+++++ Tokyo-3. 3rd Angel + 2. Saturday, September 21st.

The electric pulse of the club they walked up to was both audible and tangible. A driven, pounding, bass thumping away as if to ward off any demons nearby. Shinji, in a sensible set of slacks and a long-sleeved dress shirt that had the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up past the elbows by Mikoto, felt both out of place and on edge. He could sense the presence of mutants nearby, no more than a handful, but he knew that they were heavily outnumbered by 'ordinary' people. The men standing at the front entrance, four that he could see easily, all had the same stone-faced expression. "Explain to me again how this is 'relaxing'?"

Akane, walking beside him with her arm around his waist, patted his chest. "The room we're going to is soundproofed. You could set off C4 in the center of it and nobody outside would hear a damn thing." When he glanced down at her, she nodded once. "Promise. You've taken a huge step by coming out with us, we're not going to kick you into the deep end."

Walking past the long line of people waiting to get in, Mikoto led the merry little troupe straight to the shortest of the four bouncers. "Hey Ben, everything going ok?"

"Just fine, ma'am." Unclipping one end of a velvet rope, he nodded mutely to Akane before appraising Shinji. "He's a first timer, need to give him the speech." First, he pointed to his glasses. "Those come off easy?"

Surprised that the man seemed to already know about his 'condition', Shinji simply answered, "Magnets do a reasonable job of holding them on, sir."

"Good. Anyone tries anything, you let the ladies here handle it, ok?" He gestured between Mikoto and Akane. "I know it's not manly, but believe me when I say that everyone here will think much higher of you for backing off and allowing law enforcement to do their jobs. You lose the glasses because someone sucker punches you, go prone and let us heavies do our job or we'll include you in the trip to the ER. Otherwise, welcome to Xenia. We look forward to a mutually pleasant relationship."

No response from him seemed to be required, and so he chose to nod twice in understanding before allowing himself to be dragged into the single loudest building not currently under assault that he'd ever been in. Lights strobed, flickered, pulsed, and danced. The sound, already audible outside of the club, was a physical force inside of it. A sea of bodies swayed, flailed, or gyrated on a sub-floor not three meters from him. He didn't drag his feet as Mikoto and Akane hurried him over to another side of the building and into the promised sound-proofed room. The sudden silence echoed painfully for a moment as he caught his breath. "Again…relaxing?"

"Different people have different needs, my friend." A woman, slight of build but with a confident presence, seemed to walk straight through a nearby wall into their room for the evening. "Trust me, I'm of a mind with you 'Cyclops'. Give me a comfy chair, a good book, and nothing exploding around me any day of the week."

The phasing through the wall, the general description of her, and the fact that she knew the idiotic codename he'd been given led him to ask, "Shadowcat?"

"Nanako Dojima, please," she begged him cutely. "I only used your business title to explain that I know of you by reputation and acclaim." Finishing her approach, she offered her hand and somehow grew even warmer when he accepted the chance to shake. "I warned dear Ben outside about your condition so that he wouldn't ask you to take them off. He prefers to look people in the eye when welcoming them, but understood that wouldn't be possible with you."

That she hadn't let go of his hand, instead laying her left over the top of his right, was a touch confusing. "I appreciate that, Dojima-san."

Clicking her tongue, she corrected him again. "Just Nana, or Nanako if you'd rather. The man who saved my parents back in New York from being crushed by an anti-mutant mob gets to use the first name."

"Your…." He looked down for a moment, pulling through his memories. "Yonkers, three years ago. They were there?"

"Protesting the Registration Act. When the Purifiers attacked, you and the others got the protestors to safety. My parents made a huge deal out of it, saying that I should come home and meet you." Affecting a thicker United States-based regional English accent, she said, "He's such a nice boy, made sure that we were all safe and nothin' was missin'. He even shook your father's hand and thanked him for standing up for the rights of people different than him."

"Professor Essex's idea," he attempted to demur. "Win hearts and minds through diplomacy, instead of simply taking them to safety and getting out of there so nobody got hurt." Attempting to, but not quite succeeding in keeping his tone free of anger, he admitted, "Three casualties when they flanked us. Probably wouldn't have happened if we'd just left them with the PD."

"We do this not because it is easy, my good sir." Patting the top of his hand, she looked over to Akane and Mikoto. "What's this I hear about non-alcoholic stuff?"

"Our roomie doesn't like cutting loose," Mikoto shrugged, assuming her more feline form once again, "and so we're joining him in abstaining for the evening. Want to sing, dance, and make merry, not scare him off the idea completely."

Akane agreed, tossing her purse over onto a nearby sofa, "You're welcome to join us, of course. Since you like holding his hand."

"I'm feeling his pulse, which was racing pretty hard," Nanako countered evenly. "He does a good job of hiding his emotions, but nobody can control their heartrate the way they can their visage." She gave him a genuine smile of welcome. "I'm not, of course, saying that holding your hand is unpleasant. It's rare to find someone who doesn't try and sneak a peek down my blouse."

"It would be rude," Shinji explained with a slight pang of regret as she let go of his hand. "I'm sure they're lovely, though."

Skipping over and giving hugs to her other two guests, she enthused brightly, "Manners, control, and a great body. I'm jealous!"

"You should get a taste of his cooking," Mikoto purred, picking the much lighter woman off the ground in a bearhug. "Like eating happy dreams."

Akane nudged Shinji towards the wall-sized screen, bringing up a selection of music. "Figure we start with something easy. Meaningless pop stuff. We'll get you used to the general motions of dancing with a partner, then go from there."

What followed was three hours of decreasingly awkward lessons in a cultural activity that Shinji had never once been exposed to. Treating the movements like he had both gymnastics and jiu jitsu, he proved to be a quick physical study; it was the physical proximity that caused the lion's share of the awkwardness. While he worked his way through being mortified at his own ineptitude, he was comforted by each of the three ladies that took turns dancing with him. It was towards the end of the evening of fun, after he had managed to reach an 'amateur' level of competence, that the next shoe dropped.

Rolling her body in a ceaseless wave against his, Nanako was truly enjoying the feel of his form as he mimicked her movements. Each time she shifted direction she was framed perfectly by a tall, dark, and kind man. Her own problems, which despite her upbeat demeanor numbered in the dozens, were forgotten as she danced. Her friends, ladies that had helped her set up the club they were enjoying, were dancing with one another just next to her. Everything was calm, open, and comfortable. Until the door was kicked open and a man that she had very little interest in speaking to barged in. Her instincts being what they were, she had intended to move to protect her guests. Finding that Shinji had, somehow, placed himself between her and the large man she let out a frustrated huff and phased through him in her intangible form to stare up at the intruder. "I believe I was quite clear regarding your presence in Xenia, Cain."

