We're the Band Chapter 12: Would I Lie to Someone Extraordinary?, an evangelion fanfic

"We're The Band"

Chapter 11: Would I Lie to Someone Extraordinary?

Morning Before School – Principal's Office

Misato and Shinji sat in the chairs in front of the Principal's desk – Misato calm and patient, Shinji a little distant probably because of the painkillers.

"Yesterday's incident was very disturbing," began the Principal. "It's bad when I have to summon paramedics to the school because of student involved beatings. The fights were bad enough and now we have students who are seriously injured at the hands of other students. Shinji's behavior needs to have consequences. We can't have students thinking that they can maim other students without any consequences."

"On the contrary, he merely defended himself. The other boys were the aggressors. Have you even asked Shinji why the results were, in your words, so extreme?" countered Misato.

"Well, Shinji?" prompted the Principal, "Do you want to explain your actions yesterday?"

"When the boys confronted me, I had already figured that I couldn't run. They're faster than I am and the hallway was too crowded. Anyways, given who they are, they would have just found another opportunity. This all meant that I had to fight and win. As for what I did to them, I defended myself and ensured that I won where winning meant that they wouldn't attack me again."

"Would you explain that last comment?"

"Well, they're bullies. Bullies only respond to people who are stronger than they are. They would have kept at me until they got what they wanted like a pack of dogs, but just like a pack of dogs, they respond to the 'alpha' male. By convincingly defeating the leadership, I am, essentially, the alpha male whether I'm physically present or not. This means that they won't confront me again. It also sent a message to the other bullies on campus that I'm not a victim and should be left alone."

"Where did you get such a notion?" remarked a very surprised Principal.

"My martial arts teacher was the one who told me."

A stunned Principal sat back in his chair while Misato tried very hard not to look at him with smug success written all over her face. Silence reigned as the Principal contemplated his options. For their part, Shinji and Misato played the waiting game. Misato also knew that she a trump card if the Principal was excessive.

"Still, fighting is not permitted on school grounds. Some action needs to be taken. Our rule of thumb is a one week suspension for fights that result in injury. But, I'm inclined to cancel the concert, as well."

Before Misato could unleash a family size can of "whup ass" on the unsuspecting Principal, Shinji cleared his throat. "Umm, sir, I think you'd be punishing the wrong people. The concert was for the academic decathlon teams' success and cancelling the concert punishes them, not me."

A thoughtful look crossed the Principal's face. He was at the core a decent man and Shinji's words did make sense. He was also surprised at the quick mind of the boy in front of him who so rapidly focused on the well being of his classmates. Truth be told, a part of him thought the bullies had gotten what they deserved.

"Well said, young man. In light of your comments, one week suspension." All the Principal had needed was a gavel banging on the desk and the image of a judge passing sentence would have been complete. "We'll send your assignments home with your sister. I won't demean the both of us with meaningless prattle about this not happening again, but I will say that I do not want to have to summon paramedics to this campus again. Is that understood, Mr. Ikari?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then, I will see you back in class in a week. Good day."

Shinji and Misato stood to leave. As they were headed out of the school, they ran into the rest of the gang in the courtyard awaiting the warning bell for the start of class.

"So, 20 years hard labor?" was the quickest response, oddly enough, from Kensuke.

"One week suspension, but we get to do the concert," replied Shinji.

"What? After what those hooligans tried? They should be glad that I didn't have to get involved," spat Asuka.

"Actually, it's the fairly standard time," soothed Misato. "So, Shinji. You're to stay in the apartment during the school hours. You'll still come to NERV on the regular schedule, though. I would expect that with all of the homework for you that Rei will be bringing home, that you'll be able to keep busy. I'll drop you off at home on my way back to NERV."

As everyone was getting ready to say good bye, the warning bell rang. Shinji caught Asuka's hand and pulled her into a quick hug, whispering, "I'll see you at home."

