Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or any of it's characters.

Ah, I'm finally back to updating! I had a very, very busy holiday weekend, but now I've got time for writing again! I know it's been a while since the last chapter, but the reason it took me so long is that I was having a bad spell of writers' block, but then BAM! A lightning bolt of creative thought blew it away, and I couldn't stop writing! Thank you for being patient though. So, let's cut to the chase and get down to business. On with chapter 6!


Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 6 – Just shut up and dance!

"Come on, Toji! Why don't you want to help?" Hikari nagged as she flicked a french-fry at her boyfriend.

"I told you why. I already gave him a nudge, and now the rest is up to him." The Jock responded as he drolly brushed the potato chunk from his shirt.

"Look, I know you don't like Asuka, but she's my best friend. And last I checked, Shinji was one of your best friends. Don't you think we should at least--"

"Oh no you don't, I know where this is going! 'It'd be so convenient if those two would be an item, which is why we need to fix them up!'"

Hikari scowled with frustration. The two had been going on like this for at least half an hour now. It started as a casual dinner at the mall's food-court between two high school sweethearts, but it didn't take long to evolve into a discussion about Asuka and Shinji, and the "unique" relationship they shared. Hikari had expressed desire to help them get together, and from there it quickly degraded into a circular debate over whether or not it was her and Toji's place to meddle with the emotions of their friends.

"Listen, all I'm proposing is that we invite them to go out with us somewhere for Asuka's birthday. They don't even need to know it's a date." She said calmly, trying to keep face.

"Ugh. I'm not getting out of this, am I?" Toji mumbled as he chewed his burger, and Hikari grinned hopefully.

"So, are you going to help?"

"Yeah, I guess so. But if She-devil finds out what we're up to, I want you to take the heat for it."

Hikari's smile brightened as she leaned over the table, moving her face close to Toji's. She then placed a warm kiss on the boy's lips, which seemed to make him very happy.

"That's what I want Asuka and Shinji to have." Hikari said softly in Toji's ear, to which he merely smiled and nodded.

Once they finished lunch, they began heading out of the food court with their arms wrapped together, as they usually did.

"So, where do you think we should take Asuka and Shinji?" asked Hikari. "And don't bring up the amusement park-- Last time Asuka had a date there, it didn't end well."

"Yeah, a date I'll bet you set her up on." Toji snickered. Hikari didn't think it was very funny though, partially because it may have been just a little too close to home for her. Toji took note and decided not to dwell on it. "So, uh-- Maybe a movie then? I seem to remember you clutching me pretty good when we watched Aliens." He grinned.

"I don't think anything would scare Asuka after all that she's been through." Hikari shook her head. "However, there is this really nice looking romantic drama coming out soon…"

"Ugh! You want to poison us with a chick-flick?" The jock groaned.

"Hey, it's better than watching Shinji clinging to Asuka and getting her PO'd for two hours."

"Hmm… I'm not so sure about that…" Toji grinned, as he pondered this amusing mental image.

"Anyway, we can go somewhere nice for dinner afterwards, so I'd better not hear you making stupid noises in the theater if that's what we end up doing." Hikari said with a hint of warning. Toji simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Dinner sounds okay, I guess."

Then, as if by fate, they saw the male subject of their conversation in a small shop less than ten yards from where they had been eating.

"Well now, if it isn't young Mr. Ikari himself." Hikari pointed. "Let's go see what he's up to."


Shinji sighed and rubbed his forehead, as he looked at the selection of necklaces behind the glass counter. He was attempting to find a gift for Asuka, but he wasn't really sure what he was looking for. He knew he didn't want something so extravagant that she'd feel reluctant to accept it, but at the same time he didn't want something so casual that she'd end up forgetting he even gave it to her, like with last year's gift. No way am I buying her another videogame, even if she did like it. He recalled.

But, in truth, he really just wanted thank Asuka for being so nice to him recently. She had been giving him swimming lessons almost every day for the last month, and even though her training routines had been very hard at first, Shinji was really glad to be spending more time with her, and he was feeling a lot better about himself now that he was learning to cope with his fear. He wanted to give her something that would be able to say that, without being too obvious.

"So, considering going for the gangsta look, or birthday shopping?" A familiar male voice said from behind.

"Toji?" Shinji's head turned, and saw the star athlete and his girlfriend at the store entrance. "Uh, yeah. I'm trying to figure out what to get for Asuka." He couldn't help notice Hikari's face light up, and assumed this was probably her territory.

"Well, first of all, do you know about birthstones?" asked Hikari.