It was Shinji's turn to deal with frustration as he was forced to contend with the fact that nothing he did physically would allow him to move Nanako to safety, and that Mikoto and Akane had taken forward flanking positions to place themselves between him and the meathead that had just ruined a lovely evening. The part of his mind that never stopped running, however, reminded him that it was vanishingly likely that the guards outside would have willingly allowed this man to enter. He wasn't certain who would win in a fight between himself and the four men at the door, to say nothing of the dozens inside, but it wasn't a good sign that they hadn't been able to stop their unwanted guest.

"And I told ya that the next time I had ta come here myself, I was gonna teach ya some manners." Cain's accent was abhorrent, his mass easily triple that of Shinji's himself. "You's late on the protection money, girl."

A foreigner working as a Yakuza? Seriously? "Go home, sir." It was time for him to act, and the last thing he wanted was to have his first visit to Xenia be his last because he acted violently. Using his latent psychic potential, he urged the man to reconsider his willingness to hurt people. "I'm certain you can talk this out tomorrow, when you're calmer."

"Tomorrow?" His eyes growing vague, Cain wobbled slightly on his feet as he locked eyes with Shinji.

"The club is closing soon." Giving himself a headache, he pressed harder on Cain's mind. "Wouldn't it be better to come tomorrow, when you have more time to talk things over?"

"Closing?" Cain blinked. "This place don't close, though."

"It has to, since you hurt people here. They need to receive medical attention, and that leaves nobody to mind the door." His skull felt like it was going to break into three pieces. He had to wrap this up. "Go home, in peace. Drink some tea. Sleep on things. A fresh mind will help you make your message clear."

"Y-yeah…need to be clear." Turning around and ducking back through the broken door, Cain made his way back out of the club the same way he came in.

Unaware that he was bleeding heavily from his nose, Shinji managed to stay on his feet until the giant man was gone. Once he was beyond the limits of his ability to sense, the bedraggled mutant fell backwards onto his ass and began to pant. "That…wasn't…."

"Shh, shh," Nanako was at his side in a flash, a handkerchief pulled out of her blouse and clamped over his nose, "lean your head forward. Don't want the blood going down your nasal passage into your throat."

The cloth smelled strongly of her. Of rosewood and the unmistakable feminine. It was as heady as it was wonderful. "Please…don't do that again." He knew she couldn't see his eyes, but he was looking directly into her luminous violet portals with a mixture of anxiety-induced anger and concern. "It's my job to protect our people."

"And if I'm not focused on remaining tangible, nothing can physically touch me, silly." Her lips curled off to the side in an affectionate grimace. "I'm not in any danger from the likes of him."

Mikoto and Akane loped back into the room, having apparently followed the trail of devastation to secure the building. Akane came over and knelt down next to them, leaving Mikoto to spit expletives under her breath. "This place is going to be swarming with cops in about five minutes. We need to make ourselves scarce, my friend. The last thing we need is a police report making it to Gendo saying you were at the site of a potential turf war."

Just as Shinji was about to protest, Nanako nodded her agreement. "I'll handle things here. The police tend to be understanding once I mention that the Kinyama decided to act out again. They know this is the edge of Shirakami territory, and they'd much rather deal with them than those assholes in the Kinyama." Helping Akane get Shinji on his feet, she pressed a kiss to the side of his mouth while holding the cloth in place. "Keep your nose clenched for at least another ten minutes, ok? We'll pick up where we left off with the dancing once I have the club put to rights again."

Mikoto hugged Nanako from behind, whispering something Shinji couldn't make out in her ear. Looking him dead in the eyes, she shook her head. "You were doing so good too. Gonna have to practice at home. Let's go."

+++++ The Apartment. 3rd Angel + 2. Saturday, September 21st.

Arriving at the apartment, Shinji's first stop was the bathroom to inspect the damage done to his nasal passages. Mikoto was right behind him, leaving Akane to start checking through the local security network for any possible leaks of information regarding what had happened. Back in her human form, the shorter agent looked him over and sighed out in frustration. "That was the happiest I have seen her in ages. Watching you dance with her made me all aquiver, knowing that she needed it as much as you did." Nodding once, accepting that the leak had been stopped, she hopped up onto her toes and pulled him down into a lingering kiss. She was proud of him, both for having reached out of his comfort zone and for not just busting out his 'big guns' on someone they might not have worked well on.

Shinji's response to the sudden affection was a play in three acts. His first, initial, reaction was a confused freeze. He had no idea what to do with someone who was actually, actively, giving him positive affection. Throwing her away from him was not the right play, he knew that. Running from her was impossible, as she could just open his door and ask him what he'd been thinking by running. Freezing simply offered the best balance of feeling the situation out while limiting the damage to the surrounding building. This instantaneous series of calculations was followed by an exploration of the unfamiliar sensations he was feeling. It felt, in a word, good. Her lips were soft, her arms were comforting, and she smelled wonderfully of danger and excitement. The third and final piece of the play was an attempt to reciprocate what she was offering him. He had no experience in this, like he'd had no experience in dancing. When, after several minutes, she'd broken off the kiss, he apologized, "Sorry…never done that."

"A passable first attempt," she simpered playfully. "We will improve your skills with practice, I believe." Her grin faded to a far more serious look. "First, though, we need to talk about that little trick you just pulled."

"Out here," Akane urged them from the main living area, "I want to hear this too."

Unfolding the handkerchief Nanako had given him completely, he inspected the damage on his way through the living area to the kitchen. "Let me get a few things to get the blood out of this, I don't want it to set." Searching through the kitchen for those things he would need, he raised his voice just enough to be heard, "Are either of you familiar at all with what makes someone a mutant?"

Akane, while still reading through information regarding the incident at Xenia on her laptop, called back, "Additional gene in your DNA. Somehow, instead of causing cancer or some other serious disability, it gives you random abilities." Looking up at him as he came back with a large bowl and some meat tenderizer, salt, and water, she cocked an eyebrow. "But I only ever heard of it giving someone a single 'type' of ability, plus others to compensate for the strain of that ability on your body…if you're lucky."

"More or less." He wasn't surprised they'd done their homework; it was why he was as comfortable with them as he'd been. "When we discuss mutants as a whole, the powers manifested aren't typically that earth-shattering, so the secondary mutations aren't typically anything of note. Dojima-san likely has a few regarding spatial awareness and enhanced intelligence to compensate for anchoring herself to a physical location while remaining intangible enough to pass through solid matter. Logically, if she didn't have those she would have ended up being flung free of the planet the first time she was no longer a physical presence upon it." Gently working the tenderizer into the cloth, he was already seeing some success at getting the blood out of the handkerchief.

"Terrifying," Mikoto murmured while shuddering at the thought.