Asuka blushed at this unprovoked display of affection. "Right, Shinji-kun. But, I'll get you for abandoning Rei and I to this place, Baka," she replied with a little kiss to his cheek and then ran to catch up to the others. Shinji took a deep, slightly painful breath as he readied himself for another trip subjected to Misato's driving.

Katsuragi Apartment – Lunch Time

Shinji had finished all of the assignments he knew of, cleaned the apartment, had lunch, and was now completely bored out of his mind. To top it all off, his ribs were starting to ache again. Turning off the television, he went out onto the apartment's small balcony to look at the rain that had started. Sitting down on one of the chairs, he remembered some of the meditation teachings his master had given him and tried to focus on those to clear his head of the boredom.

Shinji had been in this state for a while when his cell beeped signaling the arrival of a message. Picking it up to find two messages, he saw one from Asuka that essentially said she missed and loved him. The second was actually a picture of Rei, Asuka, Hikari, and their group of girlfriends all mugging for the cell phone camera with cute chibi faces and victory signs. The messages had the desired effect of making Shinji laugh and look forward to Asuka's arrival after school.

School – Earlier That Day

Asuka could barely contain the boredom and frustration of being in this prison of a classroom without the pleasant distraction her Baka normally provided. She had taken up Rei's old past time of just staring morosely out the window waiting for time to continue its glacial crawl towards lunch. The rain that had just started merely provided an adequate backdrop to the gloomy feelings. In truth, the frustration was more like feeling depressed.

Asuka had gotten used to Shinji being a constant presence in her life and not only liked it, depended on it. Without it, she was feeling adrift and more than a little unhappy. She found herself daydreaming about him and planning things to do with, or more to the point, to him at the next opportunity. As the daydreaming continued, she even caught herself playing "her" song in her head – complete with his guitar and his voice. Oddly, she thought she heard Toji say something to her, but it was mostly drowned out by the inner concert as she continued contemplating the rain washing past the windows.

Hikari and Rei had been watching Asuka fairly closely during the morning. They had both noticed that Asuka's behavior had mellowed after having finally admitted to her relationship with Shinji. In fact, Shinji now acted as a lightning rod and damper to Asuka's more extreme behavior. Both girls were worried that Asuka would take out her angst on some unsuspecting student without Shinji's presence. Their fears soon proved to be unfounded as Asuka spent most of the morning moping and daydreaming, even ignoring Toji's half-hearted attempts to tease and provoke her.

As the lunch bell rang, the group of girls gathered around Asuka – Rei, Hikari, and a bunch of the other popular girls. Asuka broke out of her reverie long enough to pull her lunch box out of her desk. As she opened it, a small note caught her eye. It was from Shinji, of course, since he always made lunches for her and Rei. She opened it to see:

Asuka-chan,

Packed your favorite lunch. I figure that I'll get suspended, so I'm sorry I can't be there with you. But, I'm thinking about you.

Love,

Your Baka-Shinji

Like a stereotype school-girl from the movies, Asuka just clutched the little note and sighed. The other girls were watching her with undisguised curiosity as Asuka pulled out her cell phone and sent a little love note text message to Shinji. Looking up to see the faces of her friends staring intently at her with questions written all over their faces, she showed them the note which of course generated lots of "ahhhhhs" and "you're so lucky" from all of the girls present.

One of the girls suddenly turned to Asuka, "Asuka, what was the fight about?"

Rei, seeing that Asuka had a mouthful of food, jumped in. "It was about the strength of love."

That bold statement caused all activity at the cluster of desks to come to a screeching halt as the girls struggled with Rei's statement. Asuka on the other hand had gotten used to Rei's non-sequitur statements as humor and was doing everything she could not to spray the food in her mouth on her friends as she fought to contain the laughter.

