Ch 13 The Meek Shall Inherit


Shinji awoke to his eyes staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. The second thing that entered his brain upon gaining consciousness was that something was tickling his nose, it was incredibly itchy. He tried to move his arm to scratch it but he couldn't move it, blood was slowly returning but it was still mostly numb. Exhaling heavily he tried to remove the offending object only to see a tuft of long red hair float up into his field of vision.

"Not again…" His fears were confirmed, somehow underneath the covers curled up next to him was the redhead he'd felt so drawn to yet terrified by. Even with it being the second time he saw it the sight was still something he tried to burn into his vision. The blissful expression on the girl's face told him it'd be an unforgivable sin to wake up the girl too soon.

He tried to make himself go back to sleep but it didn't work. As soon as his brain began to work fully the creeping fears and anxieties that plagued his waking mind kept him from shutting down his mind again. Then the worst thing that could happen, did. He had to pee.

His plan had gone perfectly, the hardest part was slowly removing his arm from the redheads grasp. Then he wormed himself out of the covers and tip-toed into the bathroom. After he finished his business he looked at the clock, seeing it was only a few minutes after 6 he decided to get some fresh air. He might even get to catch the sun as it rises.

It was strange walking around a bathhouse when it was early enough to be dark. He perched himself on a comfortable looking rock and watched the crack of dawn spreading out across the horizon.

'Your mother and I, we used to always watch the sun rise when we got up together in the morning. I was never a morning person but Yui still dragged me out of bed to make it to the lab everyday.'

'The anniversary is next week.'

'It is.'

He'd never heard his fathers voice sound so soft. It was normally something that inspired fear in him even if he was saying something that seemed positive. One question he'd never asked suddenly appeared in his head and he wondered why he hadn't asked this sooner.

'What was she like?'

'One of the most interesting people you could ever meet. A person of extremes, she'd hold grudges for years but wouldn't hesitate to help someone they saw who needed help and treat them with the utmost kindness. She was always the stronger one, she didn't buy any of my bullcrap and always told me off when I deserved it. Smarter than anyone I've ever met, Eva was the world's most expensive pipe dream before she published her work.'

'Wow, she sounds incredible.'

'She was.'

Shinji could feel the revelry and longing in his voice, he wished he had the mental image of her that he did, it was something he could hold onto, it was real to him, all he had were blurry images and a smiling face that haunt me.

'What was it like when you and mom fell in love?' It sounded like such a childish question yet he still desperately wanted to know the answer.

"We'd known each other for years before dating, one time we were spending time together doing work on some silly project I can't even remember. I do remember how she looked that day, I haven't lost a single detail. I looked at her and I just knew. You can't explain it if you haven't felt it but when you know, you'll know.'

'How do you get her to, you know, like you and stuff?'

'To be frank, I still do not entirely know, nor am I sure I ever will. Yui saw something in me that was worth saving, I wish I did know. I do not believe I will be a good person to ask about this subject, it was a correct assumption on your part for you to go to others for advice on courtship.'

'I'm not really trying 'courtship'; nothings gonna happen, I just don't want her to hate me.'

'Shinji the only person who has not seen the second child's obvious affection for you is you.'

'What obvious affection? All she does is yell at me and call me names!'

'You're both children, what do you expect? I see what you see, she's slept next to you twice now. Do you truly believe it was an accident this time?'

'No….but that doesn't make sense, why would she like me? I'm me.'

'Why does anyone like anyone? You'd have to ask her if you want the answer.'

'Don't you have anything you could tell me that might be helpful? You've talked to girls before, what do they like, how do I not screw this whole thing up.'

'I shall say to you what your mother once said to me a long time ago. If all you think about and focus on is not screwing up you're guaranteed to. Going out is supposed to be fun, so just enjoy it for what it is.'

'Why did she say that?'

This was perhaps the only time he'd ever heard his father speak in a way that he'd have to describe as his own form of bashful. 'About a week into our newfound relationship, I'd confessed I was terrified of actually taking her on a date because he was sure he'd screw it up. She smacked me across the head and told me I must've graduated from clown college and that I had to start giving myself a little more credit.'

'She insulted you and complimented you at the same time?' Shinji was trying to scrape his mind to see if he had any memories of his own of the lively woman his father described. He came up empty; his recollection of the women was so little he'd had no idea what she was really like aside from kind and loving.

;As I said before, she was a very interesting woman.'

Shinji mulled this over for a time before deciding to ask about the other thing pressing on his mind lately. 'Can we talk about the thing with Kaji?'

'What more was there to discuss? I believe things went as well as they could have.'

'Yeah but what do we do now? What's next?'

'Nothing, you are still a child, one of the most monitored children on the planet at that, you will be doing nothing. In the meantime Agent Ryoji will feed his allies the information we've given them and hopefully put it to good use.'

'You're still gonna make me talk to the commander again, aren't you?'

'Shinji I can't 'make' you do anything you don't want to. Halting further development of the dummy plugs should be our current priority until the Angels have been defeated. It is perhaps the only action we can take at the moment that could do any real damage to the committee's plans.'

'Okay but you're gonna help me sound less stupid. I can't do this on my own.'

'I am certain he will be in his office during your next synchronization test, use that opportunity to approach him. You do not truly need my help so I will not be giving it.'

'What!? Yes I do, what am I even supposed to say? Can't you give me something!?'

'You did better than expected the last time, I have faith you'll be able to think quickly enough on your feet.'

'I'm sorry but you're really not that helpful, like at all actually.'

'I know.'


"So what exactly is human instrumentality?"

Kaji couldn't believe his luck. He'd started with a few questions he knew the answer to but wouldn't expect Shinji to have known in a million years. Not that the boy wasn't smart but he'd accrued years worth of contacts and information.

By some miracle this teenager knew it all, he spoke calmly in a voice dripping with fear but still in concise. He'd read the boy's file there were no mentions of any skill with hacking or information gathering. Just a shy boy who barely left the house and did chores most of the day. Either he wasn't a spy which seemed the obvious answer, or he was the greatest spy of all time.

He found that hard to believe because there already was a world's greatest spy and he was pretty sure he could sniff out anyone if he had enough time with them. Shinji remained an enigma to him, he felt he could trust the boy but he also felt he was a wildcard, too unpredictable not to keep a close eye on.

"The Third Impact."

"That's…not good." A lesser spy would have let his poker face slip at the shocking revelation. Especially when it confirmed all of their deepest fears after they learned the truth behind the second impact.

"It is not."