"There are a few of us, no more than a handful, that have a secondary mutation completely unrelated to our primary mutations." Inspecting a tougher spot, he frowned. "I…honestly don't have an explanation as to why, it's still the topic of some heated debate in certain circles. In addition to the red death beams, I wound up having my mother's mutations as well. Very limited, nowhere near the scope that she's able to access, but still present enough to be considered usable." He sighed, hating the topic as a whole. "Yes, I can read minds. No, I do not read them unless lives are in danger or I have permission and the need to. Not because I have some deep-seated ethical code that stops me, but for the much simpler reason that it gives me the type of headache that over-the-counter stuff doesn't come close to touching. I can also…." Focusing his mind again, and accepting the pain it would cause, he lifted Mikoto off the ground with the same telekinesis he'd used to stop Misato from being smashed against everything during the N2 strike. Setting her back down, he rubbed his palm against his forehead. "Less of a blinding headache when I do that, more just generalized discomfort."

Silence reigned for a few heartbeats. Shinji working on the bloodstains, Mikoto thrilling in the lingering sensation of being held so tightly, and Akane processing a great deal of information. Setting her laptop aside for the moment, she leaned her elbows on her knees to stare blankly at the ground. "So you tinkered with his mind?"

"I encouraged him to see reason," he countered. "If I wanted to, I could have lobotomized him. He…to be frank, was not exactly a Rhodes Scholar." Having already had this debate several times in his life, he cut the topic short, "This isn't something I do for fun, and as you can see it's not something done without serious cost. I don't know if I'm going to have an aneurysm when I use it aggressively, or if the pain is more psychosomatic. We haven't done extensive testing, because I haven't wanted to mess around with a living creature's brain that badly. I keep it to things like tonight, stopping someone who had to have overcome at least sixteen heavies to get to us without switching to the main guns."

"Please don't do that again." Giving the statement a second to breathe, Akane looked over at him with worry written on her face. "If it causes you this much trauma, it isn't worth the gain. We need you around to fight the Angels, not the local idiots. He was strong, sure. He might very well be impossible to stop without resorting to extreme violence. But if you pop a blood vessel in your brain trying to stop him, you're not around to stop the next Angel."

Returning her look, without the worry, he asked, "You're not concerned that I could use it on you?"

"If you were going to, we wouldn't be having this discussion," she replied with a slight shrug. "You just showed us that stopping someone without serious education causes your nose to bleed hard. I have a rather high-level education for someone in my career field. Anyway," she stood up and stretched, "you're not the kind of guy to control a lady's mind. It's part of what makes you adorable." As she walked away, she waved her hand airily. "Get some sleep. We'll worry about this later."

Gently working his thumb along the small remaining stain, Shinji silently nodded his understanding of the request. He'd make his way to bed when he was confident that his mind was settled enough to let him sleep. The day had been trying, the end of it even more so, and he still had things to put in their proper place. Several minutes passed with ideas, plans, and tactical answers should the situation be repeated all offering themselves for inspection before he asked, "Any reason you're still sitting here?"

"I like watching you think," Mikoto admitted. "You're not very expressive, but if you watch closely enough you can see the little hints that give someone a clue on what's behind the curtain." With her legs folded in, the skirt she wore hid nothing of her lower body. A grin crept across her face as she noticed that his glasses had never once dipped below her shoulders. "You know, I'm dressed like this because I'm comfortable with who I am. I enjoy being physical with people that meet my standards, it's why Aka-chan and I get along so well. If I didn't think you met my standards, you wouldn't have had a chance to dance with me."

The conversation was trending towards dangerous waters. "You've known me for all of a day."

"Which speaks to the kind of guy you are, I think." Tilting her head to the side, she winked at him. "Nothing wrong with making up your mind quickly. It's not like I'm asking you to marry me."

"What are you asking me to do?" He truly hoped she wouldn't. He wasn't ready, nobody was.

"Just consider the possibility of sharing affections with a few lovely ladies." Leaning over, she tapped the tip of his nose with her finger. "We'll move at your pace, since you probably don't have a lot of experience under your belt. But," she slid her finger down to his lips, "if I don't make you aware of the possibilities, it's my fault when you don't take me up on the offer." Flowing up to her feet, she stretched cutely. "I'll leave you to your brooding. Unless," she looked down at him, her face neutral, "you want to cuddle?"

These women were confounding him. "I'll take a raincheck." That she took the declination with a light shrug eased his worries. She truly wasn't the predator some women had proven to be, she simply enjoyed sharing affection and would thusly offer it when she was willing. Other people would probably be more than happy to take her up on the offer. Other people are idiots.

+++++ ?

His body was a curse. Of anything Shinji knew in his scant few years of life, it was that his body existed only to facilitate pain. The other children hated him, calling him out as the perversion of nature that he was. The adult males in the area no longer looked at him with anything resembling welcome, instead filling the space around them with a defensive possessiveness of those they felt were 'theirs'. What truly scarred his mind, however, were the odd looks from the women his 'guardian' introduced him to while they were out shopping.

Originally, Ayase Rokubungi only went out shopping for anything once a week. From the first true memories of his childhood to the day he'd woken up in the body of a man decades older than he was in truth, she'd kept a strict schedule. Mondays were housecleaning, teaching him the proper way to clean the floors, the walls, the windows, the bed sheets. Tuesdays were shopping, as the stores would have the lowest prices and generally extensive sales on that day. Wednesdays through Sundays were mostly just variations of Mondays, before that fateful day. She was a simple woman, who kept a simple house, never once seeming anything but what she presented to the world.

It was a Wednesday, when his world changed for the second time. When the children no longer wanted to play with him. When the women gave him a mixture of odd looks. When Ayase dragged him to a doctor who quickly diagnosed him with a 'precocious puberty'. When the nurse, a woman he'd seen several times the years before for those checkups that amount to little more than 'are all fingers, toes, and eyes still in place', took off his gown while the doctor was speaking with his 'guardian' outside the room. Her gaze had lingered as she looked along his body. Her hand twitching as if it wished to move.

"Shinji?"

He wanted to respond. To say that he was waiting for the nurse to move so that he could get dressed in clothing he'd 'borrowed' from his 'guardian' that was still too small for him. His throat wouldn't open. His mouth wouldn't work. He felt as if he were frozen in time, with the reedy medical professional forcing him to sit still to avoid making a decision he could never understand.

"Shinji!"

The second use of his name never ended well. If he'd somehow missed the first, she'd become angry and he'd receive both a spanking and a lecture on being properly attentive to a woman when she was addressing you. He was stuck in a catch twenty-two. Either he interrupted the woman before him, or he ignored the woman who decided if he ate that evening. His blood pressure was high enough that he could feel it in the tip of his nose, his shoulders so tightly clenched that they felt as if they were tearing free of his body.

For the briefest of seconds, he was weightless. A decision had been made, and he would bear the consequences of his own inaction.

+++++ The Apartment. 3rd Angel + 3. Sunday, September 22nd.