"Um, a little. Not a lot though." Shinji shrugged.

"Well if you want something personal, you should look for something that's got Asuka's birthstone. Since she was born in July, that means her birthstone is a ruby." Hikari informed him.

"R-rubies? I'm not Bill Gates! How am I supposed to afford rubies?" Shinji stammered nervously.

"Relax Shinji, you can just get imitation ones and it'll be just as nice. Now, let's have a look around." Hikari said in a relaxed tone. Toji simply rolled his eyes. I didn't have to buy you a 10,000 yen piece of rock and metal to be my girlfriend.

About a half hour later, Shinji had made a selection that he was satisfied with. It was a gold necklace with a small dangling chain of two cubic zirconias, that Shinji believed would compliment Asuka's neckline very nicely. Also, two gems seemed like a very logical choice, considering Asuka was the Second Child and the pilot of Eva Unit 02. Not to mention that red is already her favorite color… He ended up spending a little more than he had originally planned, but he was very pleased with the selection and was looking forward to giving it to her. Soon, the velvety box was gift wrapped, and Shinji was on his way out with his two friends.

"So Shinji… Toji and I were hoping that maybe, if you're up to it, the three of us could take Asuka out for dinner and a movie in two weeks." Hikari said.

Shinji was a little hesitant to respond, because he wasn't quite sure what Hikari was up to. Toji and Asuka had disliked each other since the day they met, so he was clearly being coaxed into this. Something was going on, but fortunately for Hikari, Shinji was clueless enough not to press on it.

"That sounds nice… Will it be casual, or formal?" he asked, a little reluctantly.

"Semi-casual. You won't need a tie, but you should still dress up a little."

Shinji simply nodded, and the three kept walking until Shinji had reached the mall entrance.

"Well, see you later guys." He said as the automatic doors slid open. After he'd left, Hikari turned to Toji with an excited grin on her face.

"Yes! I told you this was going to work!" she giggled with delight, to which Toji let out a muffled sigh. "Now, we've got a lot of planning to do, but first thing's first…" she grabbed Toji by the arm and started pulling him back through the mall.

"Great, what is it now?" he mumbled.

"Well, I'm going to need an outfit, aren't I?" his girlfriend smiled back. Great. I should've known it's impossible to go to the mall with a girl without having to carry bags. He scowled.


When Shinji got home, he was glad that Hikari had been there to give him advice when she was, or Asuka would have probably started wondering what was taking him so long by now. He had said he was just going out to pick up laundry detergent and a few random groceries, but this was all just a cover for his real intentions. Thankfully Misato was in on it too, and helped make sure his cover didn't get blown when Asuka questioned why he was going out by himself.

When he got in, he noticed Asuka in front of the TV playing a videogame as usual.

"Hi Asuka." He said casually as he carried his bags into the kitchen and started putting things away.

"Hey." Asuka mumbled in response as she concentrated on the screen before her.

Being as subtle as he could, Shinji slipped into his room, where he slid Asuka's gift from his pocket and hid it in a box of old homework notes under his bed. He also grabbed his SDAT player, not wanting Asuka to get suspicious. When Shinji actually got back into the living room, he couldn't help but notice how silent the house was, aside from Asuka's game.

"Hey Asuka, where's Misato?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, she said she was going to the city to hang out with the Aobas and Hyuga-san. She probably won't be back for a few hours." She said.

"Oh." Misato had done this two or three times in the last few weeks, so this wasn't much of a surprise to him. But he was surprised when Asuka shut off the game console, and got up to look him in the eye with a smile on her face.

"Get your shoes on. We're going to Kensuke's place." She said, which really caught Shinji off guard.

"Wait a minute—What? I thought you hated Kensuke! Why do you want to go to his house?" Shinji asked, hardly able to believe what he'd just heard.

"Three reasons: one, he's having a party tonight; two, his dad is loaded and has an awesome house; and three, his he happens to be out of town this weekend!" she explained excitedly. "With all that in mind, we might actually be able to have some fun."

"Uh—I don't know. Did you ask Misato?" Shinji asked, a little bit worried about the prospect. Did Kensuke really know what he could be getting himself into?

"I told her we might be going over to Kensuke's house later, and she said it's fine as long as we're home by eleven." Shinji really didn't like where this was going, but knowing Asuka she was going to go anyway, even if it meant leaving him behind. Darn it Shinji, if there were a time to grow a spine and be the man, this would probably be it. He kicked himself mentally as the next words came out.

"Eh, okay I guess. But if things get out of control we're going home, okay?"

