AN: This chapter took way longer than I would have liked and it didn't turn out at all like I had hoped for it to, but unfortunately that is the way the cookie crumbles. But some good news... it's beginning, the moment you have anticipated is coming... just read.

The next few weeks passed by rather slowly, much to Shinji's dismay. The young teen had no idea why, but for some unfathomable reason whenever he was around Asuka and Mana at the same time, he felt very much like a piece of meat thrown in between two rabid dogs. However for the moment, he had pushed the uneasy feeling out of his mind and allowed himself to enjoy the class field trip that had been set up.

"WOOHOO!" Came the energetic cry from the only person who was truly awake in the airport, Kensuke Aida. For some ungodly reason the spectacled boy was bright and chipper at four-thirty in the damned morning, while everyone else either were half asleep, or merely going through the physical motions while their minds took a vacation.

'I swear, if I have to sit next to Kensuke on the plane... I'll kill him, I'll open the fucking door and toss him out in flight... fucking morning people...' A wry grin formed on Shinji's face as he thought about the many ways he would destroy the peppy upbeat bastard. He, along with the rest of the students in class that had been allowed to go on the trip, were finally through waiting in the main lobby for their plane to arrive and were slowly filing onto the boarding dock to the plane.

"Alright! This is the old vintage model plane, one of the commercial transport planes that survived second impact, it's a-" The freckled, brown haired boy was cut off as the back of his shirt was grabbed and he was retched back, a choking sound coming from his throat as he looked back to see the dark face of Asuka.

"I'm going to say this once... shut the hell up, or I will personally rip your balls off, with my bare hands... UNDERSTAND!" There was no mistaking in her tone of voice that the redhead would indeed follow through with the threat should the dork even try and defy her. A quick, fearful nod followed and Asuka dropped Kensuke to the ground, where he scrambled back to his feet and fell back in line next to Toji.

"Alright...everyone!" It was obvious that not even the supervising teacher was fully awake yet, as she herself was yawning quite often. "Mm... I want you all to get to your assigned seats, no switching seats!" The command caused only a few groans, as most of the students were too damn tired to care at all and would most likely sleep the entire trip.

It was only at that last comment that Asuka's head perked up a bit and she glanced over at Hikari who was following her down the aisle towards their seats. "Did you...?" The question was left unfinished as the freckled girl immediately nodded, making Asuka crack a small smile as she glanced down at her ticket. Row D Seat 1. "Hey Shinji, what seat do you have?" She called out as she took her designated seat, smiling as she already knew the answer.

The brown haired boy, who had just downed what appeared to be a full can of an energy drink, glanced don at his ticket stub as he rubbed his eyes. "Row D, Seat two... well it appears that I get to sit next to my favorite girl in the whole wide world." He joked, smirking a bit as he noted that he was in the middle of Hikari and Asuka. 'Damn girl plans everything...' He commented in his mind as he maneuvered past Hikari and into his seat next to Asuka, who was merely grinning innocently.

"Well you should count your good fortune then, a whole plane ride next to the most beautiful girl in the world." The blue eyed beauty commented with a playful wink as the plane slowly began to move, and the seatbelt light above cam on, indicating that anyone who was not in the mood to fall flat on their asses better buckle up.

"So what do you plan on doing when we get to Kyoto?" Hikari asked, smiling as she leaned forward a bit in her seat to get a better view of both Asuka and Shinji.

"I've gotta hit the Kiyomizu Stage, last time I was in Kyoto I didn't have any time at all to sightsee... I swear Kaji and his stupid business life..." Shinji replied, stretching a bit as a small amount of shaking overcame them all as the plane took off the runway.

It wasn't until after the plane was safely in the air and the slight turbulence stopped that Asuka replied. "Well I've got plans to hit the Otowa waterfall shrine, plus Kyoto has some of the best hot spring resorts... wonder which one we're staying...at..." The redheaded girl yawned heavily and shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up.