Taking a page out of Asuka's book for explaining to the mentally challenged, Rei began in an amazing imitation of Asuka's mannerisms and tone, "Well, the boys were all jealous of Shinji and the love he shares with Asuka. You all know how boys can be." Seeing the nodding heads around her, Rei continued, "So, Shinji first tried to fight with his brains and confuse the other boys. But, Shinij, being a boy, didn't realize that confused boys just resort to violence quicker because their limited brains go all instinctive."

All of the girls erupted into laughter at this, in their opinion, deadly accurate depiction of the male population in the school. As the laughter subsided, Rei closed the deal, "So, Shinji ended up having to defend his love of Asuka and to protect her from unwanted advances by unleashing the same ferocity he used when piloting EVA."

At this, the girls got dreamy looks in their eyes and another round of "you're so lucky" and "aaahhhhs" filled the area around the little group. Asuka, however, merely looked at Rei, and they shared a knowing look with giggles of their own.

"Hey Asuka, let's cheer Shinji up and send him a picture of us!"

The girls drafted one of the younger girls to take the picture with Asuka's cell as they all gathered and made chibi faces for Shinji.

Katsuragi Apartment – Afternoon

Shinji's ribs just ached. He'd used the meditation techniques that Master had given him for some relief, but he'd soon found that he wanted to do something. He didn't really want to take any pain killers because they made him feel groggy, and he was a little apprehensive about taking them if no one else was around. He made a mental note to ask the NERV doctors about it later. Besides, Rei and Asuka would be home in a couple of hours from school, and he could hold out until then.

Hauling his cello from his room to the balcony, Shinji decided that a little cello practice would be in order. Taking a slow breath of the fresh air to cleanse his mind and not trigger any more pain from his ribs than necessary, Shinji began to warm up with some long notes that then transitioned to scales, in turn, moving to major chord arpeggios. Having reconnected with his cello, Shinji started with his familiar Bach piece.

Street Level

Machida stood under the overhang of an apartment complex entrance cursing his luck. He had forgotten his umbrella and had been waiting for the rain to let up for a little while now, and he was going to be late to rehearsal for the first time in a very long time. Rummaging through his bag for his cell, he very nearly lost all of the music scores that he was reviewing for the upcoming season. He quietly began to regret taking the conductor role in a rebuilding city like Tokyo-3. Talent was pretty sparse but at least their facilities were in good shape. But, he was spending a great deal of time trying to build up an entire repertoire for the upcoming season without any past history for the group to base the new season on. This meant lots of time reviewing pieces and designing themes for the concerts.

As he was about to call the taxi company for the third time, he thought he heard a stringed instrument over the thrum of the rain on the various things on street. Listening closely, he distinctly heard a cello moving from scales to arpeggios. He actually smiled as he recognized Bach and began to listen in a much more critical manner as it became evident that the musician had some skill. He was more than a little impressed. The musician seemed to be able to convey the right emotions and intensity for the complex piece. Completely forgetting about the rain, his pending taxi, and rehearsal, Machida walked out into the quiet street to see if he could tell where the music was coming from. He soon realized that it was coming from the apartment building that had so conveniently been sheltering him from the weather. Machida then did something he never would have normally considered, he started bounding up the stairs of the apartment building listening intently at each landing.

Machida eventually found himself in front of an apartment that said on the front "Katsuragi" with the sounds of the cello coming from behind the door in front of him.

Katsuragi Apartment – Later That Afternoon

"We're home," declared Asuka and Rei as they burst through the door having been freed from the clutches of the educational system. Their eyes immediately locked onto the snacks and drinks thoughtfully placed on the table for their arrival.

"Welcome home," came Shinji's voice from his room heard over the soft strains of his cello. As Asuka and Rei sat down at the table, they heard Shinji putting his cello away and the soft steps of heralding his arrival in the kitchen. He gave Asuka a hug and kiss and a brief hug to his sister as he claimed a drink for himself to wash down the painkiller.

Asuka's eyes followed the little pill with some dread. "Shinji, how many of those are you supposed to take?"

