+++++ Tokyo-3 High School. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

Shinji could feel the odd looks he was getting from the rest of the student body as they filtered past. He felt extremely exposed while standing out at the front gate of the school, surrounded by seven out of the eight students in his class, and performing those magic tricks that he felt the most comfortable engaging in with a still unfamiliar deck of cards. 'Accidentally' dropping the deck only to catch it and show the chosen card, 'fumbling' the cut repeatedly while walking the cards in a laddering motion until the chosen card was face up and on top of the deck, 'pulling' the cards from behind someone's ear, each trick practiced and rehearsed so often that he was able to perform them flawlessly while not looking at what he was doing at all. His eyes remained in motion, checking every inch of space for potential problems. All because he hadn't seen Mitsuru since the break in classes before PE.

Eriko Kirishima applauded eagerly at the latest trick before asking, "How did you find the time to practice all of this? You play the piano, you know card tricks, I can barely find time to do homework."

With his mind otherwise engaged, his mouth was free to roam. "I learned to play instruments because I wasn't allowed to go outside and make friends with anyone. I never learned to swim, or to ride a bike, or how to speak on the phone. I was put in my room to keep me out of the way while Meroko-sama did important things, so I had all the time in the world to learn how…to…." Mind and mouth once more met in the middle, and Shinji realized that the seven women around him were all looking at him with a clear distaste for the woman who he'd lived with. Stopping the motions of the card tricks dead, he ducked his head and placed them back in the sleeve. "S-sorry."

Rise broke the societally trained stasis before anyone else could, "Why did you call her '-sama', Shinji-kun?"

"Because that's, like, what he was trained to call her." Yuka moved over and put her arm around Shinji's waist, hugging his side and looking at the other ladies. "I know I'm not the only one who had an adult be a total dick to me, insisting I call them, like, 'uncle' or 'aunt' to try and put me down. This Meroko bitch probably just forced him to do it so she could feel powerful." Squeezing him, she gave him a sassy grin and offered, "Don't worry, we're your friends now. We'll totally teach you how to do stuff."

The human contact, much like it had earlier with Sayoko, felt embarrassingly pleasant. Yuka was a cute, if oddly dressed, young woman. She was holding onto his side stating that he was her friend. She was demonstrating some parts of the emotions she felt, and she had chosen to do it of her own free will. Shinji blushed, a swell of attraction and hope spiking his skull. "Th-thank you."

"My apologies for my late arrival," Mitsuru announced herself with a modicum of irritation. "The principal required more of my time than I had anticipated." Motioning towards the gate, she dismissed everyone else to their homes. "We should get going, Ikari-san, my mother is waiting. Please be safe going home, ladies…I've heard some disturbing reports just now. Try to stay in a group for as long as possible, and be aware of the potential for rain."

Shinji could feel the air about the group grow tense. Yuka and Eriko were the first to depart, the former giving him a final friendly pat on the back and the latter striking up a conversation with the former about the chance to test a few theories. Ulala and Sumire paired up and both waved their farewells to Shinji before hurrying off in a different direction. Yukiko, Rise, and Chie nodded to each other, then gave three different types of farewell that suited their personalities all too well. When it was finally just him and Mitsuru standing there, he took another look at the sky, then back down to her. "A code phrase?"

"We've always wondered if Tartarus might someday bleed out into the real world," she replied. "After the terrorist attack on NERV yesterday, it appears that it might be. I received a letter on my way back here, and it told me to be cautious about trusting people." She pulled it out and handed the letter to Shinji in a display of trust. "Let's go, but carefully." The transition in her companion from nervous and cautious to wary and protective was more of a pleasant surprise than it was a shocking one. She'd long since gained the opinion that Shinji was the type of person who put himself in harm's way instead of allowing others to carry some of the burden. He had people he cared about, now. He would not suffer the loss of any of them.

The door was opened as they approached the limo that would ferry them to their destination, the woman holding it none other than Yuko. After he helped Mitsuru into the car by holding her bag and offering his hand as a point of balance, he leaned over and whispered to his EA. "Need to talk, tonight."

"I am ever at your service," she replied softly. Taking both Mitsuru's and his bags from him, she tipped her head towards the car to urge him inside.

"Ugh, what a day it has been," Miyuki stated by way of greeting as he sat down once again by Mitsuru. "I spent five hours discussing the plan to reopen shops throughout Japan with the Prime Minister, and I swear it felt like ten instead. Please tell me that your day went better."