"Why would they wanna start another impact? The second one wasn't enough?"

"They wanna combine all of humanity into a single consciousness with them in charge once the Angel's are all gone. Their ultimate goal is to become a living god and rule over humanity."

"Of course they do, So what's the Commander's role in all this?"

"He wants the same thing but with him attaining godhood instead of the committee. He plans to use me and Unit-01 to do it." The boy's eyes were glued to his shoes

"Unit-01 can start the Third impact?"

"I think any Eva is capable of doing it but Unit-01 is 'special' to my father, without it his plans are useless."

"So if someone were to somehow sabotage or destroy it, that person would be saving humanity from at least one person working towards ending the world."

"You can't!" Kaji raised his eyebrow at the surprising emotional outburst, based on what he'd seen and heard of the boy's opinion of piloting he'd imagined the boy would have come to hate the mechanical titan. He probably would've if he was stuck doing a job that sucked.

"Why?"

"The Eva's…. Aren't just machines. They're alive actually. The only way to control them is if you override their own mind with something us pilots can easily connect to. Do you… know who developed Unit-01?"

"It was Yui Ikari right? Your mother right?" Kaji remembered reading about the contact experiment that ended her life. He wanted to bring it up but the pain in the boy's eyes stopped him. The grief looked fresh in his expression, he wasn't sure what to make of it but he couldn't stop now. This was everything he'd been searching for being handed to him on a silver platter.

"Yes, when she passed. Her soul went into the core of Unit-01. That's how I'm able to be an Evangelion pilot."

"Is it the same for all the other Eva's?"

"Yes." Kaji's eyes bulged out of their head as his brain realized the gravity of this realization. Every Evangelion in operation and production requires the sacrifice of a human life to function.

It did add up with some strange things Asuka had told him about piloting back in Germany. He'd just thought she was a natural and enthusiastically throwing herself into work to avoid her trauma. In hindsight the girl's fierce attachment to the crimson Evangelion made a lot more sense, even if she herself didn't realize it.

"To my father becoming god is secondary, the main reason he wants to enact human instrumentality is to take my mom out of Unit-01."

"So there is a heart somewhere inside that man's body, I never would've guessed."


"Did you two sleep well last night?"

"Yeah it was great. Nothing happened though." Shinji cut himself off by loudly clearing his throat to hide his growing blush. He received a sharp elbow in the side from the girl sitting next to him in the spacious interior of the van as they headed back to Tokyo-3.

"Yes, we split that walk in closet in half and each slept peacefully. Only after someone rudely banged on our wall like a madman!"

"That's funny, we had something weird happen too, there was this married couple fighting in the room next to ours while we were all trying to get to sleep." Shinji kept his eyes on the floorboard as he felt two pairs of eyes staring him down.

"It's not my fault Japanese people make their walls out of paper! We were talking at a perfectly normal volume!"

"Princess I don't think you know what normal volume is, I'm sure our Puppy found a way to shut you up, didn't he?"

Shinji felt his blush spread to his whole body, if they found out what did happen he'd never hear the end of it.

"No! We just talked and then went to bed, separately, not together." Shinji immediately regretted saying anything, he could now sense an imminent danger coming from the seat next to him. Without looking at her he could picture her exact expression, it was why he still wasn't looking.

"That was nice, right kids? It's not often we get a whole day dedicated to pure relaxation. Especially with water that nice."

"I had a good time, Major Katsuragi."

"Mari come on, enough with that you're not that new. No ranks when we're off duty, I've already had to tell Rei that a dozen times already. You can call me Misato, you're part of the team now"

"I apologize for my previous transgressions."

"Don't worry about it Rei, So what's the plan for our resident track stars? Planning to get all hot and sweaty together? Section-2 filled me in as soon as you started, I know you guys are gonna crush it today!"

"Misato! It's not like that!"

"That's just what happens when you run Misato. Maybe you should try it sometime, you look like you could use it."

"I used to like running during gym class in elementary but now that I'm older I can't, no sports bra made by man can contain these babies." Shinji felt a rush of blood to his nose and within moments a small but powerful feminine hand was clamped over his eyes.

"Ooh, the Princess is jealous."

"I am not! I was just, I was just." Shinji could see the desperation in the girl's eyes as she looked at him pleadingly, the problem was he had no idea what she wanted.

Then, perhaps for the first time in his life, he thought quickly on his feet. "There was a bee on my nose." Maybe not that quick.

Asuka however didn't seem to mind and latched onto his lame excuse. "Yeah, I don't know where it went, I think I must've got it. What if it stung him? In the eye of all places!? Doesn't that concern any of you!"

"Ooh then the puppy would have to wear an eyepatch. I bet he'd look hot with one on."

"Why would placing a bandage on top of a wounded eye raise Shinji's temperature?"

"I don't mean literally blue, hot is just another way to say that someone is physically attractive."

"I see, thank you for explaining."

Shinji still couldn't believe how quickly Rei and Mari had started getting along. At first they'd not spoken a word to each other then Rei approached her one day. Since then the pair have been nearly inseparable ever since.

"Traitor…" Shinji stole a quick glance at the redhead to see if the mumbled words were meant for him but the girl's narrowed eyes were instead locked on Rei.

"Is something wrong Pilot Soryu?"

"No, why would anything be wrong? You're just consorting with the enemy!"

"Since when did I become the enemy?"

"Since I decided!"

"Aww, don't be like that Princess, you know I already have a date. I promise I won't steal the Puppy away from you."

"Hell no you won't! I mean, we're just going as friends because our friends are going too, nothing like your perverted brain is imagining."

"You're still gonna dance together, right?"

"None of your business!"

Shinji had been hoping he'd gotten his chance to hear an answer to that question, it was probably the only chance he'd get. There was no way he was gonna ask the girl himself.

He thought about the advice he'd gotten recently, from two men whose opinions he felt held some weight when it came to dealing with the opposite sex. They also had said pretty much the same thing, it sounded easy. How do you pretend to be something you know nothing about? He wished he'd watched more movies or read more books with something in them he could replicate.

Maybe Kaji was right, he should just speak his mind, he couldn't say whatever appeared in his mind that would be suicide but he could tweak it a little bit. He tried to think about what it was that usually stopped him from speaking most of the time, the biggest motivator was fear. It's not like he could stop being afraid, it was probably the most common emotion he felt on any given day.

Thinking about that made him really sound pathetic, maybe Asuka was right, he is a wimp and a coward all rolled up into one. He didn't like any pain of any kind, be it from getting punched in or out of his Evangelion or having his words be me with scorn or disinterest. In his mind the only way to 'win' the game was not to play.

