Disclaimer: see chapter 1.

Folded Wings

By Random1377

Chapter 16

Kaji did not bother looking up from his snack as he heard the sound of a key sliding into the front door lock. If it was someone coming to kill him, he figured, they probably wouldn't have a key… and if they did, and were bold enough to just walk through the front door, then more power to them.

He could kill with a fork just as well as a gun, anyway.

"I am home."

"Welcome home."

Rei closed the door behind herself.

Kaji sighed.

"Lock it."

The blue haired girl looked at him blankly for a minute until he pointed to the door.

I'm gonna get her to remember that if it's the last thing I do, Kaji thought darkly. Honestly, how hard is it to remember to-

His thoughts trailed off as Rei finished locking the door and stepped further into the apartment. "Been hanging out with Hikari again?" he sighed, shaking his head as the girl absently touched her newest bruise. "I don't know what the Commander's been teaching you about friends, Rei, but when they beat the crap out of you, it's time to look for new ones."

"Hikari did not do this," Rei said simply. "It was pilot Souryu."

Kaji pursed his lips. He could only think of one reason for the Second to move from verbal to physical assault.

"Found out, did she?"

"Yes."

"Ah."

Could be worse, he thought pragmatically, at least she's not pounding on the front door, demanding to stay too. He grimaced at a sudden thought. Unless she's packing. With Misato laid up in the hospital, it's not like she'd stand in the way.

Shrugging, he pushed the gruesome thought away. "Hell of a day, huh?" he said lightly. "Angel fights… human fights… it makes a guy wonder if his roommate doesn't secretly enjoy confrontation."

Rei simply stared at him, wondering if it would be horribly rude to just go to bed.

It seemed that their conversations were moving away from companionable discussions between friends and into the realm of parent/daughter lecturing, a trend Rei did not like in the least.

"Cake?"

Glancing down, Rei finally noticed what Kaji was eating. Her brow furrowed ever so faintly as she noticed that half of the store-bought chocolate cake was missing – and she was sure that it had been whole when she'd left for school that morning.

She was just opening her mouth to decline his offer when Kaji said, "Have you ever had cake, Rei?"

Rei closed her mouth.

The Commander had never been a cake and ice cream kind of guardian… and Rei was not exactly outgoing, so she was not invited to many birthday parties when she was younger – and the Commander never allowed her to go to the ones she was invited to anyway. She had never been to a wedding, and had been taught from an early age that healthy eating was important and sweets were something to be avoided.

"No."

Kaji turned his chair around.

"Come."

Rei stared as the man pointed to the floor in front of his seat, showing no sign that he was anything but serious. Slowly, she stepped closer, moving forward until she was standing right in front of him.

"Open."

Again, Rei just stared.

"Open… your… mouth."

The absurdity of the situation was too much for Rei to bear. "I… do not wish to," she said quietly. "I-"

"Do it or get out," Kaji interrupted, sticking his fork into the slice of cake on his plate and braking off a large bite. "My house, my rules. Open your mouth."

"You would… ask me to leave because I won't eat cake?" Rei asked, unable to hide the note of incredulity in her voice.

"Damn right I would," Kaji declared. "Last chance. Open up."

Slowly, Rei's mouth opened.

"Eat!"

Abruptly, rich, room temperature chocolate was shoved into her mouth, dissolving almost the second it hit her tongue. Rei closed her lips around the fork to ensure that none of the sticky substance spilled on her clothes as Kaji slowly pulled back, watching her closely for her reaction.

"Well?" he prompted as she slowly began to chew. "Good, isn't it?"

After several seconds of chewing, Rei swallowed. "It is…"

"Yeah?"

"…too sweet."

Kaji grinned as the girl turned away.

"Then why are you blushing?"

Rei came up short. "I am not blushing."

"Yeah you are."

"I am not."

"Are too."

Closing her mouth, Rei realized that this childish argument was not one she was likely to win. Better to just let the man believe what he wanted.

A little flush was not a 'blush' anyway.

"Hell of a day today, huh?" Kaji repeated softly, absently bringing the fork to his lips and licking a bit of chocolate Rei had missed. "Shame about the Fourth, though."

Rei glanced over her shoulder. "I… don't understand."

The Commander said he was to be quarantined, she thought with some confusion.

Kaji set his fork down. "I guess you wouldn't know this," he said evenly. "He had to be sedated when he woke up… he was screaming and throwing things around the hospital room – kept raving that they'd never get him into 'that monster' again, so they'd better just let him out."

