(Penguin translations)
Thoughts
"You did WHAT?" Asukas' voice echoed loudly through Hikaris' empty house.
"W…well…I set Ikari up with a friend for the dance" the shy brunette answered sheepishly.
"I herd that!" Asuka scowled "but why?" It was late and Hikari had invited Asuka to stay the night 'we need to talk about something' she had told her redheaded friend. After a few hours of hesitation and a large number of chocolate boxes Hikari had worked up enough courage to tell her friend the reason to the visit.
She explained that the dance was coming up and she added hesitantly that she asked Shinji Ikari to be her friends' partner for the night. "Well he…he wasn't going with anyone" Hikari sighed, "he wasn't going at all. He was afraid no one would go with him so he just decided not to go."
"So being the nice person you were you had to set him up" Asuka stated flatly her voice almost cracking.
"Yeah…and the fact that she…kinda…likes him" she winced for a moment then stared at her friend, "You don't mind do you?"
Asuka frowned "that you are nice?"
Hikari sighed and looked at her feet "no, that I asked him."
"Why would I care?" Asuka grunted looking up at the ceiling, "he's just a dumb jerk anyway. If I were you I'd have chosen someone else to go with your friend." The young redhead stared at the ceiling for a while then something hit her, "who is it?"
Hikari jumped back a bit "uh…well…um, it's Keiko."
"The girl that stayed down" Asuka looked at her friend shocked Hikari started to explain, "well… she was staring at him all day in class and then she asked If I knew him. Well I told her yes and then she asked if I could ask him out for her. "
Asuka sat there still staring at her friend, at that moment she felt like she wanted to rip Hikaris' head off. Now who is going to take me? she thought I was hopping he would notice I wasn't going and in his polite yet shy way, ask if he could escort me. "But…but…" Asuka started to talk but no words could get past the hard lump that had solidified in her throat.
"If you want to ask him I'll tell Keiko he can't make it" Hikari offered noticing her friend stumble with the words.
Asuka suddenly regained some of her speech "NO, why would I want to go with him?"
Hikari smiled a little "so you're ok with it?"
"We…well, yes I suppose" the redhead answered without thinking oh crap I did it again, I spoke without thinking first!
"Good" Hikari smiled openly "She's really looking forward to this."
I'M not Asuka sighed then cheered up for the sake of her friend.
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Shinji Ikari and Pen-Pen the warm water penguin sat on the couch in front of the blaring TV. They were both in one of those extreme states of relaxation that neither of them complained about the crappy Soap opera that was on. "Hey Pen…you got the remote?" Shinji asked lazily.
A resulting "WAAUUUUGGGGHHHH" forced Shinjis' eyes to follow the penguins' flipper; he soon noticed the remote sitting on top of the TV. "URGH, you get it" he yawned to his companion.
"WUGH, WUGH" Pen-Pen answered shaking his head left to right. "You're so lazy" Shinji smiled then got up and walked to the remote, he laughed when he turned around to see an indent in the couch that looked like his back. Pen-Pen joined in for a moment before his human friend sat back down and flipped through the channels.
"No, no, no, no…oh god, 38 channels and nothing is on!" the boy sighed. "WUGGH" Pen-Pen said happily as Shinji hit the cooking channel where some fat chef was making something to do with fish. "Gee, small minds are easily entertained" the boy smiled at his roommate as he promptly gave him the penguin equivalent of 'the finger'.
"Hey Pen, you know how I told you bout the dance" he looked over and got an affirmative nod, "you think I should go?"
"WUGH" he shook his head a few times prompting a question from Shinji "why not?" Yet again the young Ikari found his eyes following the direction of his penguin friends' flipper, this time to somewhere on the wall.
When he fixed his eyes on the newly decorated wall he smiled. In the two years of living in the apartment and it surviving all those angel attacks, Misato noticed that they had no memorabilia. So she took it upon herself and she went out and bought a camera and from then on she would take pictures of what she classified her 'little family'.
The photo on the wall was one of Shinji being nuggied by a redhead girl his age mainly one named Asuka Langley Soryu. He still felt that nuggie mentally though the photo was taken half a year ago.
Over time both of the young teens had loosened up around each other and soon, though they still fought, became good friends. Asuka let her pride slowly drop away but she still kept a certain amount of her competitive edge, enough to be classified healthy.
Shinji had also let his shyness drop, which was a big task seeing as though in certain situations he still gets really flustered and shy.