He'd have to play if he wanted to go out with Asuka however, she's said herself she won't put up with him moping the whole time they're together. While Kaji's assumption was hurtful there was something to it, starting conversations with the girl had seemed like an impossible task lately. If he didn't do something the situation wasn't going to get any better.

What was he even thinking about? Rei was looking listlessly out the window, Mari looked like she was texting someone on her phone. Misato seemed to be fighting a losing battle with sleep, her head constantly dripping down then snapping back up.

He then looked over to the girl next to him, his eyes immediately locked onto the pair of eyes looking back at him. They were the same color but much lighter than his own, the color seemed more vibrant and there was a spark in them. Some indescribable energy that he could feel trying to draw him in whenever he looked at them.

It sounded corny but to him it was true, they were the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, every glimpse of them made him want to look longer. Obviously he couldn't say that, Asuka would call him an idiot and it would be deserved in this case. Maybe he could say something nice about them, that wouldn't be too weird. Normal people complimented each other, right?

"Your eyes are uhh, pretty." The girl recoiled as if his words had physically struck her. He immediately regretted every decision that had led him to this point. Her hair hung lazily like a curtain in front of her face but the glimpses he could see peaking out were red with rage.

Luckily he spoke quietly enough for the van's other occupants not to notice. If Rei had heard she gave no indication. Mari was still texting away and he couldn't tell whether Misato's eyes were still open.

It would seem whatever entity that watched over the universe had decided to throw him a bone today as the van began to roll to a halt a few moments later. Meaning the human firecracker he'd just intentionally set off next to him wouldn't have time to blow up in his face.

"Would you look at that, I guess it's time to head out."


Asuka was confused, it was a feeling she hated. It'd been her constant state of being whenever anything related to the Third Child was concerned. First off she'd challenged him to a one versus one duel on her terms and he had defeated her soundly. She couldn't hide from it anymore, she was second place. Not just in Eva piloting, their sprint training had worked wonders; she'd gotten much faster and beat her personal best several times over. All her progress was nothing compared to the idiotic savant who if not for extraordinary effort on her part would have already outpaced her.

A coward could never defeat her in open combat, nor a wimp or a pervert. Her rival however could, that was the decision she'd made. To cement the boy as her archnemesis, an obstacle to be overcome, only now they'd been getting along better than ever. They were going on a verdammt double date for god's sake!

She was the Second Child! A soldier selected from childhood to defend humanity from horrors beyond the stars! Not some ditsy teenage girl who went on dates with boys. She had other things to worry about now however. Like whipping these 3 'young men' into shape.

"Are you two even trying!? Were you actually training all this time or did you instead spend the time writing your vows!?"

"We're trying our best! Why the hell aren't either of you running if this is so important!?"

"We need all our times to be at least below 6 minutes if we want a guaranteed chance of winning! We both have our times plenty below that, we at least want you stooges to be able to keep it below 8!"

She watched the larger boy lean and whisper into the ear of his blonde friend earning a burst of laughter from the boy that was quickly suppressed.

"What was that!? Something to say Suzuhara?"

"Nothing, can we take 5?"

"That's right, nothing! If you have any more nothing to say, I'll come over there and give you some 'encouragement' for your next lap. Now get back to running!" She grinned smugly at the boys as they grumbled some incoherent complaints and complied. She held out her stopwatch and started it signaling the boys' start.

"Alright listen up, this is a relay, we're the two fastest runners so one of us has to go first and the other last. I'm going first so I can give you all so much of a head start you can't possibly screw it up. Your only job is to finish things off and make sure those two slowpokes don't mess up our chances too badly. You got all that?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Ew, don't call me that again, do you understand that?"

"Yes Asuka, I'm sorry."

She made sure to glare at him after that long enough for him to know she wasn't happy. This was the other half of the boy. He seemed more lively than usual at least. He was still a doormat and avoided conflict and most human interaction like the plague. He always looked afraid of something when he was like this. Like his own shadow was about to come up behind him and attack.

It filled her with anger and disgust that she could be attracted to someone so pitiful. How could this be the person surpassing her so easily? The whole thing seemed like some divine joke at her expense.

Like or not she was attracted to this weasel-boy hybrid. And like it she certainly did not! Maybe, just maybe she did find the soft, caring and affectionate way he acted outside of battle a little endearing. Only a little.

If he was gonna grow a spine long enough to ask her to the dance she sure as hell wasn't gonna let it die in infancy. All he needed was a little push and he'd be able to really join the ranks of the vertebrates.

She'd at least removed the most immediate threats to her chances earlier. Not that she thought a girl like Rei could actually outcompete someone like her but the idiot had an idiot's taste so she had to make sure.

Becoming friends with the blue haired girl had turned out to have its benefits. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to get the girl to agree so easily had it not been for the multitudinous amount of favors the girl now owed her. She'd be walking around in her school uniform everyday without even so much as a layer of foundation were it not for her.


"Was there something you wished to discuss Pilot Soryu?"

"Yeah, it's about Shinji."

"What about him? Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine, it's just, I've seen you looking at him."

"I have been known to observe him from time to time, has this begun to make him uncomfortable?"

"No it's not that. Do you…..like him?"

"Like? I believe I do, I enjoy being with him and speaking with him, his company is pleasant. I would say I definitely do like him."

"What about you and Foureyes? Why ask her to the dance then if you like someone else?"

"I do not dislike Pilot Makinami, recently we have become good 'friends' as I have come to understand it. I am coming along to observe and to learn about what happens at these social functions, that is why I chose to ask her."

"Well stay away from Shinji! You got that?"

"Does that mean if I see the two of you later tonight I shouldn't give any sort of greeting?"

"Yes, stay in your lane! He's mine!" Rei cocked a curious eyebrow at the girl as she violently smashed her open palm overtop her mouth after speaking.

"How is it possible for you to possess another person? I'm afraid I do not understand."

Not literally! I mean don't try anything with him! Do you understand that?"

"Could you clarify what 'try anything' means specifically, I'd like to be able to avoid upsetting you further."

"Oh, well, just stay away from him for tonight, can you do that?" Her words succeeded in disarming the Second Child's hostile attitude at least temporarily.

"I believe so, I do not fully understand the reasoning but I will comply."

"Good! If anyone asks' this conversation never happened, if you tell anyone about it I'll deny it."

"If you do not wish me to, I shall not mention the contents of this talk to anyone else. Although if the commander orders me to tell him, I'll be forced to comply."