Shinji was accustomed to not opening his eyes as soon as he woke up. While he often slept with a visor on, to prevent him from accidentally erasing half the city, he couldn't always be certain that it hadn't been removed or knocked loose in the night. The feel of the floor slamming into his back, of a body atop him, would have traditionally been a prime opportunity to not care about whether or not he was visored…save for the soft smell of oranges and pomegranate.

"Keep 'em closed," Akane growled. A few seconds later, she had his visor pressed into place. Leaning back, which meant she was now seated atop his crotch, she sighed out, "Ok, you're safe."

Performing the standard safety check, he cautiously opened one eye with his hand over the visor to test the seal. "Why am I on the floor?"

"At no point in your life has anyone spoken to you about something called 'night terrors'?" Mikoto was walking around the room, putting things to rights. "Nothing about sleep disorders?"

His room was, to put it lightly, a disaster. His futon had been torn in half, the materials inside spread liberally around the room. His closet door was torn off the railing it was anchored to, violently twisted into a bow. The clothes he'd purchased were scattered about. "…No." He'd woken up covered in sweat more than once, since moving to New York. A couple times with the sheets tangled about him. Never once in the center of what appeared to be a shoddy SSE action. As he went to sit up, he was pressed back down by Akane. "I-"

"You were floating halfway to the ceiling," the lanky agent snapped. Her face, unlike what he'd expected, was filled with worry and dread instead of the condemnation or anger he was accustomed to seeing in people. "I heard you screaming and hauled ass in here expecting a fight! What do I see? Not a life or death struggle, no, I see you wreathed in flame and surrounded by what was left of your worldly possessions! At what point is 'very limited' telekinesis capable of hoisting over three hundred kilos of shit in the air in a perfect orbit around you?!"

"Flame?" That made no sense. None of his mutations had anything to do with pyrokinesis, and the only mutant he'd ever known to have that particular 'gift' accidentally immolated himself with it by getting drunk.

Giving up on doing anything constructive to set the room to rights without a broom and dustpan, Mikoto came over and knelt down next to his head. With a single finger, she began ordering his hair as she calmly interjected, "It looked hot enough to melt steel, but didn't touch a hair on you. An aura, more than a blanket…if that makes sense."

"I…I have no idea what you're talking about." The last thing Shinji wanted was another 'gift', and the thought that he might be developing into an even deadlier weapon did not fill him with joy. "Can I please get up?"

"Not until Akagi gets here, no." While she hadn't delivered the news with anything approaching disgust, there was a hint of sorrow in Mikoto's tone. "She said, specifically, that we were to keep you grounded." When his head rolled towards her, she shrugged her shoulders apologetically. "Orders are orders."

"You sleep nude."

"I'd live nude, if society wasn't filled with judgmental pricks," she retorted without any heat. "Is that a problem?"

Sighing, he let his head fall back to a neutral position and his eyelids closed. "No. Just confusing." Akane began to shiver, the shared point of contact between them causing it to be unintentionally erotic. "Did my blanket survive?"

"Kind of." Mikoto reached behind her and grabbed it. "Sweating that hard, makes sense you're cold."

"I'm fine," he gestured with his chin towards Akane, "she's shaking."

"I'm livid," Akane snarled.

This was something he'd expected, after a fashion. "I'll move back on base. I'm sure-" With a hand suddenly over his mouth and an even angrier Akane glaring down at him, he began to devise a plan to neutralize both parties in the room should it become necessary.

"I have you in my care for one day and life slaps you around six ways from Tuesday. I can work with Section Two to make your living space safer for you, but I can't control idiots who want to cause trouble and ruin what should have been a happy memory for us. I can't stop your body from betraying you. I can't stop your mind from dredging up the nightmare that was facing the Angel, or from recoiling from the strain of stopping a fight from going hot with your mind." Akane huffed angrily. "I don't care that you're a mutant, or that you're possibly gaining another new power, I care that someone I've been given to protect has managed to be hurt three fucking times in a single day."

Gently removing Akane's hand from his mouth, Mikoto filled in a few gaps, "We take our duties very seriously. Our specialty, believe it or not, is in protecting the children of visiting dignitaries. That's why Akagi asked for us, in addition to our shared uniqueness. Neither of us want to ever see someone in our care get hurt, and she has always taken it harder than I have when it's happened."

Resting her fists on his ribs, Akane glared past his head at nothing in particular. "I'm sorry if I seemed like I was kicking you out, or angry at you…I'm just…really frustrated."

An apology was the last thing Shinji had ever expected to receive, and it showed in the awkward phrasing of his response, "I…uh…. No need to apologize. Miscommunications are inevitable in teambuilding."

"That they are," Mikoto agreed, giving him a light kiss on his forehead. "Doesn't Aka-chan have the best legs?"

Pressed as they were, tightly against his body, he had to struggle to lift his head enough to give an opinion. "She definitely trains hard. Too many people forget to take care of their base when lifting."

Taking one of his hands and running the fingertips along Akane's thigh, Mikoto giggled. "And she uses moisturizing lotion! See how soft her skin is?"

What, Ritsuko's mental voice sounded in his mind, exactly am I walking into?

I wish I knew, he replied with an annoyed sigh. "She's here." When Mikoto hurried out of the room towards the front door, Shinji frowned. "Does she intend to open the door-"

"Yep," Akane answered the obvious question. "She's an exhibitionist."

Carefully setting his hand down from where Mikoto had tossed it, he took his turn, "Sorry."

"Not your fault. She wants everyone to get along, and she's all-too aware of my 'type'."

"Type?"

"Tall, troubled, and tough." With a shrug, she sat back up straight again. "If you aren't interested, I'm not going to push you into anything. If she's bothering you with her hippie ways, I'll tell her to pack it in."

"It's…." He was glad she was ignoring the raging erection he had. He was confused as to why she was ignoring it, too. Nothing here was making sense.

"Confusing, I know." Pat-patting his stomach, she gave him a loose grin. "She's my best friend, been so since we were in preschool. Even I still don't fully 'get' her." With her breathing back in firm control and her expression returned to its typical calm detachment, she nodded twice. "You let me know what you need, and I'll help us get there, ok?"

Why is she treating me like my opinion matters? The stray thought formed outside of his 'protected' mind due to the sheer weight of everything happening around him.

Because it does, Ritsuko responded as she walked into the room. "Agent, thank you for keeping him from moving. I need you to go assist in writing up the report, I'll take it from here."

"Understood, ma'am." Carefully climbing off of him, she patted his chest one last time. "You be good for the doctor and I'll see if we can afford a treat." On her feet and moving towards the door, she added, "Misbehave, and I'll force you to eat Mikoto's cooking."

With her attention focused on Shinji, Ritsuko demurely sat down on her hip next to him. "Close your eyes." After a pause, she took off his visor and set her hand over his right eye. "Open."

"I think my room is right below that of a newborn," Shinji protested mildly, his eyes still shut. "If you don't care that much about your hand, at least have a care for the neighbors."