"Yeah, whatever. Now let's get moving if we want to get there while there's still some food!" She enthusiastically blurted while grabbing Shinji's arm and leading him towards the door. Oh god, please don't let this be one of those parties that ends with squad cars pulling up…


Shinji and Asuka found themselves standing before the front door of the impressive Aida residence, which even after visiting many times, Shinji still felt was intimidating in size. Asuka was much more comfortable with big houses, since she did after all come from a wealthy family herself. What really bugged Shinji was the thumping bass rhythm emanating from the house, which could only mean someone had some really loud music playing in there. Asuka pressed the doorbell button and soon the door swung open—and they saw the face of a classmate that they recognized, but didn't know.

"Ah, you're Asuka and Shin-whatever-it-was. Come in!" the teenage boy said loudly. He had obviously been having a lot of caffine.

Suddenly Shinji found himself in the great room of Kensuke's house, except it looked like it had been turned into a rave club. Blaring through the stereo was a techno remix of some song that he thought he recognized; it was something about some cruel angel thing that Shinji didn't really remember the words to, and it had become fairly popular recently. However, he almost wondered if he should be wearing ear protection since it was so loud. The other guests didn't seem to mind, and were dancing on almost every flat surface in the room.

Then, Shinji spotted Kensuke. The young Aida was running around like a frightened cat, shouting things like "No, don't stand on that!" and "Do you have any idea what my dad is going to do to me?" while trying to prevent his dad's house from being destroyed. Asuka had now joined the mass of dancing teens, so Shinji waded his way through the guests and finally managed to catch Kensuke. They had to shout in order to not have their voices drowned out by the techno music thumping through the room.

"Do you know any of these people?" Shinji yelled.

"Some of them!" Kensuke shouted back.

"How many people did you invite?"

"I put a notice on the school message board! I didn't think this many people would come!"

Shinji slapped his forehead. Didn't Kensuke ever watch TV shows? The un-prepared host's attention quickly went back to the situation at hand, and Shinji was once again by himself. He really didn't like being by himself with a large group, as oxymoronic as it sounded. Crowds made him uncomfortable, especially when it was with people he was un-familiar with, but he decided to brave the sea of dancers and find his redheaded companion.


Asuka was in the very middle of the room, and in a situation like this she wouldn't have it any other way. She was after all one of the most popular girls in school, and wouldn't be caught dead lingering by herself. She felt several sweaty people bump into her, which annoyed her immensely, but she was still having fun. Then, she saw Shinji struggling through the crowd towards her, looking a bit frightened as he was bumped around buy the throngs of dancers.

"I don't think I like this!" Shinji shouted into her ear as he reached her. He just needs to have a little fun, then he won't mind. Asuka thought. Then, the music changed to a soulful R&B song. The out of control dancers slowed down to the new tempo, to which Kensuke looked very relieved.

"Just shut up and dance!" She said as she grabbed Shinji's hand in hers, and placed the other on her thigh, which made him almost jump out of his skin. Hehe…He's blushing like a tomato. She amusingly thought as the two began to dance.

To her knowledge, Shinji had never actually danced before, their battle against the seventh angel not withstanding. And yet despite his initial awkwardness, he seemed to keep up rather well, and eventually, he actually seemed like he was enjoying it. Asuka could feel his palm getting sweaty in hers, but reminded herself that they were in a room full of people dancing, and it was the beginning of July. Really, who wouldn't be sweating right now? Still, she enjoyed the effect that the dance was having on her Japanese friend nonetheless. He must've been having an effect on her too, or else she wouldn't be slow dancing with him while half the school was present.

The song came to it's end, and Shinji wiped his sweaty hair away from his forehead, and he had a bit of a nervous look on his face.

"I'm going to get something to drink." He shouted to Asuka as another loud techno beat began.

"Come on, stay for another song!" She shouted back, but Shinji shook his head and left. Feeling a little disappointed, Asuka decided she needed some air, and was soon pushing her way out of the dance pit.


Asuka found herself in Kensuke's back yard next to the pool, which was surrounded by a thick hedge. The music was nothing but a muffled beat behind her, and she breathed in deeply as she leaned on a rail, looking out towards the city lights. She was really enjoying herself tonight, and she hoped that Shinji was as well. She knew he sometimes got scared in settings like this, but when she was with him, and especially when she danced with him, he seemed to be a bit less shy. And why haven't you been acting as rambunctious or hard as you usually do when you're near him? He's affecting you, too. But why does he seem to get nervous when you get close? Why does he pull away? Is he afraid or something?

