Fireworks
Shinji had never been to a carnival before. His sensei had never bothered to take him anywhere, let alone something seen as childish or fun, but here he was.
Hikari had dragged everyone along, apparently, it was the only one willing to come to Tokyo-03 after all the Angel attacks. Despite NERVs attempts to suppress the information, information spread, it was inevitable.
So here he was, it was an excuse not to see his father, instead, he was standing in line for a rollercoaster, with the other stooges and pilots being led by the class rep herself.
How she had managed to lure Rei into joining them tonight Shinji would never know, but the bluenette's face refused to betray her emotions at the moment.
It seemed only Rei had been the one to wear her school uniform, everyone else was slightly dressed up, Toji had shed his sweatshirt, Hikari had let her hair down for once, Kensuke was thankfully not wearing combat fatigues, and Asuka had dressed in a light green dress with a jacket that stopped at her waist.
He was lucky enough to avoid being caught staring at the girl, it was rather jarring from the typical school uniform or plug suit he saw her in. While not as… revealing as some of the clothes she wore around Misato's apartment, it made her no less beautiful.
"Shinji move." Toji hissed in his ear, startling him from his thoughts.
Blinking, Shinji realized how the line had finally begun to move again and he followed the redhead in front of him. Though it was more like how someone would follow an animal that could tear them apart in a heartbeat, Shinji knew for a fact the girl in front of him was capable of doing just that.
Finally reaching the loading platform, the group all found seats to take, of course, Hikari was able to snag Toji to sit next to, while Kensuke just awkwardly stood next to Rei who, in typical fashion, showed no expression at the idea of riding a rollercoaster for the first time.
Asuka seemed to be fixated on riding in the very first car and seeing no other option, Shinji resigned himself to the fate of being dragged by the redhead to the front.
"Ever been on a rollercoaster before?" she asked with a smirk, probably at the sight of him looking nervously at the people exiting.
"No, I haven't." he admitted.
"Are you scared?" she asked, leaning in a bit to examine his face as a smirk grew on her lips, "Look at that, Invincible Shinji's afraid of a little ride."
"No, I'm not." He tried to snap back at her, but his voice failed him.
Asuka's smirk just grew as the ride's cars arrived, with riders exiting, they were motioned to come forwards and board.
The Second Child practically launched herself forwards, diving into her seat and pulling down the restraining bar. Looking up she once again just saw the boy standing there, hesitating.
"Urgh, would you get in already!"
Shinji automatically complied, he doubted that seat restraint would keep her from him if the girl really wanted to drag the boy in.
Sitting down in the car, he pulled down the restraint and did his best to keep his heart from racing. That was until a chuckle caught his ear.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
It was that smirk again like she knew something he didn't "It's nothing, you're just pale that's all.".
Why was he so nervous? This should be nothing to him.
"Oh, don't worry, I'll be right here." She laughed as the staff gave all clear signs to each other.
Shinji braced himself as he was pushed back into his seat by the speed. This was going to be a wild ride.
҈
The redhead seemingly didn't care that her outburst was causing a number of eyes to be drawn to the group.
This damn game was impossible.
Asuka had already paid for three games and was now going to have to pay for one more.
"Hey, let's go Asuka." Hikari was doing her best to pry the fiery German away from the game stall, but her meek voice had no chance of convincing the girl.
Around her, the group all just stood there, mumbling among themselves as the pilot of Unit-02 attempted in vain to win at the ring toss game.
Asuka glared at the sight before her, she hated the field of bottles, all lined up so perfectly, identical to one another, like a column of mindless soldiers standing at attention. The only difference in that sea of continuity was the occasional colorful bottle, the targets she was so desperate to hit.
With a flick of her wrist, Asuka sent the last of her rings towards the closest colored bottle, only for it to land two bottles over.
Everyone readied themselves for the scream of fury that was bound to come from the girl, but none did, instead, she just stood there, hands slammed down on the booth's edge, simmering.
Each member of the group looked at each other, daring the others to go forwards and ask the pilot if they could move along.
Hikari's eyes landed on Shinji, who did his best to escape her gaze but instead found himself being motioned to go up and say something. Forcefully he might add.
Looking at the others and seeing that no one was going to do anything, the boy took a deep breath and prepared himself.
Creeping forwards the Third Children did his best to appear brave, though how could someone poke an already pissed lion even fake such a thing?
"Asuka?" Shinji spoke up as he came to the booth next to her "It's just a stupid game, we can…" the boy was cut short by the raging of the redhead.
"Oh, if it's such a stupid game why don't you try it?!"
Shinji shrunk back, not really wanting to get thrown to the ground by a violent outburst, but that never came, instead Asuka forked over a few more yen to the smiling attendant, who in turn handed her three more rings.