"Won't matter if you're asleep the whole time... go to sleep I'll wake you up when we land." The blue eyed boy told her, handing her the pillow that had been placed on his chair before they boarded. Without even replying, Asuka nodded and took the pillow, placing it behind her head and closing her eyes, falling asleep almost instantly.

"Man... she must have been tired as hell..." The young man voiced a few moments after he was sure his friend was completely asleep. "Usually takes her an hour to fall asleep."

"Oh? What do you two sleep in the same room over at Misato's?" Hikari asked in a hushed voice, raising an eyebrow at Shinji.

Smiling the young man shook his head. "No of course not we have our own rooms and... ah crap... how did you find out?" He questioned, turning to the freckled girl with a bit of dread, wondering just how she knew that he and Asuka lived together.

A smile was present on Hikari's lips as she leaned back into her chair. "I am Class Rep you know, I have my ways..."

"Asuka told you?" He deadpanned, causing Hikari to nod.

"Yep... she is my best friend you know, I do spend time with her when you don't, besides I was wondering why I suddenly couldn't sleep over at her place anymore." She replied, taking a bottle water from the cart as it came down the small aisle of the plane. "Want one?" She offered, grabbing another bottle and handing it over to Shinji.

"Thanks I-huh?" Shinji stopped, feeling a sudden weight on his right shoulder, offering a sidewise glance he found that Asuka's head had slipped off the pillow and she was now resting peacefully on his shoulder. "She's shivering... Hikari grab my bag would you?"

Blinking, the young girl nodded and fished under Shinji's seat, grabbing hold of the large duffle bag and hoisted it up. "What do you need?"

"Here hand it over..." He whispered, careful not to wake the sleeping beauty on his shoulder with his voice. Carefully he maneuvered as Hikari handed over the bag, unzipping it and pulling out a rather large and thick black blanket, draping it around Asuka, ceasing her shivering spell.

"Hmm... so when are you gonna tell Asuka you love her?" The question almost made Shinji fall out of his chair, the only thing stopping him from doing so was the wrath he would incur should Asuka be awoken prematurely.

"What the hell are you talking about!" He cried out in a panicked, yet hushed voice, his eyes wide as he looked to Hikari, trying desperately to fight the blood from rushing to his cheeks.

Hikari grinned a bit, a satisfied look on her face for getting such a reaction out of her best friends' crush. "You heard me, it's totally obvious that you like her Shinji... I mean come on you two are hardly ever not together... and I'm pretty sure Asuka likes you too... but you've gotta get your act together!"

"Get my act together... what?"

"Mana you jerk!" She growled out in a warning tone, causing the brown haired boy to flinch a bit. "Can't you tell that Asuka and Mana don't like each other, I swear boys are so dense at times!"

"Of course I know they don't like each other..." He replied, rubbing his shoulders. "They play wishbone with my damn arms every time they see each other, and I'm not so dense to notice certain things..." The brown haired boy grinned darkly, casting a glance a few rows up, where Toji was seated next to Hikari along with Mana. "So while we're on the subject... what about you and Suzuhara?"

Hikari blushed ten shades of red at the comment, her eyes wide as her mouth fumbled to form coherent words. Even Asuka did not know about her crush on the jock, yet somehow Shinji had found out on his own. "H...h...how did you-?"

"Feh... don't go criticizing about other peoples love life Class Rep, not until you can approach Toji yourself." When he recieved no response, Shinji gave Hikari a look, finding her oddly silent as she looked down. "Look... what you're doing right now, making extra lunches since he forgets his all the time, assigning him the easier chores at class, thats all subtle and good... but with a thickheaded guy like Toji you have to be more... direct."

"How am I supposed to do that?" The freckled girl asked, biting her lip slightly.

A shrug was the only reply Shinji provided her with. "Hell if I know... we can figure it out later... probably better if you ask Asuka about that stuff... for now just get a little sleep, you look just as tired as the rest of us." He commented, reaching over Asuka and grabbing the rest of the blanket, offering it to Hikari as it was large enough that it could cover all three of them with room to spare.