"Open your right eye," this time the unmistakable tinge of command was present.

Warily, Shinji did as ordered. He hoped she had a plan for the fallout, but annoying the one person around here that had seemed to make the most sense so far wasn't going to get him very far. When, instead of screaming and rubble there was only a see-through hand-shaped object, his frown deepened. "Wait…your skin is…."

"I had always wondered why," she murmured, looking through the ruby-red tint of her impenetrable skin to his eye, "my secondary mutation was to turn into a living and unbreakable ruby-quartz statue at will. Close." She waited for him to close that eye before placing her hand over the other. "Open." Resuming her inspection, she inwardly groaned at the damage she could see to his capillaries. "I thought it was a bit gaudy. I prefer my hair to be blonde, and it doesn't go very well with such a deep red in my opinion. Close." Once his eye closed, she set the visor back in place. "And yet, here we are. Working together and completely capable of stopping one another."

"Are secondary mutations beginning to happen more often?" Finally sitting up, he dug for information that had been denied him by others, "With our numbers-"

"No," she interjected calmly. "There are precious few of us that have more active mutations than others, and of those even fewer are stable. In just the past three days, thirteen mutants have died due to a variety of causes."

Which meant there were only one hundred and eighty five left. "They said I was on fire. It can't be pyrokinesis, the room isn't cinders."

"They said what they saw was fire," she corrected him. "When one walks in a desert, they often believe they see water where only air exists." Rolling one finger near her temple, she set her mouth to one side. "I couldn't read your thoughts. Now, I can't read your emotions. Whatever this is, I'm not entirely convinced it was a mutation. Your telekinesis might have simply grown stronger with a change in environment, and night terrors are common enough in people suffering from PTSD. You'll need to come to the lab tomorrow for some tests anyway, so we'll put a pin in this for now."

"I don't have PTSD."

"Unless you want your father to move you into a cell, yes…yes you do." With a deep sigh that accentuated just exactly how large her breasts were, she held him with a gaze. "I need to be able to explain the event somehow, and 'unknown mutation' will not go over well. 'Trauma-induced sleep disruption' fits nicely with the post-battle environment, and is not a sign of weakness to be exploited. If his ego is so fragile that he believes himself superior because his son's mind is capable of conjuring vivid hallucinations during sleep, then all the more idiotic he."

He couldn't disagree with her, as much as it grated to allow his father any minor victory. "Am I going to be a danger tonight? If sleeping is going to cause me to tear the room apart, I should probably be somewhere less breakable."

"We're already working on that." Her typical 'in control' façade faded enough to allow humanity a chance to shine through, "If you want, you could lower your defenses and we could work together with some therapy? I've read the Marduk Report…I'd be glad to help."

"There's nothing to help," he uttered with the chill of the grave. "The findings were very clear, I brought it on myself." Standing, he walked firmly out of the room. "I will see you tomorrow, Doctor."

+++++ The Apartment. 3rd Angel + 3. Sunday, September 22nd.

Akane and Mikoto, at the advice of Ritsuko, allowed Shinji to 'self-soothe' as he would. What they discovered was that an irritated Shinji Ikari was a productive Shinji Ikari, as the housework that had been slowly falling behind was now completely caught up. As it was only eleven hundred hours, they were close to making a recommendation that they go get lost in a park or forest for a change of scenery when he pre-empted them by beginning to prepare lunch and 'treats' at the same time. A beautiful mixture of strawberry sweets and a teriyaki glaze wafted out of a kitchen that was almost preternaturally silent.

"If this is how he works stress off, we're going to have to double our workouts," Mikoto mused thoughtfully from her spot on the windowsill.

Working on fletching for her arrows, Akane grunted. "Could be worse. He could be working the frustration out by drinking heavily."

"Or chain smoking."

"Or bringing home random women."

"Well," Mikoto snickered, "I would be more than happy to help him myself if that would help."

Looking up from her work, Akane lowered her voice and snapped, "What is going on with you? Am I not scratching the itch anymore?"

Shooting her partner a withering glare, Mikoto matched tone for tone, "It's not me that has the problem. He reeks of sexual frustration. Emotionally, physically, probably even spiritually all things considered. I can smell it on him when I go all meow-meow, and my damn empathy is practically howling at me over it. I don't know how he's able to focus on anything at all with how loud it is."

Just as she was about to admit to a serious bout of confusion, Akane was cut off by Shinji poking his head out of the kitchen and asking, "Could one of you go get us some water chestnuts and bamboo shoots? We don't have enough for a full salad."

"I'll go," Mikoto called back, sliding off the windowsill and stretching cutely just for him. "Anything else?"

"No, just those. Thank you." He disappeared back into the kitchen again, once more resuming his silent preparations.

Stalking past Akane back to her room to get dressed, she muttered, "If you're so damned angry about it, why don't you try getting him to open up? We both know I'm the slut, so he'll clam up around me. He thinks you're not as horny as I am, which is a fucking lie, so maybe you'll get something."

"That's not-" Akane cut herself off when Mikoto failed to even pause in her movements. She'd let her own frustrations boil over, and she'd have to apologize later for the insinuation that they weren't 'enough' for one another. Twisting off the carbon-plastic wrap on the arrow she'd been working on, she tossed it into her quiver and sat back with a heavy sigh to set the heels of her hands in her eyes. A moment later, the front door opened and closed with the type of quiet force that indicated she'd really stepped in it with Mikoto. "Greaaaaat." Slapping her hands down on her thighs, she looked around the living area with an eye towards preparing the battlefield.

"Akane?" Shinji's voice carried with it a hint of quiet desperation that set her to standing up and moving before she thought better.

Reaching the kitchen, she slid into the room and performed a quick threat assessment. Finding nothing, with Shinji still facing the stove and working his miracles, her response was a more tempered, "Need something?"

"What am I doing wrong?"

Looking at him, from behind, she could see no logical reason for that to be the question he asked. He was tall, he was the type of lean that bespoke great danger in a fight, he was currently making food that would be the envy of every woman in Section Two tomorrow…was it nerves? "I'm not sure I understand what you mean." Choosing to deflect the question back to him in hopes of more information, she added, "If it's about this morning, then the answer really is just 'nothing'. You can't help the way you were born, and you shouldn't want to even if you could. Shit happens, we reorganize and drive on."

"Mikoto is…angry." His voice held a jarring uncertainty, something he'd not demonstrated for her before. "I'm…grateful. Both of you were worried, and neither of you are yelling at me about it. You've been serene all day, but she's…angry."

And this was the man who stood toe-to-toe with a kaiju as if it was nothing. Realizing that despite herself she'd forgotten that he had lacked for real socialization most of his life, she took up the mindset of a trusted peer instead of a bodyguard. Walking over to an empty space on the counter, she hopped up and sat down where she could be seen more easily. "She's actually not angry at you, but I can see where you'd think she was. She's really great at hiding it, but she's actually pretty empathic. She feels when someone around her is down in the dumps, or over the moon, and those extremes make her either happy or sad depending on who and what. You're obviously worried about what happened, and you probably have a few things besides that going on too. You're stressed, she doesn't know how to help, and so she's going all frowny-face on us."