Mitsuru smiled tolerantly at what she knew her mother to be doing. She had acted this way every time Mitsuru herself had suffered through a trying day, pushing her to look for the positive aspects instead of dwelling on those frustrations that she couldn't address immediately. "I would say that it went rather well," she replied, attempting to set the tone for Shinji. "Shinji proved that while he might not have had the best formal education, he has an incredibly sharp mind. More than once, he asked a question that brought out the best in our teachers, or gave our fellow students insight into the subject from a new perspective."

"Wonderful," she beamed as the car began to move towards their next destination. "What about you, Shinji-kun? Do you feel the same as our dear Mitsuru-chan?"

The question had a different meaning, for him. The day had started out poorly, and ended oddly. He felt he held everyone back, instead of spurring them on. He made several mistakes, though he hadn't been punished for them. In the end, honesty won out over everything else. "It…was an odd day, but I've had much worse."

"I see, I see." Miyuki nodded slowly. "If I might ask, how do you feel about your teachers? These are, after all, the first you've had." After asking the question, she tapped her knee in an odd pattern, leading to Mitsuru folding her hands in her lap and looking out the window.

Wary about potential attacks, Shinji was far too 'keyed up' to not notice such an obvious deflection. He didn't sense any danger imminent to himself, but he also couldn't place what it was that his hostess was feeling at the moment. "They're fine."

"Oh?" Her head tilted slightly, expecting more.

The small motion she'd made pressed down on him hard. He wasn't being forthcoming. He wasn't giving her what she was asking for. He was prevaricating, and that was going to lead to punishment. "K-Kawakami-sensei has been very helpful to me…in teaching me to swim, or listening to my questions, or helping me understand what I'm missing. I-I'm…I'm really glad to have her as a teacher." The feeling of pressure eased somewhat as he spoke, her lips curling into a small grin. "Toriumi-sensei is capable of breaking down a subject enough to explain the mechanics without becoming bogged down in pedantics. She…uhm, she doesn't talk down to us, she treats us like we're capable of succeeding."

Miyuki waited for a three count before reaching the point she wished to see discussed, "And Kashiwagi-sensei?"

"I only had her for two periods today, I don't know if it is fair to give an assessment."

"There are some who would say that two days is an insufficient period of time to give someone a fair assessment," she countered. "You opened up enough to Kawakami-sensei on your first day in school that she felt comfortable enough with the information you provided without knowing you provided it to make a recommendation to the principal's office that you be considered a candidate for therapy. Toriumi-sensei argued, vehemently, that limiting your classroom to two teachers would be optimal for your health as it would require less by way of adaptability while you were learning entirely new skills. Both mentioned that they had previously raised concerns regarding Kashiwagi's reputation amongst the students, and neither wanted her within a country mile of you after the first hour they'd spent with you." She shook her head, her voice gentle though her words were irritated, "You cannot be expected to not see dragons everywhere, Shinji. But you also must speak up to someone if you feel uncomfortable with an adult that you are being forced to interact with. I cannot help you if you do not tell me that something is wrong. The instant you saw her this morning, what was your perception of her?"

He looked down at his hands. "That her libido was tied directly to her sense of self-worth. She needs men to appreciate her body, and the physical attributes she possesses, out of fear. Without her large breasts and sultry voice, she feels she would never gain attention again."

Miyuki noticed her daughter blink, though she wasn't surprised that she had missed Shinji's natural insights. "And do you appreciate her body?"

"Not really." He frowned, analyzing his own feelings on the issue. "Her breasts may be large, and smooth, but they aren't unique. Katsuragi-san's are larger, as are Yuka-san's, Ulala-san's, and Kawakami-sensei's. What point is there in being proud of a physical characteristic that you can't change without surgical intervention? Her voice may be appealing, but that doesn't really do much to change what it's saying. A body is simply a physical vessel for whatever we are in our minds, and holds only as much value as we choose to give it." He looked back at her, and shrugged. "She has noticeable attributes, but the things that come along with those attributes makes them worthless."

A sense of pride in the man seated by her washed across Mitsuru. Too many of the boys in her school had accepted the empty flirtations of Noriko Kashiwagi, and there were several rumors that more than one of those boys had been spotted 'being tutored' by her. There had been no admissions of guilt, and no complaints from parents, and so no action would be taken. Besides never finding someone she truly desired to date, Mitsuru had believed that she ought to wait for someone who looked past the outer features that she'd been gifted by genetics and exercise. Now that he was sitting next to her, she felt her conviction in encouraging him to explore opportunities elsewhere begin to flag somewhat.