"Why would the commander ask about this?"

"I do not know, I am simply informing you of the circumstances that would cause me to go against my word."

"Okay? Whatever, let's go. I've got to hurry and start training for the race today, the idiots probably looking around for the two of us like a lost puppy about now."

Rei nodded her head and followed behind the rapidly marching redhead, her mind trying to process the strange conversation and Asuka's aversion to her speaking with Shinji. It must've been jealousy, it wasn't an emotion she'd experienced but she'd read about it. To her understanding she was being viewed as a rival for Shinji's romantic affection, it would explain the abrupt loss of patience the girl had when speaking to her lately.

At least it wasn't a problem with her specifically, that had been her previous worry, that the piercing gaze of the Second Child had pierced right through her and saw she wasn't like them.

She was different, not entirely human but not an Angel either, without her purpose she was nothing, worse than nothing even. An abomination made to spit in the face of creation, sent to evolve humanity into its final form, crack the cocoon and let the butterfly fly into the sunset.

Was that really what she was doing? Instrumentality is an end to the AT field. The barrier that separates oneself from the collective. The person or thing she'd spoken to inside of her Evangelion had seen right through her. She wasn't embracing instrumentality for any other reason than selfishness. She feared the possibility of a life filled with nothing but pain; she chose a life filled with nothing instead. It was the same as dying, the ultimate escape.

She'd never thought she was a coward but now she did. If she stopped hurting she'd stop smiling, without the contrast of living, existence was meaningless. If no individuals existed then humanity was dead, whatever was to take its place after was nothing she wanted any part of.

She couldn't tell the commander, or the doctor, maybe one day, they could understand, but not now. It was the first time she'd ever lied to either of them. She'd just have to hope she could get away with it. All it would take would be one quick word and she could be replaced by another.

She couldn't let that happen now, so she would not. There was no room for her to fail.

Not if she wanted to keep any of them safe for what was coming.


Kensuke was not having the best day he could be. He'd spent most of the early part sleeping in and enjoying the lack of school on a weekday. After that he'd been forced by Toji to go run and get made fun of by Asuka.

They were taking a break now, luckily Toji had given the surprisingly reasonable point that we need to be fully rested and reinvigorated to do our best in the actual race. We didn't meet the redheads' absurd expectations but they'd made definitive progress. There was no way anyone else was taking this as seriously as they were. They'd easily be able to win, not that he could convince any of the stubborn fools into anything.

Not that Shinji was gonna be the one to tell them to stop. He was shocked to see how good at running the boy was. He'd always spoken so negatively of his own skill but he could see that's just how he was. He even gave Asuka a run for her money, when he watched the two of them race he could see how hard the girl was straining to keep up with the boy.

He was not so lucky as to be born with a natural talent for running. In fact at this time he was pretty sure he'd been created with whatever the opposite of that was. He persevered nonetheless it's not like it was his choice to get stuck in this stupid race. There wasn't even a prize for winning, he didn't care he just wanted to get this over with and go home after.

He was kinda sad it was over though, it was nice skipping the usual group exercises in the gym to hang out with his friend. He'd seemed more distant lately. He wasn't stupid he knew why, he'd seen how quickly both his other friends had become closer and closer over the past few weeks. Even if he spent more time with Toji the Eva pilot was a constant subject when he wasn't around and vice versa when he hung out with Shinji.

More and more he was beginning to feel like a third wheel with his own friends, it's not that neither of them liked him any less, it's just that the two of them seemed much better friends. Both of them now going to the dance while he spent the night at home only added to that feeling.

About half an hour before the race was supposed to start, he was surprised by the amount of kids that had actually showed up, he figured no one would be stupid enough to come to Tokyo-3 by choice. Some of them, No, a lot of them actually looked to be in a lot better shape than him. His previous confidence about their chances vanished into thin air, he was still going to try his best and hope for the best. Not much more he could do.

"Man this weather sucks for running, it's way too hot, did you bring that extra water bottle Ken?"

He actually brought two in his bag, because he predicted this exact situation happening again and was tired of not having extra water. "Yeah, here you go. the competition here looks pretty stiff."

"It had better, they're going up against us after all!"

"These clothes make me look like a dork."

"Well now you at least look the part." Kensuke scowled up at his beaming friend. The brightly colored spandex each of them wore was a great equalizer. It was impossible for anyone to look good in the garish clothing.

"Have you seen Shinji or Asuka?"

"Nope, must've lost them in the crowd, knowing her she probably already dragged him to the starting spots against his will."

Sure enough the boy was right, it was pretty easy to spot the red mane of Asuka even in a crowd. It looked like she and Shinji were talking. His curiosity piqued when he saw the girl lean and whisper something into the boy's ear before scampering off. It must've been some ludicrous threat. The boy looked like he saw a ghost, even from a distance he could see it plain as day, all the color drained from his face and his eyes widened into saucers. He'd really have to ask him what she said after the race.

"I think they're getting ready to start, let's go figure out where we're supposed to be, I think we each start in different spots."

"What? Kensuke's it's a race. I'm pretty sure there's only one starting point."

"Do you pay attention to like anything? This isn't track , it's a relay race."

"I pay attention to what matters. Why don't you relay how that's any different?"

"Har Har, you can't seriously not know what a relay race is, we each carry a baton and pass it to the next person, we do that all the way down the track."

"Oh yeah I totally knew that, I just called them a completely different thing."

Kensuke never understood why Toji bothered to lie when it was that obvious what the truth was, if it comforted him then so be it.

"Whatever, let's just go ahead and get this over with."

"Where's the enthusiasm Ken? This is what all the training was for!"

"And what exactly was it for?"

"I already told you, one of the rarest and most important currencies for guys like you and me, bragging rights."

"Bragging rights?"

"You betcha!"

"We did all this, all the hours of strain and time not spent playing video games. Was for bragging rights!?"

"Don't get mad at me, If I had my way there would be a million dollar prize or something too, we take what we can get."

"This is stupid!"

"That's much better energy, you use that and you'll be flying across the track I guarantee it."

Kensuke was glad to see a familiar face as they weaved their way through the crowd even if he couldn't exactly say it was a friendly one.

"Where's Shinji?"

"Probably in his spot already, like you doofuses should be! There's only a couple minutes till it starts!"

"If we knew where to go we'd be there already! Have you considered being helpful instead of sassy?" Kensuke used his larger friend as cover while he stood up to the redhead's wrath."