"An empath." There was nothing more stated beyond the new piece of information he'd garnered.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" While not how she would have brought this discussion to the fore, it was there whether she liked it or not. "I mean, anything?"

"I…." That one brief utterance seemed to carry a significant weight, a foot hovering over a threshold just waiting to fall. As quickly as it had arrived, it was subsumed beneath the stoic mask he typically wore. "It's nothing."

"You sure?" She had felt a small thrill up her spine at his brush with actually opening up. "Nothing you say will leave this house, cross my heart."

Silence reigned for a time, only breaking for him to give her another puzzle to ponder, "Have you read the Marduk Report?"

"The…what now?" The sound of the door opening again cut the conversation short, her new housemate physically blocking himself off from her. Hopping off the counter and jogging back to her room to grab her work laptop, she made a motion for Mikoto to stay out of the kitchen for the time being. "Veggies are on the table, my dude!" Rolling her hand for her partner to follow behind, she urged her into the bedroom and closed the door behind them. "Doubt you do, but have you ever heard of a 'Marduk Report'?"

"No." Her anger gone, the walk having allowed her to clear her head, Mikoto gestured towards the kitchen. "Something he said?"

"Mmhmm," Akane replied, reaching for her non-work laptop. "I get the feeling that typing it into the MAGI is risking a lot. So instead, I thought we might invite someone over for a quick chat. She owes me a few favors, and if we're trusting Akagi, we're trusting her too."

+++++ The Apartment. 3rd Angel + 3. Sunday, September 22nd.

Having been informed of a visitor joining them for lunch, Shinji focused his efforts on realigning portions for everyone. He needed far less food than people believed he did, and it wasn't a difficulty for him to go without and still operate optimally, but he still had to pretend to need to eat to stop people from questioning why a man his size failed to consume enough food to maintain his mass. When the doorbell rang, he was putting the finishing touches on the dessert and so was in the kitchen when he heard a voice he recognized from the fight with the Angel.

"Hey! I'm surprised you two asked me to come over, normally you avoid Section One like the plague." With a joyful enthusiasm and ineffable positivity, there was no mistaking the owner of the mystery voice for anyone but the woman he'd heard. "Whatcha need me for?"

"Building bridges," Akane deflected the question expertly. "You see, our new roomie is having some confidence issues. Miki and I are being who we are, but it can be hard to see when someone's being 'genuine' when a huge part of their job is secrecy and obfuscation."

Mikoto had her arm around the smaller woman's shoulders as she brought her to the dining area to sit down for their shared meal. "Which is where you, My Little Maya, come in. Lying with the truth is about as foreign to you as Antarctica is, and so we figured you could help us get everyone moving in the right direction."

Setting down the last of the dishes, Shinji paused to wait patiently for introductions. He was the junior here, and from what little he remembered of the land of his birth he was to remain silent until spoken to when meeting someone. Standing before him was a woman who would easily be mistaken for a boy, were it not for her fashion sense and unrelenting smile. She was cute, more than beautiful, and her demeanor carried a great deal of the attractiveness she held in such a small package.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Ikari-san," Maya began with a bow as if between peers. "We're going to be working together tomorrow, but it's probably for the best that we get the basics out of the way first anyway. Thank you for sharing what you've made with me, it's obvious you were only making enough for three."

Motioning deferentially, Shinji shook his head. "No, no. I've never needed to eat nearly as much as people think. I eat because I like the taste, and it makes other people less uncomfortable in my presence. It's already hard enough to speak to someone you can't make eye contact with, and watching them forgo food for weeks at a time typically sets them even further on edge." He gestured to the four places around the small table. "Please, I'm sure we can talk and eat at the same time."

"Works for me," Maya enthused. Purposefully taking a seat next to him, she admired the artful presentation of their lunch. "I'm going to have to ask you for pointers, looking at this. Maybe you and I can work together in the kitchen from time to time, so I can soak in some of this talent."

Mikoto sat down opposite Maya on Shinji's other side. "All classes will be paid for in advance, and must be preapproved by the faculty," she joked.

"Nothing too onerous," Akane agreed, finishing the quartet, "maybe just the right to occasionally grope your butt."

Shinji was taken by surprise at the cheerful laugh that surged free from Maya. He wasn't certain about the relationships between those present, anymore than he was certain about relationships in general, which was likely the reason their guest was here. "I'll leave the collection of any fees to the administration," he demurred. "To my understanding, it's inappropriate for a teacher to fondle their students." His own attempt at humor brought yet another laugh from their guest, buoying his mood slightly.

Before speaking again, Maya took a small sampling of everything on her plate. Instead of Mikoto's lingering joy or Akane's mute bliss, she seemed to analyze everything with a scientist's scrutiny. "Subtle, very nice," she approved. "Instead of going for boisterous flavors, or hiding the imperfections of the base materials, you let them breathe through in harmony with one another. Very nice, indeed." She gave him a firm thumbs up. "Fits your profile to a 'T'. Content to let life come to you, disinterested in changing things around you unnecessarily, and a need to maintain balance in those things within your control."

It wasn't the first time someone had mentioned a profile, though it seemed odd to him that said profile never mentioned the darker parts. "A human being in perfection ought always to preserve a calm and peaceful mind and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to disturb his tranquility."

"Shelley," Akane identified the source of the quote. "So are you the doctor or the monster, then?"

Shinji's reply was a quiet, "One cannot exist without the other."

"Ok, but back to the beef," Mikoto cut in. "We can bat about our educations later, right now there's food!" Catching a small smirk at the edge of Shinji's lip, her senses became overwhelmed with his desire for her. "How many calories is this that I'm going to have to expunge later, then?"

"The two of you can go for a jog later. Maya and I have some work schedules to plan out, and getting you two out from underfoot for that will make it go faster." Setting the table for her best friend to do her part in getting them answers, Akane jabbed a finger towards Shinji. "He needs sunshine and fresh air, and you need to show him the safe spots around town to find those."

The offer of exercise further lifted Shinji's mood, leading to him ignoring the obvious effort to get him out of the house so that Akane could interrogate Maya about the Marduk Report. "Sounds like a plan. Mikoto managed to not only keep up with me, but outpace me on the straightaways."

"I have great speed in straight lines," the feline agent announced proudly. "Shifting my weight around turns is a little harder with my weight distribution."

"Must be nice to have that problem," Maya interjected playfully. "Here I am, straight gig line from toes to nose."

Once again taking a backseat, Shinji allowed the ladies to feed him information through their banter. Lunch, including the strawberry crepes he'd made, took longer as a result of all the conversation, but it was not an unproductive use of his time. When he stood up and began to bus the table, he found Maya's hand gently holding his wrist.