Apart from minor details like that life was beginning to get good, he felt comfortable around more people than before and was slowly getting to know his father. He returned to reality and realised he was staring off into space again "uh…yeah it's a photo."
Pen-Pen sighed "WUGHHH" (oh idiot, look who's in the photo) he pointed again at another photo this time one of just Asuka.
"What?" he asked still not getting the penguins point, "what's Asuka got to do with it?"
"She's not even going" Shinji laughed, "do you think I should ask her?" Pen-Pen sighed at the mock laughter his friend produced you IDIOT he thought as he remembered a conversation he had not so long ago with Asuka.
FLASH BACK
"Heya Pen-Pen" Asuka yelled happily to the penguin as she stepped through the door.
"WUGH WUUGGH" (heya, please feed me) he replied as he popped open a can of beer ready for when Misato got home in two minutes. He had learned to predict when his roommates would get back and what they liked to do whenever they got in. "WHUGHH WHUUUHGGG" he pointed his flipper to the bathroom (your bath will be ready in a minute).
"What? Oh…a bath thanks Pen…you know you're too smart for your own good" Asuka smiled again leaning down and patting Pen-Pen on the head.
Oh crap she is really perky today I wonder why? Pen-Pen laughed internally as he thought something else must've caught a glimpse of Shinji in the boys locker rooms…oh I'm too mean.
Asuka looked at the expression on the penguins face and laughed "what were you thinking of?"
Wouldn't you like to know? he thought sarcastically "WUGH."
"Hey Pen is Shinji home yet?" she asked looking over her shoulder at the front door. Pen-Pen shook his head then shrugged to signal he had no idea when his friend would be back. "Hmm…ok, do you think he knows how to dance?" the redhead asked calmly.
Pen-Pen fell over from shock! He did not expect that question especially from her he quickly shrugged again because he didn't know. "Hmm…ok, maybe I can get him lessons or something. If you're wondering why I think he is going to invite me to the school dance next weekend. Of course he'll ask ME how many other sexy girls he knows?" she thought for a moment, "NONE, phew I'm lucky then."
END FLASHBACK
"HEY Pen, SNAP out" Shinji yelled into the penguins' ear as close as he dared to get, after all a slap from a penguin hurts. He was relieved when Pen-Pen snapped out of the little trance he was in and looked around. "Is…she going?" Shinji asked hesitantly.
Pen-Pen thought for a moment hmm…if I nod he might get upset, if I shake my head he'll assume she doesn't want to go and if I shrug I look like a dumb ass. But then again if I nod he might get jealous and ask her himself! Ohhh I'm so devious! he promptly nodded hoping for good results.
"Oh…ok well so am I…so it balances out" Shinji smiled an unbelievable one then turned back to the TV I wish I wasn't going he let out a sigh.
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The next day Shinji made his way to school slowly, it was a little lonely without Asuka to talk to in the morning so he walked slower than usual. So she is going then he thought to himself, I don't think I want to go now, not when she will be there.
He came up on an intersection that lead off into three more directions, straight ahead was school, left was Hikaris' and right was downtown. He stopped and waited for a bit at the intersection Hikari and Asuka will be here any second. Maybe I'll ask her who she's going with, either way I got to get out of this thing.
A while of waiting paid off as he now saw two girls slowly approaching from the distance. They both gave him a wave as they got close enough to determine who he was. "Hey Hikari, Auska" he nodded his head to them as they caught up with him and fell into step along side.
"Good morning Shinji" Hikari smiled as she walked next to him on one side. Asuka just nodded slightly not saying a word as she fell into place on the other side of him.
Shinji sighed a bit as he was a little worried Asuka hadn't said anything yet "Asuka, are you ok?"
"Yeah" she answered quickly not looking at him she kept her head down to the ground.
"What's going on?" Shinji whispered to Hikari using one hand to shield his mouth from Asuka.
Hikari whispered back "I told her."
Shinji sighed, he had expected that. The walk continued in silence until Asuka finally spoke up "so, you're going?"
"What?" Shinji asked as he didn't quite catch her question.
"You know…the dance, oh you're so thick!" she yelled almost angrily.
"Oh…ah" Shinji looked at her and she looked back at him, there was something wrong with her eyes this morning he couldn't quite place it. "Well…ah…no" he sighed as he saw Hikari fall over from shock.
"What?" she squeaked from the ground as Asuka helped her up.
"Sorry, I just…can't" Shinji sighed again and ran a hand through his hair, "I've got more important things. Sorry, I'll tell Keiko if you want me too."