"I am pleased that you say that," Miyuki replied, her voice soft. "Mitsuru-chan spoke with the principal, assisted by Toriumi-sensei, and they convinced the principal that it set a bad example for the ladies in your class if Kashiwagi-sensei were allowed to 'playfully flirt' with the only male student, and especially with the young man responsible for ensuring that everyone remained alive last night. The 'fuss' that you insisted would not be necessary was, in fact, necessary. My daughter made the correct decision for you, and for everyone else in your class. If they will not remove her as a teacher, then they will at least remove her from your classroom. Kawakami-sensei and Toriumi-sensei will gladly accept the extra workload, and you will remain free of inappropriate interactions."

The rote response was out of his mouth before he could edit it, "Yes, ma'am." His teeth clacked together, and then he looked down in disappointment. "I'm sorry…. Yes, Miyuki-san."

"None of that, now," she corrected him with a laugh. A quick gesture for Mitsuru to move closer and support Shinji was followed with, "I am frustrated because I ought to have vetted the teachers assigned to you more carefully. You trust me to put you in the best position to succeed, and your trust was misplaced here. I expressed my desire to your principal, and now I will express my disappointment. How she has managed to miss a potential sexual predator is beyond me."

Taking one of his hands in both of her own, Mitsuru gave Shinji a confident smile. "I know that you told me I didn't need to make a fuss, but I need you to understand that I would have done the exact same thing if I had found a teacher harassing any of my peers. Would you accept me allowing Sumire-chan having some teacher leering at her while she's stretching during gym? Or someone sneaking pictures of Rise-chan?" She squeezed his hand when he shook his head in denial. "Exactly. You deserve the same protection as anyone else, and I have been honored with the responsibility to protect all of you."

The car slowing to a halt at a gated entrance caused him to look away to see what the motion outside the vehicle was. Through tinted windows he saw two imposing women dressed in sharp-looking security uniforms, and another speaking to the driver in the segmented portion of the vehicle ahead of the cabin he rode within. "I…uhm, I thought this was a showroom."

"It is," Miyuki responded easily, "but it's also a location with a great deal of valuable products inside. Where we are going isn't really intended for the average consumer. What we sell here is concept-driven, and intended to be sold to vendors for them to sell to consumers. High tech, high concept, and high quality. I would be a fool to not insist upon robust security for the facility."

The door to the limo opened, and the same guard ducked down to look inside. "Good afternoon, Kirijo-san, Kirijo-sama." She ducked her head politely to the two ladies, then looked at Shinji for a second before adding. "Welcome to the Kirijo Group Showroom, Ikari-san. Please enjoy your tour, and accept our detachment's appreciation for your defense of our homes."

Before he could reply, she had shut the door and patted the top of the vehicle to signal the driver to move on. As for the reason she hesitated, or to the point of her praise, Shinji was at a loss. Regardless, he had little time to ponder the matter before they reached a C-shaped driveway adjoined by a set of stairs that was staffed by ten employees, two for each step, all facing one another. It was exactly the type of entryway that Shinji believed would exist to 'wow' important businesspeople, and exactly the wrong type of entryway for someone like him to use.

"Allow me to exit first, if you would," Miyuki asked, moving to sit next to the door that was about to be opened by the closest employee. Stepping out onto the ground, she remained at the car door and spoke to the staff present, "Thank you, ladies, for being here today to help me begin to address a situation that has personal meaning to me. I know that it is unnecessary, but I would like to remind everyone present that the gentleman I will be introducing you to has not had the easiest of lives. He has lived in serious deprivation, unable to enjoy many of our fine products that we all take for granted. Your NDAs were updated this morning, as you are aware, so no information regarding his selections is to be revealed to the public. We are working hand in hand with NERV on helping him, and we will help him."

The assembled women repeated the company's mantra in unison, acknowledging her instructions, "Two in Harmony Surpasses One in Perfection."

As her mother moved aside, Mitsuru leaned closer to Shinji and whispered, "Would you mind if I held onto your arm? This tour is going to be a bit of an ordeal, and I think you might find some comfort in knowing someone's beside you."

"S-sure," he agreed heartily. It wasn't that he was drooling at the possibility of having a beautiful woman on his arm, however. He fully agreed that he was about to be in yet another strange place surrounded by yet more strange people for however long it took to pretend he was making decisions. Having Mitsuru's support, freely offered, was a blessing from the heavens. Before he could move to exit, intending to help Mitsuru out of the vehicle, she flipped the roles on him.

Calmly exiting the vehicle, then turning around and offering her hand to him, she gave the distinct impression to everyone present that she was asserting some form of claim upon him. Shifting her grip from supporting his balance to holding onto his arm, she cast a firm look at her mother to dissuade her from making any announcements. She knew that displays like this would suit Miyuki's designs, and buy her time to allow Shinji to adapt to the situation. "Thank you for meeting us here, Aunties. As my mother stated, Shinji-kun does not know about our company or its products. He grew up in a world where 'extravagance' was being allowed to sit outside under the warmth of the sun. Not because he was poor, his mother sent more than sufficient funds to his caretaker to purchase any of our fine products, but because the woman charged with rearing him actively refused to do anything that might spark joy or hope within him. Today, we begin redressing that."