"Well, the doctor said one every 8-12 hours, but I didn't take any this morning. They make me feel kinda weird, so I don't feel comfortable taking them if no one is around. Since you guys are home now, I feel like I can take one."

This of course prompted a long, very pointed interrogation from the girls on the details of his decisions regarding pain medication and exactly what he had been doing to deal with the pain. In the end, they extracted a promise from him to talk to the doctors at NERV tomorrow. They adjourned to the living room as Shinji started to get a drowsy look from the medication.

They took up their accustomed television positions – Rei sprawled on the pillows in front of the TV and Asuka and Shinji on the couch. The minor modification this time was Shinji stretched out with his head in Asuka's lap dozing peacefully as she absently played with his hair while watching the show.

"Asuka."

"Hmm?" Asuka responded looking down into Shinji's eyes while continuing to run her fingers through his hair.

"I had a visitor today."

"Oh? What sort of visitor? Wasn't some sort of hentai thing was it?"

"n-n-no!" blushed Shinji.

Asuka merely smiled at her confirmation of just how easy it was to tease Shinji. "So, who was this visitor?"

"His card is on the table, but he's the conductor for the reconstituted Tokyo-3 Philharmonic. He said that he heard me playing and wants me to addition."

This small announcement created squeals of joy from both Rei and Asuka resulting in rib crushing hugs that Shinji felt even through the fog of the pain killers. Noticing his grimace, they both released him.

"That's fantastic!" declared Asuka. "When's the audition? Have you decided what piece you'll use? We have to call Misato right now and tell her!" rambled Asuka as she motioned for Rei to grab her cell and call their guardian.

Not quite as groggy as before, Shinji lay back into Asuka's lap and said, "I have to call to arrange the audition, and I haven't decided what to play. We didn't even decide on if I was to be a permanent member or just a guest. I told him that I had to talk it over with Misato, first, especially since I was on suspension."

"Baka-Shinji, have you learned how to play hard to get?" teased Asuka as she gave his blushing face another little kiss.

Tokyo-3 Junior High School, Classroom 2A – A Week Later

Shinji sat at his desk for the first time in a week thinking that nothing had changed. The class seemed even more boring than before and it seemed like it now took eons to reach lunch. The only bright spot was that at least he was back to his friends and the pain in his ribs had mostly subsided. Although, he couldn't take the deep breaths necessary to sing without some discomfort. In fact, with the celebration concert having been moved up, the group had to scramble to get songs for everyone else to sing. In fact, he noticed that Toji and Kensuke were more uptight than usual, especially after having mentioned that he had an audition with the orchestra. He'd have to ask Asuka what had been happening since he had been out.

With that thought, he glanced over at his girlfriend who gave him a stern look indicating he should be paying attention. Shinji sighed and gave a little nod. Asuka had been tutoring him to bring him back up to speed with the rest of the class and now took his academic performance as an indicator of his love for her – "you wouldn't embarrass me by not doing well would you?" was the most recent round in that little battle. Completely ignoring lecture, Shinji began to study on his own. He had actually pulled ahead of the class thanks to Asuka's tutoring and the focused study time at home without distractions and now that he was properly motivated, he intended to keep it that way – especially with the concert having been moved up to tomorrow.

Band Practice That Afternoon

They had just completed the dress rehearsal using the modified and approved set list. Modified because Shinji with cracked ribs couldn't sing the whole set as they had originally planned, so they had to change some of the songs to better fit other vocal ranges. Then, Hikari had to get the new list reviewed and approved by the principal. All the hassle really started to take the fun out of this little band experience, but he was glad that someone else got to deal with the really tedious parts.

Oddly enough, now that all of the students had exited, Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke found themselves alone in the room. Feeling oddly disconnected, Shinji had to think hard to remember that Rei, Asuka, and Hikari had gone off to talk to the decorating commitee about some sort of sign. Shinji came out of his little reverie to notice Toji and Kensuke staring at him.