Hikari sighed then she protested "NO, I'll do it. I just wish I didn't have to do it so close to the night."
Shinji took a deep breath "I really am sorry." Talk died down and the three walked the rest of the way in silence, although the others hadn't noticed but for the rest of the way Asuka had a small but happy smile.
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The night was still and not a thing was stirring, well except for Shinji and Pen-Pen who were up watching TV and wrestling for control of the remote. Shinji made a dash for the remote as it slid across the floor but he was halted by Pen-Pen grabbing his foot and tugging with all his might. "No…we're not watching…doco's on…salmon migration" he tried to pry the penguin off his foot but to no avail.
"WAGHHHHH" (you aint getting that remote) Pen quickly let go causing the boy he held to fall face first into the side of the couch. As soon as his friend was downed he jumped at the remote, he grabbed it with both flippers and triumphantly held it high into the sky. Hah I win It was about then when he realised he didn't have the remote anymore; someone had snatched it out of his hands.
It couldn't have been Shinji because he was still rubbing his nose from the fall and Misato was at work again. "Ah aha" a cheery voice called "now I have control." Shinji finished rubbing the feeling back into his face and looked up to see a very proud Asuka holding the remote up to the TV.
"Huh? Isn't the dance on now?" he asked her thinking that she was late.
"Yeah, but what's the dance got to do with the TV?" she grinned as she flicked through channels.
"Uh well…I thought you were going" Shinji walked over to her and tried to grab the powerful piece of machinery in her hand.
Asuka jumped back and grinned widely "not so fast Baka!"
"Hey, I thought you said you wouldn't call me that anymore" Shinji complained "and why are you still here won't your date be waiting?"
"DATE" Asuka yelled, "What date? No one asked me to the dance so I'm not going."
"Hah, I don't believe it. The most desirable girl in school and no one asked you to the dance" Shinji laughed out loud.
"HEY" Asuka scowled "people asked me. I was just waiting for the right one." With that she stepped in front of the TV and continued surfing the channels till she came to one of those soft sappy movies.
"Oh, NO" Shinji groaned holding his face with his hand he looked down to see Pen-Pen mimic him.
"WAUUGH" (no not sappy stuff) he moaned, Shinji nodded "I'm with you there pal." He quickly nodded his head towards Asuka who held the remote then smiled at Pen-Pen, the penguin nodded in return good idea kid.
Shinji slowly crept up behind the young redhead while Pen-Pen went round the other side. "Hey Asuka" Shinji whispered loud enough for her to hear.
"What is it…" she was startled when two arms wrapped around her arms and she almost fell to the floor, "S-Shinji?"
"Ha, now Pen go" as quickly as possible the penguin slid along the floor and grabbed the remote out of the girls hands, "yes, no sappy movies for us."
"Uh…S-Shinji?" Asuka whispered softly.
"Ya" he replied happily at the success of their manoeuvre.
"Do you like being this close to me?" she said sarcastically.
"Oh shit!" Shinji jumped back letting Asuka go, "oh shit I'm sorry Asuka…I didn't..."
"Oh shut up Baka" Asuka laughed "I'm teasing you, I know you just wanted the remote. Though I must say I'm impressed at your little plan there, and I didn't know you had the spine to pull something like that off."
He could feel his entire face flush red as he realised what exactly he had done, and the most shocking thing about it was she wasn't mad or trying to hit him. "O-ok then" he hesitated then saw the smile on Asukas' face so he smiled back.
"I'll tell ya what to settle this remote thing we'll have a challenge" She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared then she emerged from her room carrying a small game consol.
"Hey I know that, didn't Misato and I get that for your birthday last year?" Shinji smiled pointing at the Nintendo64.
"Yup" she answered happily as she plonked down and plugged it in, "now you and me, Super Smash Brothers, 20min round highest score wins!"
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"NOOOOOOOO" Asuka screamed as her character was thrown clean out of the screen and spiralled of into the background. "WHAT? You…you've been practicing haven't you?" she added as Shinji promptly beat her up as soon as her Samus character dropped back into the game.
"Ha…only when you're not home to yell at me" Shinji laughed as he continued to pummel Samus with his Captain Falcon. It was near the time limit and Shinji was currently winning by three kills and Asuka was at the least to say very pissed off. "If you win I'm going to KILL you!" she scowled at him from across the couch.