Nodding, Hikari covered herself with the blanket, raising an eyebrow as Shinji pulled out his SDAT. "Aren't you going to sleep too? Asuka told me you were up all night with Kensuke on the computer doing some plan?"

"I don't sleep on airplanes." He replied quickly, eager to change the subject as he put his headphones into his ears. "I'll wake you when we land." And with that he pressed play, not even allowing himself to enjoy his favorite song until he knew that both girls beside him were asleep. 'I can't have Asuka knowing about that...can't let anyone know...'

"Haha, man this is awesome, Kyoto's such an amazing place!" Kensuke cried out, his video camera pressed up against his eye as he recorded every possible thing in sight. "There's so much history here, did you know back in the Meiji Era tha-"

"FOR THE LAST TIME WE DON'T CARE!!"

Shinji sighed as Kensuke was pelted over the head with whatever the students happened to have on them at the time. Curiously he took a good look around the platform the group was now standing on, a large shrine entrance with a wooden roof and three streams of water flowing down into a small pond below. "Moron... hmm, so this is that Otowa waterfall, what's so special about it, I mean it can hardly be called a waterfall?" He asked as he turned to Asuka, who like Hikari flanked his left side, while Mana took his right.

"You don't know, this shrine is famous with women for predicting love!" Hikari stated matter of factly, pointing one finger up in the air.

Blinking Shinji watched as several of the giddy girls in class made their way over to the farthest waterfall to the left and catch the water in the provided cups, drinking from them a moment later before bursting into giggle fits. "Really... so how does it work?"

This time Mana was the one to respond, dragging Shinji by the arm up to where the wooden cups were stored. "Well from the right the streams represent health, wisdom, and true love, depending on which one you drink from you'll be granted luck from the streams!"

Instantly the brown haired girl ran over to the left stream, drinking eagerly with a grin. Gritting her teeth, Asuka followed up behind Shinji, taking her own cup. "Geez she's so ditzy... how can you be friends with a girl like that?"

Shinji smiled and shrugged as he made his way over to the farthest right stream, filling his cup and drinking down the water in one gulp. "Ah... health's always a good thing to have... what about you Asuka, which stream for you?" He asked, as he glanced over at his blue eyed friend, who jumped up a bit in response.

"Hmm... oh well I guess health is good." She replied, stepping forward and holding out her cup to the stream.

"Alright everyone!" The teachers voice called out, causing everyone to turn around and look at the sensei, who was holding out a map of the city. Instantly the redheaded girl dumped the cup out and moved over to the love waterfall, filling her glass up and downing it before Shinji had time to look back. "From here on out today you're on your own time, just be sure to meet back at the resort at seven o clock!"

"HAI SENSEI!!" Instantly the crowd of students parted, moving faster than anyone had seen them move before, leaving only Shinji, Asuka, Hikari, Mana, and Toji standing alone... Kensuke being on the floor having taken a rather hard hit to the head earlier.

"Wow... well we have some free time so what do you guys wanna do?" He asked, turning around to find Kensuke up off the floor in what seemed like a spring of energy.

"Well there's an arcade here that I've been dying to check out." Toji answered, scratching his cheek in thought.

"I'm with you there!" Kensuke cried out, pumping his fists in the air.

"I want to go see the Big Buddha statue!" The cry came from Hikari, who was a bit more chipper than the rest for some reason.

"Temple of the Golden Pavilion!" Mana's reply was more dreamy and starry eyed than anything else.

"I wanted to go see what they have at the street shops..." Asuka whined, crossing her arms over her chest as she took on her normal pouting position as she gave Shinji the dreaded puppy dog eyes that always forced him to give in to the blue eyed beauties demands.

Frowning, the brown haired boy looked over the map provided by their sensei upon their arrival. "Hmm, all the places we want to hit are way too separated, no way we could see them all before we have to go back to the resort... how bout we split up, hit our favorite spots, and then meet up at the Cinema Village at three for lunch?"

The look that dawned every persons face made it obvious that they did not really wish to split up, yet clearly wanted to go see their choice destinations more than anything else. "Fine, three right?" Asuka proclaimed, practically skipping down the stairs.