"Go on Baka Shinji, show us all how it's done!" the German tossed the rings to him, which he very nearly let fall to the ground.
Shinji looked back for the reassurance of his friends, hoping that any of them would at least give him a smile of encouragement, instead it seemed everyone but Rei took another step back, not wanting to be near Asuka if she blew up again.
Gulping, Shinji placed two rings down onto the booth's edge and readied himself.
Perhaps he shouldn't even try, he could just chuck the rings instead of trying, that way he didn't chance accidentally landing on target. However, if she knew he wasn't trying it might just make her foul mood turn even worse.
So, Shinji just weighed the ring in his hand, trying to get a feel for it, before pulling back his wrist.
"Will you get on with it already!" Asuka shouted as the boy flung his ring forwards, aiming at the nearest painted bottle.
Neither said anything as it stayed on target, if any one of the kids behind him said a word, he doubted they'd be alive to tell the tale.
Shinji held his breath as it continued, its trajectory true and as it finally found itself nearing its target, while he silently prayed that some gust of wind took it off course.
It was all in vain.
The ring landed perfectly on the bottle, spinning around on the lip before falling onto it with a rather satisfying ringing.
The Third Children simply blinked.
In that moment, he accepted the fact that he was a dead man and that the girl next to him would be his executioner in the near future.
So, he just waited, refusing to break his gaze on the bottle which now had a ring resting on it.
Surprisingly, there was no fist thrown at him, there was no foot being sent towards his shorts, and there were no shouts of indignation.
Instead, there were only seething words.
"Well, go again." Asuka muttered coldly.
Deciding to go for a further bottle, the boy gave the ring a bit extra power. He watched as it too stayed true to his aim and winced as it came down perfectly on the next colored bottle.
Again, the boy waited for the preverbal volcano to erupt next to him, but nothing happened. He didn't even dare to look over and meet Asuka's gaze. Instead, he figured it was better to simply toss the last of his rings and perhaps run as fast as he could swiftly after.
Shinji steadied his shaking hand the best he could and released another ring, luckily he choked the shot, as it went careening to the side
Taking a sigh of relief he didn't even have time to look back to the redhead before the attendee came up to him. The rather large man was bellowing with laughter, which Shinji figured would be the final nail in his coffin.
"All righty son, choose your prize!"
"Wha?" Shinji didn't know what to say.
"Your prize! You get to pick anything from this wall here!" the man pointed to the stall's prizes, notably the smallest there, but it wasn't like he had wanted anything there in the first place.
Shinji eyed them over, it was mostly a variety of small stuffed animals, he really didn't care for such things and he'd rather move along quickly so Asuka didn't have time to hurt him.
"Um, that one?" he asked, pointing to the nearest creature.
The booth's attendee nodded and handed it to the boy, who just shrugged and turned around to his friends. They all seemed relieved to be moving on, much like him, but Asuka?
He turned to where the girl had just been a few moments before and found she had already turned to leave, that green dress storming away from the group, who quickly followed.
Shinji was thankful he hadn't acquired another bruise from the girl and at least he had gotten something from the game.
He just hoped he could bring it on rides, they wouldn't have a problem with a stuffed monkey, right?
҈
"I don't know about this."
Shinji was eyeing the towering contraption before them. The rusted structure of the Ferris wheel was not an inviting one, who knew how long this thing had been moved around Japan.
"Don't be such a baby!" he heard Asuka shout from the front of the line.
The night was starting to come to a close, this was going to be their last ride for the night before they would start to leave the fairgrounds.
"I'm going to sit this one out." Shinji mumbled, turning to head back down the line, much to the bemoaning of his companions.
"OH no, you don't! If you're so scared ride with me Baka Shinji!" somehow the girl was on him in a flash and latched onto him by the wrist.
Holding onto his game prize with all his might, Shinji was practically dragged by Asuka into the basket, not caring for his shouts of protest.
They sat down, the basket itself was circular, with a bench only in the shape of a crescent moon. There was probably enough room for three of four people, but the line was short and the operator simply let it go.
As they began to rise from the ground, Asuka peered out over the seemingly countless rides and attractions that sprawled out before them. Shinji couldn't really focus on the view, not when he was gripping the sides of the gondola.
The higher they went, the stronger the breeze, before it eventually became a sporadic wind that rocked the gondola every now and then.
Shinji was glad it would only do one revolution; he did not want to be on this thing longer than he needed to.
Finally cresting the top of the ride, the boy sighed and slouched back into the bench seat, it would be over soon.
Why did he have to think that?
The ride shuttered and slowed to a crawl before they were stopped, their own basket around the two o'clock position.
"Oh, just great!" Asuka shouted, peering over the edge just to see the crew scurrying trying to fix the problem.
Shinji watched as the wind whipped at her hair, sending it into something akin to a flickering fire as their basket swayed back and forth in the wind.