"Hey, did you want to go to the dance?" Shinji asked seriously as he beat the controls of his controller.
"Uh…why would I?" Asuka stumbled as her character was punched in the head.
Shinji sighed "well I don't know I thought you would've wanted to go. You sure seemed happy when you found out about it."
"I did NOT" she yelled in her defence, "…well maybe a little." Shinji smiled again as he knocked her out with one of those extremely powerful punches. "Well, like I told you before the right guy didn't ask me" Asuka pouted trying to keep her attention on the game and not slip up.
"I wouldn't be surprised if every guy in the school asked you…well all except Toji and Kensuke and…" Shinji paused for a minute an idea slapping into his head, "me."
Asuka sighed I think he finally figured it out. "WAIT a second here" he put the game on pause at the last five seconds and turned to look at Asuka. Though the game was paused she didn't look up instead she kept her eyes focussed on the screen ahead. "W-were you waiting for…me to ask you?" he stared at Asuka who tried her hardest to avoid his eyes "you were, weren't you?"
"Uh…no…I wouldn't want to go with…you" she stammered trying to keep her usual angry tone.
"Asuka, you're a poor liar" Shinji smiled at her but she still kept her face out of view.
"Oh…I…you're right. I was waiting for you to ask me…" Asuka sighed finally looking up to meet Shinjis' gaze, "I was too proud to ask you myself, I guess I just hoped you would ask."
The former Evangelion pilot to unit-01 fell off the couch then quickly stumbled to climb back up, "you-you were."
Asuka blushed then turned away "ah…yeah" she sighed, "you can have the TV. I'm going to bed." She stood up and placed her controller on the ground then walked off to her room.
"Oh shit. Why am I so THICK? Wait a sec Pen-Pen!" Shinji turned and yelled to the penguin that had slowly retreated to his fridge, "you said she was going." Ohhh I'm going to kill that penguin. I could've taken it if she was going with someone else, but for her to miss out because of me!
"Oh, I'm so pathetic" Asuka whined into her pillow, no sooner than entering she collapsed into her bed face first. "Too wait for something, that's not me" she sighed "I should've asked him myself if I wanted to go with him." She took in a deep breath then closed her eyes and rested her head on the pillow.
A moment later she fell asleep loosing all senses, and not noticing her door slide open. Shinji stepped in and smiled as he saw her sleep, then thought if the idea he had was a good one. He quietly approached her then sat carefully on her bed. "Sleeping like a baby" he smiled.
Slowly he ran a finger through her red hair, only pausing for a minute when she stirred a little. "Asuka" he whispered in her ear, "wake up."
A second later Asukas' blue eyes opened and she yawned loudly. After a moment of waking she saw that he was sitting next to her on the edge of the bed. "W-WHAT are you doing in MY room?" she yelled with mock anger, she actually didn't mind him being there that much.
"I came to get you" Shinji slipped off the edge of the bed and stood up, "come on."
Asuka stared as he lowered his hand to an inch away from her, "what now?"
"Oh god, just come with me for a minute" Shinji sighed as he thought weather she was always this thick when she woke. Asuka stood and moved to the door followed by Shinji who gave her a gentle nudge through it.
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"This better be good Baka, I was sleeping" she grumbled as she stepped into a bare living room. "What the…" Asuka stared at the empty room the TV and couch were pushed to one side and the tables were stacked up on the other. "Shinji what is going on?" she asked cocking her head to one side as she examined the empty room.
"Well, I felt kinda bad that you missed the dance because of me not being smart enough to ask you. So I decided…" he was unable to finish the sentence.
Because Asuka jumped in before he could "so you brought the dance to me." He nodded shyly then looked at her and studied the glare she was giving him. It wasn't sad, but it wasn't exactly happy either it looked more like a mixture of joy and sorrow.
"So if you don't mind" he held out his arm and bowed slightly, "could I have this dance?" Asuka almost fell over at the thought of Shinji actually doing something this nice for her. She took his hand in hers and nodded in reply.
At that moment a soft relaxing music echoed through the room which Shinji recognised as Frank Sinatra's 'Fly me to the moon'. Both teens shot a glance at the other then to the epicentre of the music. There on top of the TV sat a smiling, or what could be classified as smiling penguin holding up a SDAT that was rigged to a set of external speakers.
"Trying to make up for earlier mistakes I see" Shinji frowned slightly at his animal roommate. Pen-Pen shook his head and waved his flippers in defence humans are so cynical he thought. "You're lucky" Shinji smiled then led Asuka out into the emptied floor.