The assembled women bowed politely towards Shinji, intoning as one, "Thank you for choosing the Kirijo Group, Ikari-san, allow us to help you."

He was already tense with concern for a potential attack on his classmates, or for another Angel appearing for him to fight, or for the dream he was experiencing to end only to reveal Meroko once more in charge of his life. That tension was only kept in check by Mitsuru slowly stroking her fingers down his arm. She was there, physically, and so he had no choice but to remain calm. Panic would mean that she was in danger, and so panic could not be allowed to 'run the show'. "Th-thank you, ladies, for welcoming a stranger."

Miyuki began walking up the steps, turning her face slightly towards him with an approving smile. "But a stranger no longer. Just as we work with your mother, Yui Ikari, to protect our beloved nation we now also work with you, her son. This is another step towards harmony between our families, Shinji-kun."

The woman closest to the door swiped her badge across the reader, allowing the broad glass panels to slide open and a wash of warm, strangely scented, air to flow past the group. Shinji kept his pace to Mitsuru's, and his head on a swivel. The front entry area served as a 'trophy room', with displays of historical innovations that were spearheaded by the Kirijo Group. Televisions, stereos, dishwashers, freezers, every aspect of home life that was made easier or less expensive by revolutions in mechanical, biological, or chemical sciences. The first thing to truly catch his attention, however, was an electric guitar resting in one corner out of the way of most of the more commonly sold items. "You…make instruments?"

One of the women, her name badge indicating that she was the Chief Public Relations Officer for the 'Matsumoku Industrial Division', took her place just within his peripheral line of sight and gestured towards the instrument. "We make a few, select, instruments for more selective clientele. Matsumoku Industrial was brought back from the brink of death when the Kirijo Group purchased our Division from the Singer Corporation when they moved their business out of Japan due to near bankruptcy in 1987. Kouetsu Kirijo, then head of the Kirijo Group, felt that it would be a shame to allow such excellent luthiers to be consigned to the dustbin of history and purchased them from Singer. At that point, Matsumoku Industrial was given the charge to expand beyond guitars and into other types of instruments by cooperating with musicians who preferred to experiment and create."

"The piano you played so wonderfully was a wedding gift from the Division Chief," Miyuki added with a sad smile. "One of their technicians came out this morning and retuned it, actually."

That he had been allowed to play on a musical instrument crafted specifically for his hostess' wedding made Shinji feel all the more honored. "It's a beautiful instrument…they both are." He politely gestured to the guitar with two fingers. "You can see that it is stored with display strings, not intended for actual use. That keeps the components from becoming worn by tension, and reduces the need to handle it often."

"Should we start with a tour of Matsumoku's section?" Mitsuru 'asked' with the clear intent of insisting on the matter. She'd felt the tension begin to leave Shinji as he listened to the woman give the history of Matsumoku Industrial, and thought it might be good to further immerse him in that environment so that he made choices later on with a clearer head.

Miyuki agreed with her daughter's assessment, "An excellent idea. I would like to find out exactly what instruments Shinji-kun is conversant with. After all, an artist should never be left without their tools."

+++++ NERV. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

"These 'women' have some rather…unique markings." Naoko Akagi scowled at the images taken before and after the autopsies that were performed on the group that attacked NERV during the Angel's assault. "I don't recognize the language, and I don't see any consistency between examples. No lexical patterns, or even consistent placement. It's like they carved these symbols at random."

Yui Ikari sighed, leaning back in her chair and pinching the bridge of her nose to try and alleviate the headache that had been building over the past day. "To quote, 'Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel.' This was the description given by one man, who claimed he was given a vision by the Abrahamic god, then translated through several languages. Consistent appearance is not what I would presume to find here."

"Yes, yes," she waved off the point, "delusion generators attempting to place higher dimensional beings into a two-dimensional depiction in a three dimensional world. What I'm saying is, even if the viewer has a different perspective on the being, the depiction of it should at least bear general similarities. These…women were acting with unified intent, not exactly a hallmark of theistically disparate factions."

"It might be a feint. They might simply have been sent to give the appearance of organized chaos."

"Or it might be that the one known SEELE member alive at the moment isn't involved." Naoko rattled her pen against the tabletop. "These might not be humans. They might not be women. They might not even be real. After Sachiel broke off his attack during the Event, we've not seen any sign of them. We might honestly be facing an entirely new enemy, one that the Dead Sea Scrolls did not predict."