"Oh," Rei said, nearly weak with relief, "no, I was not aware of that."

"…did you think I was going to tell you they'd killed him?"

Rei stared at the man, impressed by his intuition. "Yes," she said quietly, seeing no reason to hide it. "The Commander mentioned that Suzuhara may have been contaminated, so his death was, and still is, a real possibility."

Ah, Kaji thought, new information. Didn't know WHY he was being isolated… thanks, Rei.

"Hey, pull up a seat," he said suddenly, "have a slice. Cake tastes better when you eat it with someone else. Clinically proven fact."

Rei doubted very much that there were any documented results to back Kaji's claim, but countered with the simple, "It is too sweet," rather than pointing this out.

"Come on," Kaji chided, "I saw your face, I know you liked it. Have a whole slice, and you'll be looking for clean panties!"

This time, Rei did blush… if faintly.

"Are there any topics that do not bring you back to the subjects of food and sex?"

Kaji rested his arm on the table and leaned closer to Rei, his eyes gleaming in the light from the kitchen as he whispered, "Life is hard, and short, Miss Ayanami… you should have as much good food and good sex as you can, because you never know when it might be the last time you get it."

Rei considered this statement for a long moment before slowly replying, "Are you… recommending that I engage in se-"

"Ha!" Kaji broke in. "Nice try! No, Miss Ayanami, I'm not saying you should go out and start sleeping around… you're not pinning that one on me – if you choose to share your bed with someone, it's on your own head, not mine."

"But… you would not be upset if I did…?"

Kaji slapped his hands over his face. "Talking to you gives me a headache," he said, his voice muffled by his palms. "I'm not your parent, I'm not your guardian, and I'm not your superior – I'm just some guy you live with, ok? So stop trying to get me to validate your desires. Make your own damn decisions."

Lowering her gaze, Rei replied, "Your opinion is important to me, Mister Kaji. I-"

"My opinion is that you should stop trying to get me to say that it's ok for you to have sex," Kaji cut in flatly. "My opinion is that you're too young to even think about stuff like that, let alone do it. Look," he said earnestly, pulling his hands away from his face and spreading them out to the sides in exasperation, "what are you trying to accomplish, hm? Dating a bunch of people, making out with another girl, asking me if I'd be ok with it if you had sex – why? Why are you doing all of this, Rei? What is it accomplishing?"

"I am spre-"

"Don't… say it again."

Rei stared as Kaji got to his feet and towered over her.

"Stop falling back on that stupid saying," he said coldly. "You don't have wings, Rei – get it? There's nothing to spread! Humans are earthbound creatures – we can't rise above… that's why NERV exists. That's why SEELE exists. That's why YOU exist!"

Like a puppet with its strings cut, Kaji slumped back into his seat, covering his eyes with one hand as Rei stared down at the floor.

"Sorry," he whispered. "That was… God, 'uncalled for' doesn't even begin to cut it…"

"No," Rei said softly, hesitantly laying her fingers on top of his hand and drawing it away from his eyes. "You are right. That is the reason I exist in this world. I do not know how much you know about my nature, but you are entirely right. My sole purpose is to-"

"Shh."

Rei fell silent as Kaji laid a finger against her lips.

"Even if you only exist to lick the Commander's boot, it's not my place to slap you down," he said seriously. "It was a shitty thing to say… and I'm sorry."

Slowly, Rei took his hand in hers, moving it from her lips over to her cheek.

"Rei-"

"Goodnight, Mister Kaji," she said quietly, cutting him off before he could say another word. "Pleasant dreams."

Holding his hand against her face for a moment longer, she met his gaze head-on. Finally, she released him, stepped away, and walked into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

"Ohhhh man…" Kaji groaned, regarding his hand for a moment as the sound of running water reached his ears.

Get out, man, his mind told him, the longer she stays, the more comfortable you get, and the more comfortable you get, the more likely it is that she'll be staring up at you, covered in sweat, moaning your name while you f-

Kaji cut this thought off with a ruthless mental snap, yanking his plate closer and digging his fork into the chocolate cake once more. Shoveling a large bite into his mouth, he grimaced.

"Feh!"

He grunted, shoving the plate away and throwing the fork across the room.

"She was right," he muttered disgustedly "it really is too sweet."

( 0 0 0 )

Shinji flinched as the front door to the apartment banged open. "Umm… hi…?"

"Did you know?"

The Third paled. He knew the voice, he knew the question… and he knew that if he ran away, what he was cooking would burn.

How did she time it so she'd come in right when I was in the middle of sautéing?