"What? Did I spill something on myself?" asked a startled Shinji who began looking at the front of his shirt.

"No, no. We were just wondering when you were going to tell us about this audition and what it all means," offered Kensuke.

Shinji had known his friends for a while and this was definitely odd. They had never really been all that interested in his music. "Um, well, when I was on suspension, I was practicing my cello. It was a nice change of pace from guitar. While I was practicing, the conductor for the Philharmonic heard me when he was walking by and gave me his card. He wants me to audition for a position. Misato, Asuka, Rei, and I talked it over and I'm going to audition, but Misato wants to be involved in discussing what role I would take with the Philharmonic depending on how the audition goes. She's concerned that with my other responsibilities, I'd be spread too thin."

"um, I guess I'll just ask for both of us," started Toji. "If you got a position with the Philharmonic, would you have to give up the band?"

Shinji was more than a little startled. He hadn't realized that band had become more than just a hobby for the guys. "I don't think so. Why?"

It was Kensuke's turn to answer. "It's just become fun, and it's allowed us to reach out in ways that we probably wouldn't have. I mean, for me, I might be getting a girlfriend out of it. Toji got to save his relationship with Hikari. It's become more than just the three of us hanging out and goofing around."

Shinji leaned back into his seat thinking about this. "All I can tell you is that I'm having as much fun as you guys and the band is important to me too. We'll figure something out."

The three friends continued talking as they cleaned up only to be interrupted by the arrival of the girls for the walk home.

Celebration Concert

A sea of expectant faces pushed their way towards the stage trying to get better spots. The Principal had opened the festivities by recognizing the academic teams on their accomplishments and presenting them with some small awards. As they were led to their front row, center places, Hikari had introduced the band to an uncharacteristically raucous crowd of students and had waved towards one of the younger students running a light board who immediately doused the house lights triggering off more yelling and chanting.

Behind the curtain, Hikari gave the band their cue and Liz Phair's "Extraordinary" began to pulse from the overly load amplifiers and the curtain opened to reveal not Shinji or Asuka at the microphone, but, to her fanboy's delight, Rei.

You think that I go home at night
Take off my clothes, turn out the lights
But I burn letters that I write
To you, to make you love me

Rei's transformation from recluse and social outcast to underground rock goddess had taken a significant amount of work from Shinji and Asuka, but it was paying off. She had a kind of infectious energy that had started a bunch of the students jumping up and down in time to her head bobs.

Yeah, I drive naked through the park
And run the stop sign in the dark
Stand in the street, yell out my heart
To make, to make you love me

I am extraordinary
If you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary
I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho

It was at this point that Rei did something that dropped bodies around the concert in the same way as if she had opened up with an automatic weapon – with a flip of her head to get her hair out of her face, she smiled at the crowd. Groaning boys trying hard to regain consciousness and stop the bleeding from their noses littered the concert floor. Shinji and Asuka merely shared a smile at their apprentice's success at making a crowd impression.

You may not believe in me
But I believe in you
So I still take the trash out
Does that make me too normal for you

So dig a little deeper cause
You still don't get it yet
See me lickin' my lips, need a primitive fix
And I'll make, I'll make you love me

I am extraordinary
If you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary
I am just your ordinary

Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess

For Asuka and Hikari, watching the reaction of the other girls in the audience was enlightening. Many of the girls hadn't viewed Rei as significant competition even after the school dance. Most of the fanboy attention that she had received was viewed as just overflow from the popularity of Asuka and Shinji. But, they were now seeing her on full display, and with Asuka off the market, many of the girls had figured that competition had gotten easier. They now realized that Rei was easily stepping up into Asuka's place as most eligible bachelorette, and they were not happy. Needless to say, Asuka and Hikari were very amused and already thinking about how to have some fun with this.