"I'll do the dishes, since I showed up unannounced. Why don't you go burn off some excess energy, hmm?" The pixie-like scientist gave him a knowing look. "We have a chamber set up to handle the necessary release of your pent-up extradimensional potential, but a good run can get you through the day." Standing up and hugging him, free of any form of guile, she whispered, "I'll brief her on the particulars, as well as why you're terrified of the topic, since you probably have no interest in doing so yourself."

A hug from this tiny woman somehow made all of his pains and aches meaningless in the grand scheme of life. Setting one hand on her shoulder, the closest thing he knew to sharing friendly affection, he squeezed twice in gratitude. If she knew about the Marduk Report, then she knew what he was going through. Maybe she could make things make sense for him, too. "Thank you, Ibuki-san. Mikoto, you game for a footrace?"

"Always, big guy." Hopping up from the table, she stretched in a way that put her figure out to devastating effect. "Mmm, gonna enjoy getting the blood pumping, let me tell you!"

A quick change of clothes later, he was joyously sprinting down the alleyways of Tokyo-3 alongside a woman that had no difficulty keeping up with him. A good meal, the relief of not having to be the one to explain the Marduk Report, and the company of someone who knew how he was feeling without him having to put it into words that he didn't have…there were worse ways to spend an afternoon.

+++++ The Apartment. 3rd Angel + 3. Sunday, September 22nd.

Back in the apartment, Maya's mood shifted suddenly from upbeat and uplifting to deathly serious as she began working on the dishes. "When Shinji was seven years old, he underwent a growth spurt that put him well outside the standard growth percentile charts. Over the course of three days, he grew to the height and weight of an Olympic athlete. His primary mutation formed, causing him to develop headaches that kept him from being discovered by the outside world by keeping him away from it. The male he lived with, a relative of the Commander, remained ignorant of the changes. The female he lived with, the wife of the first, for whatever reason decided to call the charity foundation that was paying them to watch Shinji. That act saved her life."

Akane scowled down at the ground, thinking through everything and squaring it with the story she'd been fed through the standard files. "A precocious puberty is one thing, but nobody grows a meter in three days without both unbelievable pain and insane amounts of caloric input." She shook her head, seeing the flaw in the narrative. "I know about Carosella, he's a good guy. He said once, over beers, that the day he grew larger he'd been beaten to a pulp by a group of assholes before being struck by a bus. Kinetic energy converted to strength, and it was only his largely pacifistic tendencies that stopped there from being five less assholes in the world. What caused it with our man?"

"We don't know."

"You don't know, or you won't tell me?"

"We don't know," Maya emphasized, looking over her shoulder and making unwavering eye contact. "Shinji Ikari has more mysteries surrounding him than Second Impact, and despite what the Marduk Investigation found, what they filed in the final report, we're no closer to understanding what caused this. What we do know, however, is that he has exceedingly unique requirements. Failure to meet those requirements induces a level of pain that can conservatively be estimated at 'being hit with the sun'." Turning back to the dishes, she added, "He's been dealing with that pain for almost a decade."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait," Akane tugged Maya away from the sink to glower down at her, "you're telling me that he's in pain all the time? What, did Akagi just not feel like telling us? How do we help him?"

"You don't. Not without committing serious crimes." Not backing down in the slightest, she impassively met the displeasure directed at her. "You are in a position of authority over him, and any efforts to help him with these problems falls squarely outside of approved boundaries. Anyone beyond those who already know about it is considered a potential intelligence liability. Despite what Doctor Akagi told you at the track, I strongly recommend you do nothing with what it is you are piecing together right now."

"…You're kidding me."

"When, in all the years that you've known me, have you ever heard me utter an off-color joke?" Her light grey eyes held tightly restrained anger. "If we walk down that path, allowing ourselves to freely make use of this weakness he has, we destroy any potential credibility we might have had with him. How do you order him into the Eva? How do you maintain effective discipline? His professionalism, the stoicism that keeps him from breaking down and letting life destroy him, all of it will come crumbling down around us. There are rules against fraternization for a reason, Agent. Whether we like them or not."

Not one to back down from a challenge, Akane maintained her footing and composure. "Then why the hell did Akagi put him with us? You've got an empath living with someone who is apparently a bundle of sex looking for a place to happen, and you expect things to just be fine and dandy?"

"Because with you two we can at least keep the casualties to a minimum. Find me two of your gorillas that wouldn't end up getting in a fight with him within an hour of meeting him." Crossing her arms, the shorter technician hitched an eyebrow. "You know as well as I do that every single agent in your Section, even you and Mikoto, are walking, talking, egos. You have to be in order to maintain control of security with the skeleton crew we have. Neither of you are going to force yourselves on him, he's not going to force himself on either of you, the damage is minimized."

"He is in constant pain!"

"And? Would you rather go down the path the Commander is looking to use? Lock him in a cage until we need him? Keep him away from people entirely? Declare him a threat to good order and discipline and treat him like a conscripted prisoner?" She leaned forward at the hips just enough to press the point home, "Give me a better option."

Blinking, Akane began to realize that she wasn't being ordered to stand down. She was being asked to find a way to help that didn't involve breaking laws. "Nanako Dojima."

"Club owner of Xenia, known mutant, and ranking member of the Shirakami?" Maya was not impressed. "Yes. Let's allow the only pilot of the only defense mankind has against alien monstrosities to have continuous contact with Yakuza. Brilliant plan."

"They feed three quarters of the prefecture," Akane protested.

"They've murdered six people this week."

"Yeah, like our hands are squeaky clean!"

"We're keeping a planet full of humans alive. I fully intend on cooperating with the UNIGC when we win. I'll testify before a jury of my peers, and I'll serve my sentence knowing that any crime I aided and abetted was done with the sole purpose of having the chance to face a jury of my peers. If they choose to hang me, I'll go to the gallows with a smile."

"…Remind me again why we're friends?"

"Because I remind you all the time of the stakes, and you know me well enough to know that when push comes to shove I'll do what's right no matter how hard it makes my life."

Grinding her teeth together, Akane stewed in silence while Maya went back to washing the dishes. She could ignore Maya's advice. She knew Maya wouldn't say a damn thing about it, too. Problem was, Maya was trying to keep her from choosing what was easy over what was right. "Can't he…you know…."

"No. They ran tests," she added in disgust.

"How did they even figure…wait." Her breath caught and her eyes clenched shut. "Please tell me that what life she's living isn't comfortable."

"She's enjoying the hospitality of one of our nation's finest involuntary hotels." A few furious scrubs of a brush against one of the plates made it clear that despite her straitlaced demeanor she didn't think the punishment nearly bad enough.

+++++ Tokyo-3. 3rd Angel + 3. Sunday, September 22nd.