The she in question stalked into the kitchen. Or rather, she strode in calmly, folded her arms over her breasts, and waited with an expression of absolute patience on her face, as if she had all the time in the world for Shinji to reply to her simple inquiry.

Shinji had simply expected her to be stalking, and was thus rather off guard by her demeanor.

"Did I know… what?" he asked, hoping he could bank on her repeatedly stated opinion that he was an idiot to delay the verbal flaying he sensed coming.

Asuka was having none of it. "Did you know, or not?" she asked softly. "Tell me the truth, Shinji."

Shinji wet his lips. It was early morning… and Asuka had been out all night. No matter what response he gave, he figured, she was going to be cranky about it.

Might as well just say it and get it over with…

"…yeah, I knew."

Immediately, Asuka strode over to the stove, turning the gas off and grabbing the front of Shinji's apron.

"Tell me what's better about her."

"I… huh?"

"You're screwing her, aren't you?"

"What?"

"No," Asuka muttered to herself, "you wouldn't have the guts."

Shinji blushed brightly, but before he could say anything, Asuka was talking again.

"What makes her better?" the redhead demanded quietly. "The Commander, Hikari, Kaji, you, everyone thinks she's so goddamn perfect. Tell me why, Shinji. Hikari told me First made dinner for you, so I know you're seeing her. Tell me what makes her so great."

"W-well, shemmmph!"

Shinji's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as Asuka yanked him closer, covering his mouth with her own and giving him a deep, French-kiss.

"She ever do that?"

Shaking his head as the Second pulled back, Shinji could not manage to actually speak.

"She's a freak, Ikari," Asuka whispered seriously. "Do you know what she did to Hikari?"

Wide-eyed – and a little scared by the redhead's intensity – Shinji shook his head.

Asuka brought her mouth right next to Shinji's ear.

"N-no way," Shinji gasped, blurting the first thing that came to mind. "She wouldn't… do that…!"

"Where do you think she got that bruise?" Asuka whispered, keeping her mouth next to Shinji's ear. "I'm telling you, Shinji… she doesn't care about you, she's playing you for a fool. She even told Hikari that there's a third person she likes…"

Shinji's shoulders slumped. "…no. You're lying. You're lying because-"

"Shh…" Asuka cut in, moving around until her lips were brushing Shinji's. "You know I'm not."

Closing his eyes, Shinji took a deep breath and whispered, "So what?"

Asuka blinked. "Huh?"

"I said so what," Shinji repeated softly. "Why do you care anyway? I don't care if she's using me… at least she's nice to me."

Asuka's eyes flashed. "You're a loser," she hissed. "She's running around with another guy – and another girl!"

Shinji nodded, shrugging out of Asuka's arms as he replied, "Yeah but… she's with me, too…"

Throwing her hands up in the air, Asuka snapped, "So that's it? All it takes for you to be someone's lapdog is for them to be nice to you?"

Shinji's voice was barely audible as he replied.

"…yeah."

"Unbelievable!"

Abruptly, Asuka draped her arms over Shinji's shoulders, half closing her eyes as she leaned in close, letting him feel her breath on his throat.

"I can be nice too, Shinji," she whispered, pulling him a bit closer to allow him to feel how soft her body was. "Will you be with me?"

Shinji felt like he was drowning. "But… but you don't want to be with me," he nearly sobbed.

"What if I did?"

A chill ran up Shinji's spine as Asuka's lips brushed his throat.

"Maybe I was wrong, Shinji… maybe you're not that bad. If I asked, would you be with me, too?"

"But I'm with Re-"

"She's not with you," Asuka cut in sharply, softening her voice as she continued, "I mean she's not with just you… so you don't have to be with just her, right?" Before Shinji could reply, Asuka added, "I'll even go a step further and promise not to go out with other guys while we're together. Is it a deal?"

Shinji honestly did not know what to say. He knew, on some level, that Asuka was up to something – what, could not guess (revenge seemed too pedestrian for these lengths), but she was acting way too collected and rational for this to be a spur of the moment decision. Then again… his need to be accepted and liked by those around him was far too strong to simply dismiss her offer out of hand, so when his throat let out a croaking 'deal' it was issued into Asuka's shoulder.

"Good."

Asuka took a step back, leaning against the table and watching in silence as Shinji resumed cooking breakfast. Her placid blue eyes showed not a trace of her intentions, leaving Shinji with only his own suspicions as to what motivated the Second's sudden shift in attitude.

None of them were right.

Continued…