Nodding, everyone else agreed to the decision and dispersed. "See ya at three!" And so they left, until Shinji was the only one left still standing at the waterfall shrine.

"Well, guess I'll go hit the Kiyomizu Stage..." He muttered to himself as he stuffed his hands in his pockets, making his way towards his destination, rubbing his eyes tiredly. However before he even made it four feet his cell phone vibrated in his pocket, blinking, he pulled it out and glanced down at the number appearing on the small screen. "Hikari... what does she want?" Shrugging, he pressed the send button and brought it to his ear. "Class Rep what's up?"

"YOU WANT ME TO WHAT!?"

Asuka sighed heavily as she walked down the crowded streets, her eyes scanning over the many kimonos in the windows of the street shops. 'This is so boring without anybody else to shop with... I wonder what Shinji's doing...he seemed so tired earlier.' The redheaded girl's train of thought halted as her vision grazed over a flash of red in the window of a nearby shop. Instantly she made her way over, pressing her cheeks up against the window as she stared at the object that had caught her attention. "It's beautiful..."

A red silk kimono laid down on the display case, the branches of a cherry blossom tree in bloom layered over from the hem of the kimono up to the mid thigh. Along the sleeves falling petals seemed to twirl as the light bounced off the fine shining fabric, at the waist a simple black sash laid prominent. Eagerly, the young girl checked the price tag laid to the side of the elegant clothing, and instantly, her dreamy smile fell.

"Thats way out of my price range..." She muttered disappointedly, frowning and giving off a sigh.

"Well it's not out of mine, so get it." The voice behind her caused the fiery girl to jump up in surprise, whirling around she came face to face with a rather amused Shinji. "Didn't figure you were the kimono type, planning on wearing it to the upcoming festival?"

"Don't sneak up on me like that you jerk! What the hell are you doing here anyway, I thought you said you would be at the stage?" Asuka demanded, a suspicious look on her face as she narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"The street was blocked off, some car accident or something... so I figured that you'd like some company and that without me all your shopping dreams would be completely ruined." He smirked as he glanced back at the kimono, speaking in a heavy dramatic. "It's your nature to find the most extravagant,most expensive looking thing possible and crave for it... so I thought you may require my... services." He grinned at the last word, flipping out a credit card and twirling it between his fingertips.

"So, you're going to buy it for me, my dear sweet Shinji?" She cooed in a flirtatious voice, batting her eyelashes much like she had when she had first introduced herself to the brown haired boy.

Chuckling, the brown haired boy nodded, motioning with two fingers for Asuka to follow him as he made his way into the small shop. Grinning, Asuka entered the shop behind Shinji, her hands clasped behind her back as she bounced up and down on her heels with glee.

"Oh my, can I help you two?" The shopkeeper asked from her position behind the counter, she was a fairly older woman, seemingly in her early forties.

"The kimono in the display case, can I have it delivered to the Geimani Hot Spring resort three days from now?" Shinji requested, laying his credit card down on the counter, which the woman took a few seconds later.

"Ah of course, a gift for your lovely young girlfriend here, perhaps I should throw in a wedding kimono as well?" The elderly woman stiffled a delighted giggle with her mouth as the two teens turned red at her statement.

Not thirty minutes later the two bolted out of the store, shades of red that could make a tomato jealous. "Geez, why is it that everyone always assumes we are sleeping together damnit!?" Asuka whispered to her male companion, still blushing hard from the woman's comment that was made while she was being fitted for the kimono size, about how she could help with some ideas to make... certain activities more enjoyable for the both of them.

"Well the fact that we do live together doesn't make that any less believable..." Shinji muttered, maneuvering through the now growing crowd of people walking down the market street. "Gah, damnit come on, we're not gonna get anywhere, head up these steps." He cried out after being bumped into for the thirteenth time within twenty seconds, grabbing Asuka by the hand and pulling her along towards the side of the street, where a large flight of stone steps led up to a rather large bamboo forest.