"Don't think I can't do both! This is gonna be really difficult for you guys. See those big numbers on your shirts. You go to the spot with the same number, think you can handle it?"

"Your feet better be as fast as your mouth Red Devil!"

"What was that Monkey boy!?"

Kensuke was already gone, with Toji speed walking ahead of him to avoid danger, only managing to outpace him by use of his absurdly long legs. Luckily the girl didn't seem to wanna give chase where he went into the number 2 spot. Stealing a look behind him at the redhead already posed in a runner's stance..

He really couldn't understand what Shinji could see in a girl like that, even if she was hot.


Shinji's mind was elsewhere at the moment. He was brought back down from his daydreaming by the sound of the starting pistol. It was hard to make out from all the way down the track but he could see a red blur leading the pack as the first group began their relay.

The stakes had suddenly gotten much higher for Shinji, he didn't have anything to lose but he had so much to gain. He'd checked himself to see if he was dreaming before but he'd confirmed he was awake. The girl's words had been so unexpected he'd have to ask her after to make sure she actually meant it. If it was some tactic to get him to run like his life depended on it then it had worked.

He hoped that wasn't the case, cause if she meant it. He'd never really seen their strange argument in the hallway as a kiss, it was so brief it didn't even seem real to him. Girl's didn't kiss just anyone right? It had to mean something, he just wasn't sure what.

He watched Asuka skid to a halt next to Kensuke and pass over the baton to him, the sandy haired boy wasted no time in moving quickly. Making good use of the considerable lead Asuka had given him, he still wasn't very fast; he could see the other runners slowly gaining speed on the boy.

Seeing the boy's approaching form get closer he entered into a crude mimic of the stance he'd seen Asuka use before she ran.


"Go! Hurry!"

Toji grabbed the baton from his friend's hand and began his sprinting. He'd need to make up time, most of the early lead their team had gotten had already evaporated. He moved his long legs with as much force as he could across the track.

The feeling of pavement slapping against the pavement, the wind blowing across his body, he wanted to look in the crowd and see if Hikari was watching him but couldn't spot her. He could feel his lungs burning from the exertion but he pressed on, images of victory in his mind.

He was already starting to slow down, damn him. Shinji was watching him, he looked pissed off, or at least very determined, he couldn't really tell.

A boy a couple of inches taller than even him was the first to overtake him, then another and another, they were only a meter ahead of him at most. It was all he could do to prevent himself from falling behind further.

"Argh! Damn it!" Toji ignored all the burning pain in his legs, he could feel the muscles straining with the last of their stored up energy. He didn't even have time to stop, he slapped the baton hard into the palm of his friend then diverted himself towards the soft grass when his legs finally gave in.

"It's all up to you Shin-man! Win it for all of us!"


Asuka was pissed, she'd watched stooge one and two run like two tortoises with their legs broken and completely screw their chance of winning.

She'd made it in time to at least watch them lose. She saw Toji hand the baton over to the boy and fall over into the grass like a lump. All the other runners had a couple seconds head start, Shinji was screwed, now she was gonna lose to some dorks from another school through no fault of her own.

"What the hell!?"

Shinji was running fast. Faster than she'd ever seen anyone run for that matter but especially that boy. Considering they'd been training together for long enough she thought she'd held a pretty good grasp of his ability. She was wrong.

His short legs were a blur beneath him, he was slowly catching up to the other runners, she couldn't see his face and she desperately wanted to for some reason. She could see the other runners looked as surprised as she was. She could even make out the girl in third place gawking like a fish at the boy's surprise coming from behind.

It was just Shinji and the incredibly tall boy, he was taller than even any of the teachers, a giant lanky boy with skinny arms and legs built like tree trunks.

Asuka began to jog towards the end of the track, keeping her eyes glued to the two racing forms rapidly approaching it. Suddenly she realized if Shinji by some miracle did actually win, then she'd have to go through on her word. She idly wondered if she could hear him, a little positive encouragement couldn;t hurt, they were on a team together, it was just being a good teammate.

"You'd better not lose, idiot!"

She wasn't entirely sure what reaction she'd been hoping for, maybe some sort of acknowledgement. That she did not get, her words did seem to have an effect, or at least she hoped. As the final stretch loomed ahead of them she heard a feral high pitched cry from the two boys, she already knew which one it was.

She'd made it to the finish line just in time, an unbroken line of tape stood waiting for the first person to cross it and become the winner. She looked over and watched the shorter boy shoot forward like a bullet across the red tape snapping it neatly into two halves. His arms were raised victoriously above his head, their eyes were locked onto each other, her own smile probably looked as goofy as the one painted on his face.

"Shinji! Watch out!" Asuka's warning wasn't in time, the boy looked back to what was directly in front of him and saw the rapidly approaching wooden pole as it collided with his forehead. It looked like it got him good, his head pinged off the wood and landed in the grass with the boy knocked out cold.

Asuka enjoyed a solid minute laughing at the boy's expense before checking to see if he was alright. She shoved away a couple gawkers staring at him like an alien and hoisted the boy onto our back.

"I'm taking Barry Allen here over to the Nurse's station. Give our trophy or whatever to the stooges." Asuka didn't wait for a reply and left. Her mind distracted with the surprisingly difficult task of carrying the Third child on her back.

"What? The who?"


"Did we win?"

"Yes, we did. Little tip for next time, I'd try stopping once you cross the finish line."

Shinji had a vague memory of feeling on top of the world for a few moments after the race ended then darkness. He pulled himself upright and immediately felt a pressure on his skull. "Ugh, my head hurts."

"Running into things tends to have that effect. Well, it's been about an hour and half since the race ended. We've still got a few hours until we have to meet Hikari at the restaurant. So don't lay around too long but don't hurt yourself more either, you got that?"

"I think so? I feel fine walking around, I'm gonna go rest at Misato's for a little."

"Oh and I almost forgot."

"Forget? What did you-" All conscious thoughts left his brain as he felt something small, soft, wet and warm all at once press itself against his cheek for a few precious moments.

He was too stunned to react and before he knew it the girl had already ran out of the room, leaving him more than a little confused and dazed.

'I believe my previous statements have been proven correct, may I offer you a piece of advice, Shinji?'

'I'll take whatever I can get at this point.'

'Good, stop by a flower stand on your way back.'

'Really flowers? Isn't that kinda corny?'

'That does not matter, grab only a few, not a whole bouquet. She will appreciate it even if she doesn't show it.'

'How do you know what?'

'Call it an educated guess.'


"Do you think they made it here before us?"