See me jump through hoops for you
You stand there watching me performing
What exactly do you do
Have you ever thought it's you that's boring

Who the hell are you
I am extraordinary
If you'd ever get to know me
I am extraordinary

I am just your ordinary
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess

Average every day sane psycho
Average every day sane psycho
Supergoddess

Average every day sane psycho
Average every day sane psycho

Rei gave a little bow to the screaming, applauding students as she moved away from the microphone. She made eye contact with Shinji and Asuka and received big smiles from both of them causing her to blush a little more as she took up her normal spot on stage.

Not waiting for an introduction or recap of the last song, Asuka moved up to the microphone and nodded to Shinji who, after a quick punch of his effects pedals, twanged out the first notes of the Eurythmics' "Would I Lie to You".

Would I lie to you?
Would I lie to you honey?
Now would I say something that wasn't true?
I'm asking you sugar
Would I lie to you?

To be honest, many of Asuka's friends were surprised that she had picked a break up song to sing and were worried about how Shinji would take it. What they didn't know was that Asuka wasn't singing about Shinji, and he knew it. From the first time he heard her practicing the vocals, he knew exactly who she was singing about.

My friends - know what's in store.
I won't be here anymore
I've packed my bags
I've cleaned the floor.

Watch me walkin'.
Walkin' out the door.
Believe me - I'll make it make it
Believe me - I'll make it make it

Everyone interprets lyrics in a personal way, and it was obvious that the audience had all picked their own interpretations – luckily for Shinji and Asuka, none of those interpretations involved thinking that they were breaking up. Too much evidence to the contrary had been built up since the school dance for that to be a possibility, but it did sort of trigger off speculation on what Asuka was singing about since the idea that she had just picked a song at random was just too simple an explanation.

Would I lie to you?
Would I lie to you honey?
Now would I say something that wasn't true?
I'm asking you sugar
Would I lie to you?

Tell you straight - no intervention.
To your face - no deception.
You're the biggest fake.
That much is true.

Had all I can take.
Now I'm leaving you

Believe me - I'll make it make it
Believe me - I'll make it make it

Shinji had been playing the entire song with a cryptic little smile on his face – mostly because he knew what the others didn't – the person Asuka was singing too. He let his mind drift as he played. He knew that she was singing to her former self – the Asuka that had to push people away, who thought that lonely was better than to be together, and who thought that pride was an adequate substitute for love. They had had another of those sunset, roof top conversations while talking about what song she would sing and, when they had come around to this one, what it really meant to her.

Would I lie to you?
Would I lie to you honey?
Now would I say something that wasn't true?
I'm asking you sugar
Would I lie to you?

Shinji watched Asuka sing with feelings of pride and love at war within him for supremacy. Feeling his eyes on her, Asuka glanced over at him gave him a smile and a small, blown kiss at the next break in the lyrics. Shinji felt like that small kiss was going to knock him into next week and he almost missed the chord change. While most of the boys were just entranced by the one-two punches of Rei and then Asuka singing, the girls in the audience, while enjoying the concert, seethed with jealousy which just ignited into a white hot flame at the loving glance given to Shinji by Asuka. As they came to the realization that this wasn't a breakup message, the jealousy began to give way to resignation that Shinji wasn't available. But, some of them still harbored hope that they could get Shinji to notice them.

My friends - know what's in store.
I won't be here anymore.
I've packed my bags
I've cleaned the floor.
Watch me walkin'.

Walkin' out the door.
Believe me - I'll make it make it
Believe me - I'll make it make it

With a final flourish of the guitar, Asuka brought the song to a close to thunderous applause.

Shinji moved up to the microphone to do the final three songs, and as he passed his fiery princess, she breathed into his ear, "Knock 'em dead, Shin-chan."

Author's Parting Shots: So, the chapters are getting longer and taking longer to post. Hopefully, the next one won't take quite so long – I've got it mostly thought out and I expect to have time to work on it.