She looked at him this time with a smile on her face "uh…I don't know how to dance." She blushed then looked away prompting Shinji to take her chin in one hand and pull it back to eye level.
"Uh…well neither do I" he laughed sheepishly. Asuka laughed too as she drew nearer to Shinji and placed a hand on his, she pulled it down and placed it around her waist.
"Well I think that…goes there" she smiled again then used her other arm to pull his second hand on the other side, "Let's just start there." At this point all of Shinjis' training to get rid of his shyness had just flown out the window as he lightly held Asuka around the waist.
He began to blush furiously and he looked away for a minute, only to be coaxed back by a firm but gentle hand. "Now what?" he asked still feeling flustered.
"Well I suppose we move" Asuka laughed a little to lighten the mood, "come on just do it and don't think about it." With that the two slowly began to move just a little to start off. By the second track on the tape they were gliding across the floor like they had been doing it for years.
"You know" Shinji smiled "if you had of told me a year ago we'd be doing this, I would've called you crazy."
Asuka laughed for a second then frowned a little "who says you're not crazy now?"
Shinji frowned then when he realised she was just joking he smiled "maybe I am." They continued well into the night and as they finally came to the end of the tape they both sighed with relief.
"Well, that was interesting" Asuka smiled as she pulled herself closer to her partner at the last hum of music.
"Ah…yeah, very" he blushed as she pulled him closer to her and they only had an inch separating the two.
Asuka looked into his eyes and smiled brightly "thanks for this…Baka."
"Gee, even after I do something like this you still call me that" he sighed shaking his head.
"Oh ok I'll stop…Baka" Shinji frowned at her again "I think you can take being called a Baka, if I add my in front of it." He stepped back trying to put some distance from them but Asuka just stepped forward with him.
"Phew, ah…isn't it customary to break off now?" Shinji stammered still trying to put distance between the two.
"Oh, yeah that's right first I have to do something, it's a tradition in Germany" Asuka smiled devilishly.
"Oh, no I don't like that look you…" Shinjis' protest was cut short as Asuka pulled him forward and placed her lips on his. She kissed him gently and then pulled back "see that wasn't hard."
Shinji was left wordless he couldn't even breathe properly, his cheeks blushed bright red and he felt very confined, "uh…y-yeah, are you sure that's a German tradition?"
"Of course" Asuka smirked letting him go "always kiss your partner."
"P-partner?" Shinji stuttered thinking too much was becoming a habit of his.
"Yeah" the young redhead placed her hand on his cheek "your DANCE partner."
"OHHH" Shinji sighed in relief at the reassurance "phew, I thought…oh don't worry."
"Well…ok but there is one more traditions we Germans take seriously" she smirked again this time looking more like that Cheshire cat from that cartoon.
"W-what's that?" Shinji was able to say past the lump in his throat.
"Kiss the boy you like" Asuka whispered as she stepped up and kissed him once again. This time she stayed and pushed her tongue up against his closed lips until Shinji opened them up. She sprang forward in search of his tongue and when she found it she played around.
After a while Shinji got used to the idea that she WAS kissing HIM and he returned the favour. After a while they forgot all the troubles in the world, all that mattered at that moment was them and being together. The room seemed to glow a white light around them as they stood there testing each others taste.
Asuka was the one to break first she retreated and gasped in a mouth full of air "wow…where'd you learn to do that?"
Shinji blushed not knowing the answer and he was still quite surprised "ah know where." "Ah…you know before when you asked if I thought I was crazy" Shinji smiled a little as Asuka nodded "well…I think…I must be crazy and this is a crazy mans dream."
Asuka shook her head annoyed at his lack of intelligence "can a dream do this?" She promptly gave him a light whack over the head powerful enough to cause a little sting.
"OW" he smiled as he now saw the redheads point, "I get it." Asuka being the assertive one of the two moved in and encircled her arms around the boys' neck. He smiled at her and stared into her blue eyes wondering what the future holds "so what now?"
"You know I don't know" Asuka laughed "and quite frankly I don't care. You know what they say, 'tomorrow is another day' and indeed it is."
A/N: There yas go a revised version of May I Have this Dance? By its creator…ME…yup that's me Bucky the one and only! A few things were changed a few were added and the formatting was fixed! As you all know my new formatting is MUCH better than my old and I'd like to thank my good friends Dennisu_d and Steve Vadar for all their wonderfull help!
Seyas on da other side……