"What the hell was that crowd, they all showed up out of nowhere!" Asuka cried out, dusting off her skirt as she looked down the seemingly endless lane of stone, every ten feet shrine gates stood prominent along the road. "What's this?"

Glancing around Shinji spotted a small sign by the top of the steps, curiously he bent down, his eyes scanning over the wooden sign. "Path of one thousand gates, looks like it was built after the second impact... apparently its a mile long path, and runs just past the resort at one point." He recited off the page, standing up and moving back over to the redheaded girl. "You up for a little walk?" He didn't even wait for her answer, merely stuffed his hands in his pockets and began walking down the long path.

"Why do you wanna walk a full mile back to the resort, we're supposed to meet Hikari and the others at the cinema village in a half hour?" The blue eyed girl called out racing up to catch up with Shinji when he didn't stop.

" Well you know we haven't been alone together for a while... besides I'd rather not have you and Mana ripping my arms off when we sit to eat." Shinji paused when Asuka went silent, biting her lip as she had a habit of doing. "You really don't like her do you, why not?"

"Shinji I, the reason I fight with her so much... it's... I really li-"

"So come on... we have a long walk ahead of...wuh..." He cut her off, though a second later he suddenly halted, his eyes dilating as he swayed to the left, his feet caving out from under him as he fell to the ground not a moment later, his head banging against the cobblestone path.

"SHINJI!" Asuka screamed out, rushing over to the boys side and grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him. "Shinji, what's wrong, snap out of it Shinji?" She cried out, her eyes filled with worry as she lifted his head up, brushing his long bangs away from his face and revealing that his eyes were indeed open, yet he was not conciouss. 'No... please, oh god no, not him too... please...please...'

"SHINJI!!"

Shinji spun around frantically, his eyes narrowed in the darkness as he tried desperately to gain his bearings. "Where the hell am I, what's going on here?" He screamed out, his voice echoing in the abyss.

Gritting his teeth, the young man began running in a random direction,w anting nothing more than to explain the darkness. Suddenly a flicker of light appeared to the left of him, instantly he whirled his vision blurry as he attempted to adjust to the new light. Slowly the darkness began to collect, as if a magnetic force were pulling it towards the light... and a moment later a bright flash overcame him, throwing him back several feet.

With a grunt, he landed on his back, wincing in pain before his eyes flickered open. The darkness that had been dominant not ten seconds ago was now gone, replaced by a sea of emptiness, only white.

"Gessshhhh..."

Shinji's eyes widened, shaking a bit as he slowly turned around, coming face to face with the source of the loud sound just a second ago. A large, purple and green monstrosity... a mechanical beast that loomed over him by a good hundred and fifty feet. It's eyelids snapped open, revealing a pair of glowing blood red eyes. Before the brown haired boy even had time to react the machine reached out with its large mechanical arms, capturing him within his iron grip, literally.

"No, damnit let me go!" He cried out, fighting with all his might to break loose, stopping as the beast suddenly let out an inhumane roar, its mighty jaws opening wide, revealing indeed what had happened to the darkness... it had been turned into the belly of this beast. Slowly the beast brought its head down upon Shinji, its razor sharp teeth gleaming as it began to close its mouth.

"NO, NO, NO!! GAH!"

Shinji's eyes flew open, panting heavily as the sweat streamed down his face, in fact his entire body was covered in sweat. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at the ceiling, taking note of where he was. 'The resort... how did I get here?' Grunting, he attempted to sit up, only to find that the weight pressing down on his chest was not allowing him to do so. Tilting his head downward he was greeted with a bush of fire red hair obscuring his view, a small smile grew on his lips as he found that Asuka was laying her head down on his chest, her eyes closed in a blissful sleep as her lips parted slightly with every breath she took.

"Asuka... come on Red, wake up." He whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine. This action of course, made the dull blue eyed boy smirk, he would definitely have to remember that reaction.

"Mmmnn..." Asuka moaned softly, burying her face into Shinji's chest. "Five more minutes..." Her baby blue eyes suddenlty snapped open and she sat up abruptly, causing Shinji to blink in surprise at how quick she had moved. "Shinji! You're awake!"

