Chapter 4

The rest of the day went by in a flurry of preparations. At 6:30, Shinji was fully dressed in his crisp, black suit ready to go pick up Rei.

"I'm leaving," he called to his parents.

"Have a good time, dear," Yui called.

"Stay out of trouble," Gendao added.

"Should we expect you home before morning?" Yui asked.

"Nah," Shinji answered, "I'll probably just crash at Kensuke's for the night. See you tomorrow."

Shinji walked out the door into the evening air. He knew that most of his friends had gone to the trouble of renting Limos and other fancy cars for the night, but Shinji didn't need anything fancy like that, just Rei.

When he reached Rei's apartment, he knocked on the door. Misato answered it.

"She'll just be a minute, Shinji, she's almost ready," Misato said, "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."

Misato added the last part with a wink. Shinji knew that when Misato winked like that, something good was going to happen. He wasn't disappointed.

Rei walked out of her apartment five minutes later, and Shinji's jaw dropped to the floor. She was wearing a lavender purple, spaghetti-strap gown that hugged her chest, but flowed over her hips. Her face was radiant, and the fact that she was genuinely smiling made her seem even more beautiful, if that was even possible.

"Wow," Shinji said softly. It was the only word that he could think of. Nothing else seemed adequate to describe such angelic beauty.

"Shall we?" Rei asked.

Shinji nodded mutely, his eyes still a bit bugged out.

"Are you okay, Shinji?" Rei asked, looking over at him as they walked toward the school, "You seem a little...quiet."

"I'm-I'm, yeah-I," Shinji stuttered, finding his voice but not controlling it very well.

"What's the matter?" Rei asked.

"I just-I-didn't expect--wow," Shinji said again. He felt dumb stammering at Rei like that, but he was still deeply in shock.

"You like it?" Rei asked, doing a cute pirouette, "Misato helped me pick it out. She said it helps bring out my skin tone and curves. She said that this dress would have all the boys after me."

"I'm not sure I like the idea of all of the other guys hitting on my date," Shinji said forcefully.

"Then you'll just have to defend me, then, won't you Shinji?" Rei asked playfully. Then she took Shinji's hand in hers and walked into the school.

Shinji and Rei had a great time at the prom. The music really helped Rei to relax and concentrate on having a good time. As it turned out, her swimming experience had made her very lithe and agile; she was an excellent dancer.

Late in the evening, Rei excused herself to get some air. Shinji followed her out onto the walk and stood with her.

"Are you having a good time, Rei?" Shinji asked.

"Yes," Rei replied with a smile, "I am. Thank you for inviting me, Shinji-kun."

Shinji and Rei stood together in silence for a few minutes. Shinji put his arm around Rei's waist and drew her in close to him. She didn't resist. In fact, she drew herself in closer yet, until they were fully touching from shoulder to thigh. Shinji allowed his mind to wander in the peaceful silence of the evening air.

A hard thump on the back of his head made Shinji's concussion ache. He turned around angrily to see Toji strolling past, tucking his elbow back in. Toji turned back when he saw Shinji turn around.

"Oops," Toji said in his grunt-like voice, "sorry, Ikari. Didn't see you and Weirdo Girl standing there."

"What did you call her?" Shinji said, his voice dangerously quiet, "Say that again, Toji."

"Shinji-kun," Rei said, catching his arm, "don't do anything crazy. Just walk away. He's not worth it."

"Better listen to her, Ikari," Toji said, "She may be a weirdo, but she at least has some sense. It's not worth you getting another bump on the head."

"Don't call her a weirdo, you jerk!" Shinji snarled, and then he paused, "Are you threatening to hit me in the head like you did with that scaffold board?"

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," Toji said, and then turned and walked away.

"He's lying," Shinji growled, "That dirty bastard is lying his ass off! If I run into him again tonight, I'm gonna bust his head open and see how he likes it!"

"Shh," Rei said soothingly, putting a finger to his lips, "It's all right. Don't let him get to you. Let's just enjoy the rest of our evening together."

Rei took Shinji by the hand and led him back into the dance hall. They got back into the hall just in time for a slow song. Rei pressed her petite body against Shinji's and wrapped her arms about his neck. Shinji put his arms around Rei's waist and held her close. She smelled of lilies and jasmine. The scent filled Shinji's nostrils and put him in a kind of haze. This haze lasted through the next hour. The dance was nearly over, and people were starting to leave. Shinji and Rei decided to call it a night and head out as well. They joined the queue heading for the door. Suddenly, a rude voice shouted over the chatter of the throng.

"Make way! Make way for Shrimpy Ikari and Weirdo Girl!"

Shinji's eyes darkened. He didn't have to turn around to know that the voice belonged to Toji. The crowd all laughed at first, but then some of them stopped. Shinji began to push his way roughly through the crowd trying to get to the door. Rei followed meekly in his wake, trying to keep up with Shinji's stormy pace.

"Shinji-kun, wait!" she said, "I-I can't keep up! Shinji!"

Rei was cut off from Shinji by three boys who started grabbing at her. Shinji turned around and tried to get to her. He was stopped by Toji, who kept pushing him out the door.

"Get out of my way, Toji," Shinji warned.

"Or what, Shrimpy?" Toji taunted, "You gonna do somethin' about it, huh?"

"Yeah, maybe I will," said Shinji. He was losing his temper rapidly and was feeling like fighting.