"I didn't expect to see you alone tonight…" said the familiar voice of a teenage boy, but it didn't belong to the one in her thoughts. She turned around and saw Greg Korusaki, who this fall would be a senior, and most likely a star member of the varsity basketball team. He had a very strong reputation amongst the girls of the school, and it wasn't hard to understand why. He was tall, dark, handsome, and probably had a good future ahead of him. Asuka had talked to him on occasion in the past, and he seemed like a pretty nice guy. But she was never particularly interested in him; she knew that her heart was set on someone else.

"Oh, Greg… I was just—thinking." She said sheepishly. Greg leaned up on the rail beside her, and a cool smile came to his face. He was part European, and it felt pretty different to be around a boy who was noticeably taller than her for a change.

"What about? Because I think I can guess." Greg said in an understanding tone.

"Well… someone I know, that's all."

"Relationship stuff, right?" He smiled. Asuka was surprised that he'd think to bring that up, but then again he was older then her, and probably knew a lot about these things.

"Yeah..." With this admission, Greg gave her a cool smile.

"I know all about relationships, Asuka… And, I'm guessing you're in one that's not exactly going anywhere. Am I right?" It was like he was reading her mind.

"I guess you could say that…"

Greg relaxed a little and looked her in the eyes.

"You know, Asuka—When a relationship looks like it might be reaching a dead end, sometimes you have to take a detour."

"What exactly do you mean?" Asuka asked curiously.

"I mean, I think it's time for you to move on." He said calmly and rested his hand on hers. This startled Asuka a little, and her first instinct was to withdraw her hand and use it to slap him, but she ignored her impulse and instead braced herself for what he said next.

"I know you're a virgin, Asuka." She jumped back at this, but Greg simply smiled and kept his cool. "Don't worry, it's not something to be ashamed of. You're waiting until that one special person comes along who you can share yourself with, right?"

"Yes." Asuka couldn't believe what a personal conversation she was having, but for some reason Greg made her feel comfortable enough to go along with it.

Greg looked her in the eyes again, and took her hand once more.

"Asuka, I've been watching you for a long time now. On the day we met, I looked in your eyes and saw loneliness, but I also saw what a beautiful soul you had." He paused and deepened his gaze. "Whoever it is you give yourself to is going to be the luckiest man alive." Asuka had wanted to hear words like these for so long, and even though this was not the boy she had wanted to hear them from, her mind was momentarily lost in her sense of longing-- it even for a moment entertained the idea that she was hearing this form someone else-- that someone else…

"I want us to be together, Asuka. And I want you to feel like the woman that you are." He said softly into her ear, which made her heart start to beat rapidly. By now, Greg's hand was migrated from her hand to her lower back, but Asuka was almost too lost in the moment to notice. Greg's face leaned in closer and closer to hers, their lips hovering mere centimeters apart. But then Asuka felt something… The fingers of Greg's free hand had started to slide beneath the hem of her shirt to explore her abdomen, and had started moving north. Suddenly, she could hear every sex talk she ever had with Misato ringing in her ears at full volume. She knew this wasn't right.

"Wait, we shouldn't be doing this." She said, her reason returning.

"It's okay if you're scared, Asuka. But there's nothing shameful about this; it's just part of becoming an adult." He said softly as he held her. He seemed to mature, so wise-- And yet so superficial and full of deceit.

What are you doing? Who does this guy think he is touching you like this? Were you about to share your soul with a boy you hardly know, just because he can say pretty words that make you feel good? You really want this one in your head for the rest of your life? And what about Shinji? Is he suddenly nothing to you? You were just going to throw all of that out the window, and jump on the sex bandwagon? As Asuka's head pounded with this rapid self-interrogation, her sense of inhibition and self-control came rushing back.

"Stop, I don't want--" Her words were interrupted when Greg's mouth covered hers. Before Asuka could even think to pull back, he was giving her a kiss-- the deepest one she had ever been given.

End chapter
Whoa! So what the heck is going to happen with Asuka? And what's up with this Greg guy? I'm sorry I had to leave this chapter on such a cliffhanger, but I decided to split this chapter in half, because it was just getting too freakin' long! Don't worry, by the time you read this Chapter 7 will probably be almost finished and well on its way, because it was, as I said before, originally the second half of chapter 6. Chapters 6 and 7 are a bit more serious in tone than the rest of the story, but don't worry, I'll be getting lighthearted again soon enough. And to think that I was originally going to make this be a filler chapter, HAH!

Thanks for reading, please try to drop me some reviews, stay tuned for the next chapter, and God Bless!