"There's no way, We're early and I love Asuka but she'd show up late to her own funeral."

"Hey! Over here you two!"

Hikari spun her head around and quickly spotted the two friends they were just discussing. With Asuka wearing the dress she'd seen her buy when they went shopping eagerly waving them down while Shinji looked at her mortified from across the table.

She'd always thought of the scrawny boy as more cute than handsome but he cleaned up really nice. He was wearing an actual suit, a bright red overcoat with a black pocket square. With a black button up and matching tie to go with it. Personally she still preferred Toji. His clothes looked crisp with a black overcoat and tie and white undershirt.

"How did you get the table? The reservation was in my name."

"Oh I figured you'd do that when you texted me. They didn't check any of our ID's when we got here. I just said I was you."

"And that worked?"

"You betcha!" Asuka passed her and Toji a couple of menus as they sat down across from each other. Hikari took in a moment to enjoy her surroundings, she hadn't scouted the place out beforehand and regretted it. Even in her new dress she felt underdressed for just how fancy the place was. The place was lit with an evening glow with each table getting its own scarlet lamp resting on the darker colored table cloth. The walls were covered in paintings both large and small that Hikari could tell were all Renaissance art.

"So, do you like the place? My father told me about it when he went here with some of his colleagues. I've never had Italian food before."

"Really? You've never? It's nothing compared to genuine German cuisine but the Italians have definitely figured out a thing or two about cooking, especially when it comes to pasta."

"I think it's nice, it's really fancy. I've never had Italian food either?"

"Shin-man, are you telling me you've never had a pizza!?" Hikari shot the boy a look that immediately lowered the volume of his voice. She was glad the boy was getting slightly less oblivious. It still would take some miracle into getting into his superhumanly thick skull.

"I've got to side with Monkey-boy on this one, neither of you have ordered a pizza in your life? What have you been doing all this time?"

"Not eating pizza, obviously." Hikari and Toji both burst out in near synchronous laughter and the unexpected quip from the boy. After looking outraged for a few seconds eventually Asuka's face broke into a grin until eventually she was laughing along with them while Shinji stared at his feet.

The waiter came by and sat down a basket of bread and began filling up their empty glasses with water, when he was done Hikari politely told the man they needed more time to decide and an awkward silence settled over the group after he departed.

"Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot to say this to you guys too, congratulations on winning, that was really something at the end there Shinji." She couldn't help chuckling at recollection of the memory

"Yeah, that was awesome Shin-man. We couldn't have done it without you."

"Thanks, I, Uhh guess I had my second wind or something, did they give you guys anything after we won?"

"Nope." Hikari raised an eyebrow at Asuka, she'd been there watching the race. It was kind of ridiculous that they got that many people together without having a prize but all they handed out at the end was a small obviously plastic trophy with a running man on it. Toji had offered it to her as he'd been the one stuck with it but she declined.

"Well I'm glad it's over."

"I'm glad we won. Those suckers looked so shocked when you blew past them, then when they got all mad about losing. That was the cherry on top, me and Kensuke were dying just looking at their faces."

"Darn! I wish I could've seen it! I was busy making sure sleeping beauty here didn't run into anything else."

"Sorry about that."

"I'm really not mad, seeing your face when you saw that pole coming right at you was priceless."

"Well I'm glad someone enjoyed it."

"It couldn't have been that bad, I'm sure it's not the first time you've taken a knock to the head like that."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing…"

Hikari couldn't help but notice how playful their arguing had become, neither of them seemed upset at the other and Shinji was even smiling openly at the redhead. She thought it was adorable.

The waiter returned and they all placed their orders, she only got a salad while Asuka got an order of pasta meant to feed two people. Shinji followed after Toji and both the boys got a personal pizza. This timeHikari preempted the lull in the conversation with her own topic.

"What do you guys think the music's gonna be like at the dance?"

"There's not a theme So I'd guess whatevers popular, I just hope there's not some dweeb DJ trying to talk between each of the songs and ruining everything."

"I doubt they spent enough money to get someone who'd do all that, it'll probably just be some dude with headphones on going through a random playlist. I just hope he takes suggestions. I know what songs will really get the crowd hyped."

Hikari chuckled at the boy's bravado. Whatever music there was, all she was praying for was one slow song so she and Toji could dance. If the mood was right even he would finally figure out that she likes the oblivious boy.

One of the things she'd really come to like about the boy was how attuned he was to the emotions of himself and the people around him. He was practically an older brother to Shinji and had no problem expressing affection for his friends like most guys at the school.

It was incredibly frustrating that he possessed this one massive blindspot when it came to seeing the metaphorical neon sign she'd put above her head trying to tell him she liked him without saying it outright. She was pretty sure he felt the same, he'd seemed excited for tonight, he'd always ask to hang out again after they spent time together and they'd become much closer as friends than they'd ever been previously.

She stole a look at Asuka trying her best not to be jealous but it was hard when she was wearing a dress that tight. She saw the head of a red flower poking out of the side of the girl's dress, it looked like she'd placed it there herself but it seemed a bit tacky for the girl's usual style. She was surprised to see her with it. Unless of course.

"That flower looks really cute Asuka, where did you get it?"

"Oh, that, Uh, Shinij gave it to me, actually." She could see a blush forming on both her friends' faces then her beaming smile turned into a frown. Now she was mad that Toji hadn't gotten her flowers, it was an irrational thing to be jealous of but the obvious affection behind the simple gesture was beyond cute in her eyes.

Their food didn't take much longer to arrive, conversation came to a halt as the four of them focused on enjoying the food in front of them.

That was awesome! Great suggestion to eat Hikari. These little pizza's are fantastic." He didn't need to tell them considering how fast he'd devoured his food then talked Shinji into giving him a slice of his.

"Yeah mine was good too."

"This is good but I shouldn't have gotten pasta, noodles are still noodles even with different sauces."

"How are we doing on time?"

Toji stared at her for a few moments before realizing she was talking to him and checked his phone. "We should probably leave soon, it'll take us about 15 minutes or so to get from here to the school."


Asuka was having a much better time than she thought she would be. They'd left shortly after she'd chastised the boy for paying for everyone's food by himself. She'd planned to pay for herself but the boy had actually managed to outsmart her. Pretending to go to the bathroom and paying the check was a dirty move in her books.

It was also kinda cute. Yes, fine the boy was cute, it was too frequent a thought for her to pretend it didn't exist anymore, especially today. He seemed different, he was a lot more talkative that she was sure of, he was making eye contact with her too. She'd expected it to wither away but she was the one who couldn't meet his gaze anymore without turning red. Maybe she was the one who was different. She felt like the stupid teenage girl whose body she'd been trapped in. Everything the stupid boy did seemed to be engineered to get a reaction out of her.