Yui glared at her friend. "SEELE does not give up simply because one of their number dies. They are after immortality and absolute control, they are megalomaniacs with a bottomless budget. I should not have to remind you of this."

"Nor should you start developing tunnel vision," she countered coolly. "If SEELE is not our only enemy anymore, we are going to have to change our scenario to account for that. This," she tapped the image, "does not have the hallmarks of SEELE. They would never think to do something that might draw attention directly back to them, because that is not how they have ever operated. They may be megalomaniacs with no funding problems, but they're still human megalomaniacs. They have habits, tendencies, and tells. This is very unlikely to be their doing."

"They stormed the guard post, went straight to the medical bay, killed four nurses, two doctors, and a corpsman, and were only stopped by a young woman who should not have been there to begin with. They had knowledge of the facility, and a reason for going where they went."

"They overwhelmed an undertrained glorified mall cop and were forced to move towards the medical bay by actual Section Two agents who were defending the more immediately vital sections of the installation. You're looking for a conspiracy because you're used to conspiracies, Yui." Tapping a button and turning off the displays, she reached over and took her longtime friend's hand. "You need to get some sleep. Kyoko-chan and I can handle everything for a few hours, and I'll make sure to have a report on the choices Shinji-kun makes for you when you wake up."

Yui's right eyebrow raised slightly, a clear indicator that she was unamused.

"Don't give me that," Naoko chided. "More than once you've done this exact same thing to me. That's why there's three of us. SEELE isn't the only batch of megalomaniacs, and having two other women we trust stops us from looking at this like a power grab. You're the Commander for a good reason, and I'm perfectly comfortable playing second chair."

Breathing out an irritated sigh, Yui let her head droop forward slightly. "Promise me you'll push Section Two to continue background investigations on these women."

"I will make sure they complete it properly." Standing up, she stretched her limbs out demonstrably. "I'll also set my daughter to checking these symbols as well. Ritsuko-chan and Maya-kun should make better progress than I would."

"This doesn't make sense, Naoko. The science is wrong. The timeline has been completely upended. Every single event in those Scrolls happened as outlined, every event. How could my son being in a train wreck upend millennia of documented prophecies?" Turning to walk towards her office for a rest, she shook her head in disbelief. "It simply doesn't make sense."

+++++ Kirijo Show Room. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

Shinji had already been overwhelmed by the apparent generosity of his hostess. He'd been fed, without having to prepare the food himself. He'd been clothed, with materials and styles that were fitted to his tastes. He'd been given trust and affection, without a cost attached to it. As they exited the demonstration area for the musical instruments, he was now expected to be the proud owner of an entire host of those as well. The thought that he would own even a single instrument, of a quarter of the value, would have been far too great a gift in his mind. As the group walked to the next area, his body was on autopilot as he attempted to find the necessary words of gratitude. With the worries of the world outside forgotten temporarily Shinji was caught completely off guard when the lights went out, plunging the entire facility into total darkness.

His body acted on pure instinct, his mind placing various people and objects around him well enough that he could use his kinesthetic senses to perform what he believed to be his primary task: protecting Mitsuru. Using her grip on his arm as a point of leverage, he spun her against the nearby wall and covered her with his body. Embarrassment could come later, safety was needed now.

"Is everyone all right?" Mitsuru was not truly upset to have Shinji protect her the way he was, and the stress in her voice was due to the fact that she couldn't understand why she hadn't heard any of the nearby adults comment on the sudden blackness. "…Hello?"

"Do you have your phone on you? I left mine in my schoolbag." Shinji kept his head shifting from side to side, hoping to use his hearing to make up for his lack of sight.

"No," she groaned. "I don't have pockets, remember?"

"…Oh, right. Sorry." Without warning, the lights returned. The sudden brightness caused his eyes to slam shut instinctively in pain. "Gah!"

"Oh no…." Mitsuru gently disengaged herself from Shinji, her eyes having been sheltered from the main brunt of the blast of light by his torso. "This…has become slightly more complicated."

Forcing his eyes open, Shinji looked around as well. They stood in the middle of a hallway that was constructed from wildly stacked boxes, forever appearing ready to tip over yet never once moving towards that state. "…Tartarus?" He looked both ways down the hall, taking note of the lack of intersecting passageways. "I…uhm, I thought this was a school thing. That maybe those monsters were leaking out, not the…whatever this is."

"We're going to head this way." Mitsuru tugged on his sleeve, getting him moving in the direction she could feel the exit from. "It's possible that my mother and the others are fine, that they weren't drawn into Tartarus. From their perspective, we might have just disappeared." She glanced into his eyes, and gave him a confident nod. "At least you're armed. That's something."

