barely touching. He moved towards the other's ear and gently, lovingly, whispered into it.

"Shinji."

The younger boy shuddered, laying against the tree and baring his neck to Kaworu, who softly brushed his lips across it.

"Shinji."

He repeated it, like a prayer, in the other boy's ear. The name that was everything for him, the name that stood for the one he wanted so desperately right now.

"Shinji."

He moved from the neck to Shinji's jaw, kissing it with a barely contained heat. His lips then moved to place a series of butterfly kisses on the cruel scar that had marred this beautiful face. The eyes were next, kissed over and over until Shinji's tears were all gone. Special attention was given to the bare flesh of the chest, Kaworu's hot tongue causing Shinji to moan.

Gently, he drew Shinji into an embrace, loving the feel of the younger boy against him. He could not contain it any longer.

"Shinji, my dearest Shinji, I shall never let anyone come between us again. You are my dearest one, and I cannot stand to see you suffer so. Believe me when I say that whatever haunts you, I will free you from it. No one shall ever treat you like this again, I shall see to it. From now on, I will protect you, with all the love I have. Please, my lovely one, trust in me. I shall always be there to kiss your tears away."

Shinji was silent for a few moments before looking up at Kaworu, the expression in his eyes unreadable.

"Kaworu?"

"Hm?"

"Does this mean you'll be my boyfriend?"

Kaworu laughed for what felt like the first time in ages, and placed a kiss on his beautiful, blushing new boyfriend.