The flowers were a complete surprise, she'd kept the rest in her room and had tucked her favorite into the side of her dress, the slight discomfort of the stem against her skin was barely noticeable. There was no way he came up with that on his own, she wasn't sure who gave him the idea but she'd find out.

Then an annoying thought distracted her. She'd always thought the sidewalks in this city were too small and this just proved it. Toji and Hikari were walking in front of them and she and Shinji were simply standing too close to each other. She could feel the breeze of his hand as it floated past hers, she was close enough to even smell him and it wasn't half bad the boy had at least remembered to wear deodorant.

Then when her conscious mind took back the wheel she could feel disgust and shame burning up her insides. Who was she? This wasn't the Great Asuka Langley Soryu, she'd never be caught dead sniffing some sweaty boy like some perverted freak. No matter who the boy was or if he was handsome or smelled good sometimes. she didn't need anyone, she had herself after all, what else did you need in life?

It would help if she had some sort of idea why she was here, why she was enjoying herself and what this meant but the boy had refused to give her anything resembling a straight answer. Is this some weird attempt at a teambuilding exercise? That couldn't be it, their sync training had instilled into her a strange reflexive understanding of how the boy moved, she could see it in him too. It wasn't something either of them thought about but it had saved them from a few embarrassments with the boy's consistent clumsiness. Maybe he wasn't lying, he could've really just have done it for no reason. If it was some mindgame to try and get in her head she hated to admit but it worked although it didn't really seem like his style.

Then her gorgeously genius brain finally began to put together the pieces, the way he had stopped attempting conversation with her altogether lately unless she initiated it. The constant looks from the side of his eyes when he thought she didn't notice. The nervous way he lied and tried to throw away altogether the bet they'd made then using it for something like this. It all made sense to her now.

He actually had the nerve to pity her! Of all people! Just because he got lucky in his Eva and pinned her to the ground in a fair fight or maybe it's just that his stupid number was bigger, he must've thought she was a lowly peasant beneath him. Ooh and he won the race in the final stretch with a personal best of her dreams. Big deal. She was such a good trainer she'd neglected improving her own skill because she was too humble.

"Everything alright Asuka?"

His eyes were really blue, there was a certain depth to them, it was like she was diving deeper and deeper into a strange abyss the longer she looked. Damn it, she'd completely forgotten her train of thought. She needed to think of a response, fast, before he noticed something was up.

"Of course, Why wouldn't it be?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders and they continued their walk in silence. She began to watch the two walking in front of them. They were a confusing pair, one of them was so oblivious to the world around him it's a miracle he's survived this long. The other was a girl who'd done everything from cook the boy's lunch to 'hanging out' at restaurants and the mall, even going so far as to ask him to go with her tonight. Yet she was still too scared to state it outright, she'd never asked directly but she could plainly see that's what it was. She couldn't relate fully however, nothing could scare her but Toji was the real mystery here.

How could one person be that oblivious to another person's affection? Did he really think she cooked food for him just because? Here this moron of morons had sitting on the palm of his hand, one of the prettiest girls at the school besides herself. Who also happened to be one of the few girls their age able to hold a conversation that didn't make her wanna bash her head against a wall. For a guy like him that was practically like winning the lottery and he didn't even know it.

Her early point to Hikari had been proven right, it felt like they were hanging out as friends, not any sort of special 'date night'. She wasn't sure why but felt a strange disappointment at the fact, it wasn't because she wanted to go on a proper date with someone like him. She's a healthy young woman, she could use to be wined and dined every now and then. When she lived with Kaji they used to go out whenever he'd get back from a mission and she'd always dress up to look her best when they did.

It was fun though, she supposed that was all that matters. They were getting close to the school and she could already see the crowd forming at the entrance.

"Ugh, I forgot how many people actually go to this school."

Shinji was staring at the crowd with a dumbfounded expression on his face. She was about to antagonize him for ignoring her before he finally spoke.

"Yeah I thought most of the kids moved out because of the Angel's and stuff."

"NERV employs a massive amount of people who have to stay in the city, I guess that includes a lot of parents." Asuka really didn't get that boy, his ability to be surprisingly insightful at times only lessened her understanding of how he could be that stupid the rest of the time.

"I'm sure they'll start getting people in faster, no use in waiting around here." When Hikari finished she grabbed the hand of the much larger boy and pulled him along with her towards the school entrance.

Asuka was about to do the same when she suddenly became self-conscious of how it would look. They had done it before but they were in a hurry and she had a good reason, this was out in the open where everyone could plainly see them. She could already feel the jealous gazes of boys and girls alike burning into the back of her head as they approached.

"We should make sure to go in together so we don't get separated, it'll be almost impossible to find anyone when we're inside"

"Hmph, that's actually pretty smart, I think it's too late though. Did you see where they went?"

Without warning she felt a warm and soft pressure on her hand and suddenly she was being tugged by her arm forward. It seemed Hikari was right, the line was moving much faster now as people poured into the school's auditorium.

"You can let go now idiot."

"Oh, right, sorry."

Asuka felt a light squeeze on her hand before they disconnected unconsciously answering in kind. She could feel all the blood rushing around on her face, she probably looked like a tomato picked from hell.

"Well, are you ready to go in?" She could hear the apprehension in the boy's voice and was relieved. She wasn't sure why she was nervous but the thought of actually going in there put a pit of lead in her stomach.

"Of course I am! I was born ready!"


To his complete and utter bewilderment, nothing had gone wrong tonight, in fact it was the first time he could say without question that a night had gone perfectly. At least so far it was going really well in his mind.

Nothing could've prepared him for the complete and utter chaos of a packed auditorium full of dancing teenagers and blaring trap music. He'd stuck to Asuka like she was a life raft in the open ocean. He'd never been around so many people in his life.

First his breathing began to pick up until he began to pant, then he could feel his heart violently thumping in his chest as waves of crippling anxiousness threatened to swallow him up completely. He was glad the place was lit to be almost night, even with the low light he could still plainly see that both of his arms were trembling.

It wasn't the first nor would it be the last time this happened. There was no way he could run away from this, first of all he was surrounded and had already gotten too turned around to remember where they came in from. He forced his arms still and tried to regain control of his breathing, trying to center his focus only on the redhead in front of him

She really was incredible, he had no idea what she did to her hair but it practically glowed like a red halo around her. It matched her dress perfectly, despite covering more of her skin than a lot of the other dresses he saw. It looked like some of the golden and red fabric was painted onto the girl's skin.