Shinji blinked, then recognized what he'd been feeling on his leg. Sheathed where it had been before was the long dagger he'd been gifted at the start of everything. Drawing it out and getting a feel for its weight again, he hoped he wouldn't have to use it. "I thought I'd lost it. I don't remember anything after I fell over the railing with…that thing." He forced his mind to shake off the shock and surprise, he had a task to do. "If something shows up, please stay behind me?"

"Only if you follow my instructions during combat," she countered. "Without my evoker, or a rapier, I agree that I'm very limited. I'm not interested in throwing you to the wolves, however. I'm becoming accustomed to your presence, and would rather not watch you die."

The warmth of the statement, and the way her emotions conveyed her genuine worry, made his cheeks redden some. He doubted he'd ever become 'accustomed' to being told that he mattered to someone. "I'll do my best." His lips bunched off to one side, a memory bubbling up to the surface. "It would be nice if Rise-san were here. She had the ability to talk in my mind, it would make it easier in a fight to hear instructions."

You mean like this? She covered over the minute hint of jealousy his wishing another woman were present created with a playful grin at the way he jerked his head around to look at her. Rise and I share this particular ability while in Tartarus. She is, admittedly, stronger in her capacity at detecting other life forms and the general direction of an exit, but I make up for it in a stronger connection to everyone's mind.

He tried not to make it too obvious that her voice in his mind was causing him more than a touch of pleasure. "That's…really handy." Another aspect of his first fight came to mind, "Could…can you make my weapon…uhm…." Words failed him, the concepts too foreign to truly express easily. "Rise-san told me that the enemy I was charging was weak against fire. Then, all of a sudden, my dagger starts glowing with fire. I don't know how she did it, but maybe you can too?"

"We can experiment later," she cautioned. "Right now, let's rely on stealth and speed. I don't want to get bogged down in a series of fights when the women we were with might be in serious danger."

Having someone around who knew how to take charge of a situation was yet another thing he could be glad for. Walking down the oddly formed corridors of Tartarus while being able to trust in the capabilities of the woman beside him gave him a level of confidence he would likely not have had on his own. Each time he turned to check behind them his eyes lingered for a fraction of a second on Mitsuru's face, on how she concentrated, on how she walked with calm purpose. Someday, his inner voice whispered with treacle sickness, she'll realize how broken you are. Then she'll never have anything to do with you again.

Not realizing that Shinji was becoming emotionally compromised, or aware of his inner monologue, Mitsuru yanked him back behind a corner that they were just about to round. Shh, she whispered into his mind, we're ok. Everything's fine. With one of her knees between his legs, she was pressed against him as she leaned her head over to peek around the corner. They haven't noticed us. Feeling the press of the long dagger's hilt against her thigh, she attempted to crack a joke to calm what she believed was nerves, I'd ask if you were glad to see me, but I know that's your sword.

Shinji grew pale, then carefully sheathed his weapon before shifting his body so that she wasn't pressed against him. Taking a few steps away from the corner, he kept himself facing away from her to avoid looking upon the cause of much of his current confusion. What was Mitsuru to him? A leader? A friend-in-potentia? A benevolent benefactor that viewed him as little more than a stray puppy she'd pulled out of the river? He'd allowed himself to become so sucked into the fantasy that he might have mattered to her that he'd completely forgotten how he was nothing more than a temporary distraction.

Shinji! Mitsuru's order cracked in his mind like the trailing end of a whip, Turn around, slowly.

Pivoting on the pad of his right foot, he followed her command with a touch more speed than she would have preferred. Fluttering on delicate wings, reminiscent of coiled, white, leaves was a small humanoid non-human. With thigh-high blue boots, topped with black lace, bicep-high blue gloves, also topped with black lace, and a turtlenecked one-piece blue swimsuit that showed both her shoulders and upper arms…as well as a dangerous amount of her upper thighs, hips, and buttocks, the tiny woman was smiling curiously at Shinji. He froze in place, torn between moving back between the newcomer and Mitsuru and stepping back to have room to evade a potential attack.

"Hi!" The flying entity's luminous pink eyes sparkled as she waved playfully. "I've been looking for you."

This was, of course, not something Shinji had anticipated. "F-for me?"

"Yep." Tipping her head forward slightly, she pointed at the back of her own neck. "You've got the Magatama. You've got black hair." She used the same hand to tug her own reddish hair. "And you've got absolutely no idea what you're doing. You're exactly like you were described to me!"

He both could not and would not deny any of those facts, least of all the first and the last. "…We're just trying to find the others and leave." The last thing he wanted was to precipitate a fight against something that could fly. Throwing his dagger was slightly different than throwing a card at something, and he doubted the cards in his pocket would manage to do anything. "We're not here to cause trouble."