"What?" Toji mocked, "Are you gonna hit me, little boy? Or are you gonna just stand there and stammer at me?"

Rei slipped her way through the line of blockers and rushed towards Shinji. As she approached, Toji grabbed her, pulled her up to him and roughly kissed her. Rei pulled away and slapped Toji across the cheek. Toji back-handed Rei, knocking her to the sidewalk.

Shinji dove at Toji, a snarl of animalistic fury escaping his lips. He drove himself right into Toji's gut, sending them both sprawling to the pavement. The crowd formed a large circle around the two combatants and closed them in.

After Shinji tackled Toji, he started punching and elbowing every inch of Toji that he could reach. His attacks were more wild than they were powerful. Toji's first counter-attack was a jab up under Shinji's chin that sent him reeling. Toji clambered to his feet and threw a haymaker punch alongside Shinji's head. Shinji staggered, trying to remain standing. He failed, and toppled to the sidewalk.

"Come on, big man," Toji taunted, "get up! Unless you want to Weirdo Girl to do your fighting for you!"

"Stop calling her that, damn you!" Shinji roared, scrambling back to his feet.

Shinji's martial arts lessons took over. He assumed a fighting stance and advanced on Toji. Toji came at Shinji again, swinging his large fists like sledgehammers. Shinji ducked one fist and blocked the other, and then brought his own fist up into Toji's gut, knocking the wind out of him. Toji doubled over, gasping for breath. Shinji put his knee into Toji's face. He keeled over backwards, knocked out cold.

Toji's bully-boys shoved their way through the crowd. They swarmed over Shinji, overwhelming him and mercilessly beating him. Shinji tried valiantly to fight, but there were too many of them for him to face alone. However, no one in the crowd seemed willing to step in and break it up. They were all enjoying the fight.

"Hang on, Shinji!"

The voice belonged to Kensuke. He was forcing his way through the crowd along with Asuka and another boy. The third person, the boy, was slightly taller than Kensuke and had gray hair and dark eyes. Shinji had seen him before, but didn't know his name.

"Get off of him!" Asuka shouted. She dragged one of the attackers off of Shinji and pushed him aside. Kensuke and the third boy grabbed one of the other two attackers off, leaving Shinji to deal with the third one. What had started out as a small scuffle had turned into a battle royale. Shinji rolled his final attacker off of him and scrambled to his feet.

Shinji looked around quickly and took stock of his situation. Asuka was faring well against her opponent. Apparently, she had taken some self-defense lessons herself, and was using them to defeat a boy who was almost six inches taller and 90 to 100 pounds heavier than herself. Kensuke and the other boy were not faring quite so easily against their opponent, despite the fact that it was two against one. They would probably be able to beat him, but it would not be as easy.

Shinji's opponent scrambled to his feet and made to tackle Shinji again. Shinji sidestepped him and boosted him into the crowd, who pushed him back at Shinji. After the large boy came flying back, Shinji grabbed him and made a sacrifice fall, making sure that the larger boy hit the ground first and cushioned his own impact. The boy was knocked out cold. Asuka had dealt with her attacker, and Kensuke and the other boy were gaining the upper hand on theirs. After they had finally taken their opponent down, Kensuke and the other boy joined Shinji in the middle of the cheering crowd of students.

"You okay, Shinji?" Kensuke asked, "Because you look like hell."

"I'm fine," Shinji said, "Who's the guy who helped you?"

"Oh," Kensuke said, "That's Kaworu. He's a new guy at school. He volunteered to help when I asked."

"Are you hurt?" Kaworu asked.

"No, I'm cool," Shinji replied, "Thanks for the assist back there."

"It was nothing," Kaworu said, "I'm sure you would have done the same for me, correct?"

"Yeah, anytime," Shinji said. Then, he suddenly remembered, "Rei…"

"I'm here, Shinji-kun," Rei said, walking up and putting her arms around his torso. She buried her face into his chest and sobbed gently. Shinji wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her gently.

"It's okay, Rei-chan," he said softly, "I'm just fine."

"Shinji-kun…" Rei breathed softly into his chest, "I'm…relieved…that you're all right."

Shinji was silent. He had so much that he wanted to say to Rei, but he wasn't sure how to proceed. The night was chilly, and Shinji felt Rei shiver in his arms. He removed his suit jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Rei gratefully wrapped herself up in ti and huddled closer into Shinji's arms.

"I should get you home," Shinji said softly, "It's getting late."

"As long as I can be near you, Shinji-kun," Rei said. She was in a daze of her own, now. A new feeling was whirling in her mind like a tempest. It felt stronger than love. Either that, or it was love, and she hadn't understood it the first time. It confused her, no matter how much she tried to reason it out logically.

Soon, the couple reached Rei's apartment. Shinji stood in Rei's doorway and said a gentle goodnight and kissed Rei tenderly on the lips. As Shinji turned to leave, Rei snapped out of her daze and said:

"Shinji-kun!"

"What it is, Rei-chan?" Shinji asked, concerned. Rei sounded very urgent about something.

"Don't leave," Rei pleaded, "Please? I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Rei-chan…" Shinji breathed. He took the blue-haired girl into his arms again and held her close.

"I shouldn't stay here tonight," Shinji protested reluctantly, "no matter how much I might want to. It just wouldn't be proper."

"Please, Shinji-kun," Rei begged, "I need you. I'm afraid of being without you."