Bent over laughing, struggling to catch his breath, Shinji felt the weight of Mikoto on his back and the mighty rain of half-hearted blows against his shoulders with more amusement than irritation. He had earned such 'punishment' by tricking her into thinking he was going to wait for her to get ready before beginning the final leg of their 'race'. Her own laughter, intercut with her calling him a 'cheater' only added to the bright joy of the moment. For the first time in his life, he felt he had an actual friend.

With her legs wrapped around his waist, Mikoto felt every ounce of desire he had multiplying that which she felt for him. It wasn't 'love' or 'fondness', they just both felt a real need to find the breaking point of a nearby flat surface. When he stood back upright, she set her arms around his neck for balance and hugged him close. "I'm so happy I have someone around me who can push me like that."

Lacing his hands behind his back to support her, he nodded in agreement. This wasn't a teacher, instructor, or professor keeping pace using a bicycle to demand he move faster. She just wanted to share the joy of outrunning the world for a while with him. "I look forward to losing as much as I win." His course set them towards a public bathhouse, which conveniently had laundry services in the same structure. "How about a bath before we walk back home?"

Purring out the first sound, she agreed enthusiastically, "Lllllove the idea." She recognized the facility, knew that it was Shirakami-aligned, and inwardly thrilled at a fact he wouldn't be aware of. Once they reached the attendant, who had long since recognized her, she grinned playfully and declared, "Private bath, please. We've worked up a sweat."

"Of course, Mikoto-chan," the old lady amicably declared. "Number three. Leave your clothes outside, I'll see to them myself."

While not what he had intended, Shinji was at least aware that it wasn't entirely inappropriate to engage in mixed gender bathing. Since the bath itself would be just the two of them, he wouldn't have to worry about making any faux pas. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Think nothing of it, dearie." She patted his arm in a maternal manner. "Nanako-chan passed word along that you kept Xenia from being torn apart without throwing a single punch. I wish more men knew how to use their words before resorting to their muscles."

Reaching the door leading into their private bath, he set Mikoto down and hesitated to walk in himself. "Did she go around telling everyone?" The OPSEC issue aside, he didn't want people equating him with any private organizations.

"Only those of us who work in your area," the matron assured him. "Don't worry, we're not making a public issue of it. We just want to repay you for protecting not only the city, but the peace. Too much violence nowadays."

It made sense. "Thank you again, then. The fewer people looking askance at the stranger, the…easier I'll rest."

"Then rest easy, and enjoy the bath." With a polite bow, she turned to go into a nearby closet for baskets to handle their clothing.

Ducking into the room, Shinji was treated to an unrestricted view of Mikoto's lean and lithe body as she used the shower hose to cleanse herself of the dirt and sweat she'd accumulated. As ascetic as he had been trained to become, he was still a teenaged male in the presence of a powerfully attractive and completely naked woman engaged in lingering caresses of her own flesh. He was disciplined, not dead. Shutting his eyes as he pulled his rapidly fogging glasses off, he placed one of the earpieces into his mouth to hold onto them while he stripped down. What he hadn't anticipated, however, was being relieved of them before he could reach out and prevent their loss.

"Uh, uh, uh," Mikoto chided. "If these break, we have a problem. I'm placing them where they can't break, and you're trusting me to get you clean." She took his hands, leading the now-blind young man over to a stool to sit down upon. "Next time we go for a run, bring your visor. That thing looks sturdy enough to park on."

She was soaping him down, her hands flowing along his skin, her breasts mashing into his back. "I'm able to bathe myself with my eyes closed. I've done it for a decade."

"And we're alone," she countered, "happy," her touch slipped down his abs, "and having a good time."

It did, in fact, feel wonderful. Before he knew it, she had her hand wrapped around a burgeoning issue and he quickly gripped her wrist as gently as he could while still stopping her. "Not…a great idea."

"It has to get clean," she whispered soothingly. "I won't play with it, if you don't want me to. We can just enjoy hugging in warm water." She could respect his hesitation, even if it drove her to frustration. After his grip eased slightly, she continued her ministrations. "So, since you came clean about being able to change people's minds, I'll let you in on my ability to get a feel for emotions."

"Akane told me, actually. I had wondered if I was slipping, with you able to read me so well, but it makes me feel better to know you just had an advantage."

"Bah, cheating bitch," she chuckled. "Up, up, up." Helping him stand, she walked him down into the bath and got him seated in the deeper end. Contemplating her own position for a few moments, she decided to just 'be herself' and planted herself on his lap with her arms around his neck and her ear against his chest. "So, I'm hoping you can see why I'm so confused."

"I do."

His heartbeat was steady, if a bit accelerated. She was enticing to him, but he still held a rigid control. "You're into me, I'm into you, but something's…unnerving you. If you want me to shut up about it, I'll drop it here." She knew he couldn't see her, though she still looked up into his face for any potential tells. "If you just need time, I can work with that too. But I can smell the mutual attraction, and so…confused."

How did he explain his childhood? His crimes? What his actions had caused? He could barely mention the word outside of an academic context without feeling like his throat was collapsing, how could he explain to a woman that exuded the concept personified the truth of things? "I…."

A million different responses could fit into the gravid pause, but none of them that she saw or smelled hinted of rejection. It wasn't her that was the problem, which made her feel better about sitting where she was. "I'm serious, no pressure. I'm just very tactile, and I enjoy hugs and cuddles." Maybe he really did just need some patience while he figured out how to navigate a new world of experiences. "Are you ok with hugs and cuddles, at least?"

He was more than 'ok' with them. The more he received, the more he realized how wonderful it was to just have someone else touch you for non-violent purposes. "Y-yeah."

"Great!" Snuggling in tighter, she sighed happily. "Then I get to give you affection, you get to give me affection, and we continue to find where the boundaries of our friendship will be. Everyone wins."

While guilty of many things in his life, being meek was not one of those. Still, he was cautious in where he set his hands as he returned her hug. He doubted seriously that she would care where he touched her, but it was still only right to not send mixed messages. The feel of her breathing against him, the contented rumble in her chest as she nuzzled her face against his sternum, it felt…nice.

+++++ Author's Notes:

I greatly appreciate the patience I have received from you all. I hope that this new story does not disappoint.

Honestly, the thought of making Shinji into Wolverine never crossed my mind. Two very different characters with very different struggles. Logan is many things, but repressed is not one of them. Repression, thy name be Shinji. Ritsuko is indeed taking up the mantle of Emma Frost, with a slight adaptation to give a bit of convenience to the story overall.

I'm tickled at how many people seem to like Mikoto and Akane. Of all the OCs I have created to fill needs in the stories, other than Noelle, they're the ones who write themselves the most. Give them a scene to work with, and their personalities fill out any dialogue without me having to quadruple check their 'voice'. For the purposes of this story, though, I needed their unique outlook on life for the central dilemma and theme. Fingers crossed.