"Thaaaaat's a lie," she giggled. "Your goal is to force Tartarus to go back where it belongs, which is not what the current ruler wants to see happen." Pointing back behind her at Mitsuru, who had begun creeping closer to try and grab her, she then waggled that finger. "Stay where you are, missy. I'm keeping quiet to stop those two down the other hall from hearing, but if you turn this into a fight, I'll scream my head off."

The corollary to her statement was that she herself didn't want to fight. "Who…uhm, who sent you?"

"Big green beastie, long beak. Didn't really give a name, honestly doesn't talk much." Flitting back behind Shinji, she lay down atop his head with her lower half draped down against his neck…straddling the pipe sticking out of it, and making it a seat. "Oh!" Unseen by Shinji, she blushed as brightly as he did. "Oh…my, well that's…." Coughing, in an attempt to cover over her sudden 'comfort', she patted his head and looked at Mitsuru. "The Magatama, the thing I'm perched on, that is, is going to be…." Shinji's neck began to twitch, the Magatama becoming very stimulated. This led to the creature riding atop it also becoming very stimulated.

Mitsuru dashed over and plucked the tiny woman off of Shinji's head. Holding her snugly, but not violently, she scowled down at her. "I do not know what you are doing to him, but I am going to ask you to stop. I will not allow you to take advantage of the physical quirk he has to…to…gratify yourself." Stealing a glance at Shinji, who was leaning against a wall panting heavily, she made a mental note to talk to him about what happened later. "Now, might I bother you to introduce yourself?"

"You can call me 'Pixie', and I'd be careful with walking that path, dearie," the tiny woman's voice turned cold and dark. "There's naught but pain waiting for you at the end of it. He's not a stray puppy to be warmed and weaned. He's destruction made flesh, and death has no comforting embrace waiting for him."

"Don't…threaten…her…." From his position slumped against a wall, Shinji glared at Pixie. The dark grey stripes and blue highlights were growing outwards, his eyes turning a dull yellow. "I am here to protect them," he pushed himself upright, "and that's what I'm going to do."

With her head flopped back so that she could see him, Pixie grinned enthusiastically. "There he is!" Disappearing from Mitsuru's grasp and reappearing in front of Shinji's eyes, she clapped giddily. "They said you might have stripes, or you might not. Now you do! Let's get the formalities over with, so we can get you out of here." Reaching forward with both hands, she placed them against his forehead and closed her own eyes. Pulsing with the same blue hue that decorated Shinji's stripes, she quickly synchronized her aura with his. "Aaaaand, done."

A sense of connection settled into place between him and Pixie, a familiarity of intent, an understanding of purpose. She was a separate, distinct, creature that had joined her fortunes to him of her own free will in an effort to prevent a tragedy that he could not see or feel approaching. His anger sated, for the moment, his eyes returned to their normal blue though the striping remained. "…You…your name…."

Mitsuru hurried over, checking Shinji's heartbeat and steadying him as he continued to wobble. "What did you do to him?"

"I offered him my power." Pixie shrugged with a 'what can you do' grin. "He rejected it, as I was told he would. Still, the Magatama accepted my presence, which means that we should still be ok. What we need to-"

Shinji slipped free of Mitsuru's ministrations, pushed past Pixie, and drove his shoulder up against the same four-armed bio-mechanical monstrosity that had attempted to kill his classmates in his first trip into Tartarus. The terror had appeared from thin air, rearing one arm back to thrust forward and harm Mitsuru. Shinji had, somehow, known that it would be there and was able to act before a reaction would have been necessary, as a reaction would have come far too late. Surrounded by spikes, thorns, and razors as it was, Shinji was unfortunately unable to prevent serious damage to himself. Roaring out in pain, he called back to his ally, "Get her out of here!"

"Yyyyeah, that's not happening." Pixie threw both of her hands towards what passed for the head of the monster, sending a thick arc of lightning sizzling into its eyes. "Give the Empress a weapon, you ninny!" Their foe was now lashing out in a blind rage, Pixie's attack having done its job of buying them time to develop a unified reaction. Shinji halted his attempts at unsheathing his dagger when she snapped, "Not your weapon!"

Time stood still for a moment as Shinji felt one of his enemy's arms drive itself directly through the space between his shoulder and his spine, just below the clavicle. Lifted up off the floor by the force, both he and it grew still as pain unending ripped through his mind. His voice, beyond his control, reverted to a calm and conversational tone, over a decade of experience in being punished for screaming when being tortured reasserting its dominance in his mind, "That's…barbed. Y-yeah…that's going to hurt coming out." Latching onto the beast's arm, using his own mass to slow it down, he fixed his attention on Pixie. "I don't have any other weapons."