"You probably shouldn't be hanging over the side Asuka." He suggested with admittedly little force, which was met with an equal amount of indifference from the girl.
Before long minutes seemed to stretch into hours as the boy just sat there, staring out over the illuminated fields. Asuka still kept her back turned to him, now resting her head on the edge of the cart.
It seemed like a lifetime before the silence was broken.
"Hey Shinji, wanna try a kiss?"
"Huh?" Shinji's brain could barely process what she had just asked, "Um, why?".
Asuka just kept her head there on the edge, not looking back at him "Because I'm bored that why.".
Finally, she turned to him, brushing her hair aside that had been caught in the wind.
"What, are you scared?"
"No I'm not!" he bit back, why of all people did it have to be her asking him this? Why now, why here?
What was this?
"Alright, get over here, and get rid of that." Her eyes glanced at the stuffed monkey fleetingly, before returning to his eyes.
Shinji left it on the bench and slid across to where she was, the warm summer breeze rocked the cart gently as a flurry of thoughts raced through his head, and just as many emotions ran through his heart.
Asuka leaned in, her eyes seemingly refused to blink as she did, Shinji felt the urge to shut his eyes, to run away from that seemingly emotionless stare he was receiving, but he couldn't find the will to do so.
And it wasn't like there was anywhere to go anyway.
They leaned in closer, their warm breath tickling each other's nose, before stopping.
"Don't breath through your nose, it tickles." She mumbled, before Shinji could think, her hand reached up and snatched the tip of his nose, covering it while her lips crashing into his.
Her own eyes were shut the instant she made contact, while his stayed open, the boy was paralyzed, too hesitant to make a single move out of fear that she might not want him to, while his face burned from the blush he knew had long since formed.
He decided it was best he close his eyes as well, that it would be better if she didn't catch him staring once she opened her own eyes.
The second he did, he felt the cart rock, a gust of wind sent their vessel rocking somewhat heavily and out of instinct Shinji's eyes opened as he reached for the closest thing to steady himself on.
Asuka.
More specifically her waist.
Despite having latched onto her, Shinji's muscles stiffed, like some soldier who had stepped on a landmine without it detonating.
He was now officially a dead man walking.
To his surprise, there was no thrashing, no shouting, no punches thrown at him, instead she simply released her hand from his nose and slipped it around him.
Was she… enjoying this?
That train of thought was interrupted by an explosion, though one that he knew was not of war and conflict, instead of celebration.
From the corner of his eye, he could see the flashes as more explosions lit up the sky. The two of them were awash in colors as the fireworks display continued and bright hues illuminating the two entangled teenagers.
Asuka said nothing and made no notion that she wanted to break this off, if anything, she was leaning in even heavier now.
Shinji's thoughts and emotions exploded at the same pace as the fireworks being set off in the sky, emotions of happiness, confusion, and desire all seemed to stir into one concoction that petrified the boy.
Did she like him? Did she hate him? Was this some sort of trick? Another cruel 'lesson' she was about to give?
Perhaps the scariest thought was that this might actually be real.
She might actually like him.
Shinji lost track of time, with both of them there, lips and bodies pressed against one another, explosions of light filling the sky, he could admit he never wanted the moment to end, but everything has to.
He felt a lurch in the Ferris wheel and the distinct movement of the ride. Asuka must have felt it too, since she peeled away from him slowly, dragging out one last moment with her lips before opening her crystal blue eyes to meet his.
Neither of them said a word, their eyes just bore into the others as their warm breath blew against their opposites, it was almost like they were daring each other to break away first.
Asuka would win that contest.
Shinji pulled away from her torso, and reached down to the stuffed animal currently on the floor, doing so slowly as to make sure he wasn't about to be jumped while his back was turned.
Within the time it took to look away, they had reached the end and the ride stopped so that they could disembark.
Looking back up, Asuka was already gone, heading down the landing and meeting their friends, bemoaning the fact they had been stuck up there so long.
Shinji caught up with them and neither of the children made any comment or indication of what had just occurred, to their group or each other.
They all walked along, underneath the flashes of light that glowed overhead, each with necks craned up to the sky, all except for him.
His eyes were fixed on her, how each flash of color accented her face differently. She had always been beautiful, almost unbearably so, but right now?
She was like a goddess to his eyes.
So they walked along, under the fireworks, with Shinji feeling a foreign warmth that he never knew existed and a spring in his step.
Perhaps something had just changed for the better.
So, this was written for the r/asushin discord server summer themed contest, shoutout to everyone over there who've been really great over the last few months.
This was actually adapted from an alternative life snippet that I worked on for Relapse, but I ended up cutting it. I adapted the idea for the contest and was actually thinking about expanding it into a full story. Though, if I did it'd be a back burner project.
Until Next Time