Smirking, the brown haired boy sat up, stretching a bit. "Yeah, that's generally what happens, you go to sleep, wake up... how did we get here anyway... last thing I remember was that stone path..." He murmured, rubbing the back of his head.

"You don't remember?" The redhead looked at him incredulously, her eyes wide with disbelief. "You got up about ten seconds later Shinji... but you were acting all... weird, you didn't even say a word you just got up and walked all the way here and then you collapsed on your bed... you really can't remember?"

Frowning, Shinji narrowed his eyes, glancing off to the side. 'Blacked out again... what's going on here?' A moment later he smiled, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "Nope, probably just from my lack of sleep... been having nightmares lately, I'll be fine... did you watch over me the whole time I was asleep?"

Caught off guard, Asuka blushed a bit. "Well... for a few hours then I fell asleep." She muttered sheepishly, glancing off to the side.

"No one knows about me passing out then right?" He asked, to which the redhead immediately nodded.

"I didn't think you'd like getting sent to the hospital on the school trip... so I didn't tell the sensei..."

Shinji smirked a bit, letting out a small laugh as he ran his fingers through his chocolate brown tresses. "Thanks... I owe you one Asuka..."

"Don't mention it... I'm gonna go to the hot springs before everyone else gets here, it's less enjoyable when it's crowded." She stood up, making her way toward the door, halting when she heard Shinji's voice.

"Youwanttogotothefestivalwithme?" He blurted out, instantly cringing a second later and smacking his forehead.

Asuka whirled around, her eyes a bit wider than normal. "What did you say?"

Gulping, Shinji began waving his hands frantically in front of his body. "Ah well... the festival is in three days... and uh, well it's kinda frowned upon going alone and i didn't really wanna ask Mana, so I-" He was cut off completely when Asuka pressed her finger to his lips, making him blush a bit in surprise.

A cheshire grin formed on Asuka's lips as she winked at Shinji. "So... you're asking me out on a date huh?" She stepped back, smiling as she placed her finger to her chin in thought. "Well I guess I could go... but that's such a hassle, getting ready for a date... then there's the questions from all the girls... sorry Shinji, but I'm just gonna have to say-"

"Forget it!" Shinji cried out, shaking his head violently. "Don't even worry about it, it was a stupid idea, I just thought tha maybe you'd like t-" He was cut off again but this time by something much more pleasant.

A soft, and warm feeling caused Shinji to close his eyes as Asuka pressed her lips to his. The kiss before had been hot, and wanting, full of lust... but this one was different, a much more gentle and caring feeling was put into this one. Neither knew when it had occurred, but the small, gentle kiss soon turned into a make out session. Shinji laying on his back on the futon, while Asuka entwined her fingertips in his hair as she straddled the young mans waist. Asuka moaned softly against Shinji's lips as his fingertips danced up the back of her spine, her breathing becoming more shallow as she raked her teeth gently over his tongue. A certain hardness pressing up against her leg caused Asuka to let out a small squeak of surprise, making the two seperate their lips for the first time in what seemed like hours.

Panting, dull blue eyes met baby blue, Shinji's hands gliding out from under Asuka's shirt and resting on her hip. "That a ...yes then?" He asked, smirking a bit later as Asuka slapped him on the shoulder.

"Of course it's a yes you baka..." And with that, she crashed her lips down upon his again, her hand running teasingly over the growing bulge in his jeans.

Suddenly the door to the room opened, causing both of the teens to widen their eyes in surprise and pull their lips away, jerking their heads toward the doorway.

Mana, Hikari, Toji, and Kensuke stared with wide eyes at the scene before themselves. None saying a single word as the minutes passed by, finally Kensuke broke the pregnant silence and spoke for the entire group.

"Damn."

AN: Yay! It's done! Man I have been waiting for this moment, and I bet the rest of you guys have been as well. Anyway I hope you guys were satisfied with this chapter. Look out for a Poll on my profile page about this site, it should be up soon!!