Blasting one of the beast's arms on the opposing side of Shinji with a torrent of ice, she bit back several angry remarks. "Think about her, about who she is, and about how you see her fighting. Once you have that in your mind, let it exist."

He'd spent his life being forged by pain. It was agony, of that there was no doubt, but having an arm through his chest was no different ultimately than having his fingers bent in the wrong direction by a vice. Now, suddenly, all of that suffering seemed to have a purpose. Here, facing an unexpected and unexplained foe, he could look at Mitsuru and see what she would never show the world outside. He could see a warrior, a ruler, a woman standing atop the prow of a sailing ship challenging the gods themselves to do their worst. Elegance and strength, cold logic and dark passion, she would not yield until each of her charges were ferried to safety.

Mitsuru's hands and forearms were soon covered in black falconer's gloves, a cut-and-thrust rapier in her right hand and a parrying dagger in her left. Shining brightly, her new weapons gleamed with the confidence she exuded in her place in the world. Only a slight moment of hesitation ensued as she gauged their weight, and then she lunged into the fight.

Both women worked together to cover the other's weaknesses. Mitsuru used her blades to keep Pixie from becoming grabbed or impaled, and Pixie assailed their enemy with magical energies to keep it from being able to adequately assault Mitsuru. The entire time, Shinji fought his own private battle to free himself from his impalement in the hopes that he could then assist them. None of them noticed that the two demons which had been lurking down the other hallway now had heard the sounds of a struggle, arriving just as the four-armed beast was driven past the intersection of the two hallways.

A jelly-like glob of stinking muck hissed in triumph as it jumped up to attach itself to Shinji's leg. Its partner, a floating mass of semi-congealed smog, attacked his arm. These new pains gave birth to another howl of agony. The diversity of torments, the burning, melting, slicing, and throbbing torture finally breaking past any potential stoicism to tear free the sounds of a man suffering through failure. He was going to die, and his death would cost everyone their lives. Everything he'd done, the purpose of it all, was now going to be proven fruitless because he was too weak to free himself. Too pathetic. Too human.

The first pulse of energy, surrounding the entire fight in a wall of pure force, acted as a herald of what was to come. The light in the area around them inverted, the sound reversed, the heat grew cold. The second pulse of energy flattened the slime clinging to his leg, smearing it across the floors and walls in a sickening splat. Before the third began, the smog made an effort to flee, after the third began the smog simply no longer existed. The Magatama slithered further into Shinji with each pulse, and when the fourth pulse shattered the arm impaling him, there was only a knuckle worth still sticking out. Shinji's head smashed into the corner of the intersection as gravity dragged him to the ground, the section of arm that remained within him torn free as his body crumpled to the floor with a tenuous hold on consciousness.

It was the machine's turn to make a noise mockingly resembling human pain, both opposing arms grasping at the now amputated stump. Whether recognizing that it had failed in its task, or because it did not feel like continuing to pursue whatever it wanted, it disappeared into the emptiness between time.

"Gonna need you to not die on me, please," Pixie urged Shinji, her hands glowing with golden light as she attempted to stem the bleeding tide. "That'd be super awesome of you if you could manage it."

Mitsuru used her blade to knock the other half of the monster's arm away from where it could still harm people. "Where's the exit?" She crouched down and began to ready herself to help Shinji hobble to their destination. "We can worry about the others once he's out."

"There are no others," Pixie snorted. "It's only those born after the Setting Moon that can come here, anymore." Giving what help she could in getting him to his feet, she pointed down the hallway they'd been about to head into at first. "That way." Flying backwards, just ahead of him, she kept up her efforts at keeping as much blood in him as possible.

Shinji coughed, a trickle of blood trailing down his chin, "I…I was right."

"About what?" Mitsuru knew he had to keep talking, knew that unconsciousness was likely to be a death sentence. When he didn't respond immediately, she squeezed his wrist hard. "Hey, what were you right about?"

His eyes drifted over as his head lolled towards her, a dying man's grin on his face. "It was barbed…. It hurt…coming out."

The laugh that escaped her was the product of surprise, as much as disbelief. This was the man who willingly charged in to fight demons. The man that would stand naked to the world without a care. The man that crumpled inwards at the merest hint of a woman's displeasure. "You are a strange man, Shinji. A strange, strange man."

"I'm really not going to be able to keep this up forever," Pixie interjoined. "We need to get him out into your world, where he can sleep it off."

"Humans don't just 'sleep off' an eight-centimeter hole in their chest!"

"It's super lucky that he's not fully human then, yeah?" She glared at Mitsuru, hard. "Move faster."