The girl with him seemed to be in her element, a smug and confident smile hadn't left her face since they entered. She bobbed and weaved her way through the crowd of people with ease while it took everything he had to keep up without knocking into a dozen different people. He thought she'd spotted Hikari or Toji and that was why she'd decided to take the lead considering how long they'd been walking, either she'd lost sight of them or never had it to begin with.

He tried to stand on his tippy toes and look over the mass of people and see if he could spot his tall friend's head poking out. He succeeded, he caught the shortest glimpse of the boy's face when he looked over the crowd.

"Asuka!" She raised a curious eyebrow as he forced her to stop, he gestured his thumb and head towards where he saw Toji and made a beckoning gesture.

It was a relief to finally see some friendly faces and it did wonders for him to focus on the simple task of finding them instead of the horde of people he found himself surrounded by.

Hikari spotted them and waved them down as they got close. "Hey guys! It's really loud in here!"

Shinji nodded his head at the girl. Then looked up at his friend, his expression was hard to make out but from what he could see it looked like he was enjoying this about as much as he was. When the pair met eyes they didn't need to speak, they could already tell what the other was thinking.


'Crap! What am I supposed to do now!?'

Toji's night had been going unbelievably well so far, he'd temporarily lost the ability to speak when he first saw Hikari. He could've sworn she was taller too, when she took off her shoes before they went in it confirmed it. He felt like a bum, his suit hung on him too loosely and even with the clothes washed they still felt dirty. There was no way she got a dress that nice secondhand.

He couldn't let her down, he was going to make sure she didn't regret asking him to go with her. Only problem was he had no idea how to do that. Shinji looked as lost as he felt, they were having a similar struggle. Shinji had even warned him and he didn't listen, he should've gotten a book or watched a movie on how to dance.

He needed something to buy time, so he could think of something. He was one of if not the tallest kid in the whole school so he could easily see overtop the heads of the crowd. To his surprise he spotted a girl with blue hair approaching them. There was only one person he'd ever met with blue hair and the last place he ever expected to see her was here of all places.

"Princess! You look gorgeous!"

"How did you find us!?"

"There's not a lot of redheads in japan, surprisingly! I love the outfit Puppy, very stylish."

"Ayanami!? Is that really you!? What are you doing here!?"

"Hello Class Rep Horaki, Yes, I do believe I am here to dance."

"Blue's got the right idea, we didn't come here to stand around!"

The choice of music was in his opinion terrible, he'd looked high and low for a DJ to get some proper tunes playing. He hadn't thought it was going to be this intense. He'd been to more than his fair share of parties but they were at a house. He really wasn't sure that he could do this.

Toji looked to Hikari, she was looking up at him and smiling. He couldn't help but start to smile too. She started to tap her foot along with the rhythm surrounding them he joined. Swaying along with the beat as they both started to walk closer, never breaking eye contact.

Maybe this wasn't so bad after all.


As it would turn out, Rei quite liked dancing. The music inside the school's converted gymnasium was so loud she could feel the beat echoing down into her very bones. She'd read a litany of books around the subject of dancing and had picked up a number of different techniques, the problem with that was most of them were only used in specific contexts or with a partner.

She'd found that while that was a part of dancing that was not the entire thing. None of the dances she'd read about being popular today were being demonstrated by the other dancers. It had started out as an imitation of the swaying nonsensical way people were shaking themselves to the beat. After a few minutes of this she finally understood, or was closer than she'd ever been.

It was something the pilot Makinami had told her, she'd probably hold onto to it for as long as she could, lest she ever forget this feeling. With her eyes closed and her body swaying while the bass roared in her ears. Blocking out the entirety of the world except for the small spot where she stood in. All her senses were lighting up, every second reminded her more that she was alive.

'Dance is the hidden language of the soul.'

It was a novel idea, there was more truth to it than her other pilot herself had even recognized, maybe, one day, she could tell her, before it was too late. She understood the meaning of the words as soon as she heard them, it was like they were addressing a part of he she wasn't fully conscious of.

Taking part in the activity was freeing, she imagined this was what it felt to experience a world without gravity. Her limbs felt weightless, her chest burned in a way she found quite pleasant, she could feel a small smile cracking out from her stoic expression.

This was living. Not simply existing. That was what she had been doing previously. It wasn't something she was aware of. Like breathing, you did it without thought because you needed air to survive. She did a lot more than that to survive, she'd retreated so far into herself some parts of her were forever lost. It was a strange grief, she felt an awareness that something in her was missing but couldn;t place what exactly it was.

She did know that she'd given everything she had to that man. His promises about saving the world seemed hollow to her now.

Could the world be truly saved if no one danced again? The commander had told her the completion of her purpose would end the 'frivolities of the human heart.' Now that she'd begun to taste them she questioned if they were truly frivolous. The man hadn't lied to her, he'd done it before but now was not one of those times.

She opened her eyes and took a few seconds to let them adjust to the low light environment before looking around. Suzuhara and Horaki were dancing so close to each other they were practically on top of the other, the continual bumps and touches as they jammed along to the beat went unnoticed. Even with her studious observation they were in another world, she hadn't seen such carefree smiles before. Seeing the two of them stirred something deep within her that she couldn't put a name to.

She tried to find the pair of pilots, looking for the telltale redhair that made the both of them easy to spot. They were truly a sight to see on the dance floor. A small circle had formed around the pair as they grinned madly at the other and moved at near breakneck speed to the high tempo of the next song.

She couldn't tell which was imitating the other, it seemed like they were a singular organism with two bodies as they moved. They didn't look to see where the other was, it was instinctual, all they had to do was make brief eye contact and they broke into another synchronized flurry of moves. Their movements were both jerky at times then switched to flowing with surprising grace for the two teens. It was an entrancing sight, it made her whole body tingle with warmth to keep watching.

The AT field was what separated man from the rest of humanity, forever cursing them to be alone. Yet even with that barrier, people found a way to connect to one another. Perhaps the commander was wrong, there was another way to heal the emptiness inside the heart of mankind. Convincing him, however, would prove to be a difficult matter were she to attempt it.

"Having fun blue?" She recognized the voice and the nickname but was confused hearing the girl speaking so formally, she looked curiously at the brunette wringing her hands nervously in front of her.

"May I have this dance?"

She tentatively reached out and grabbed the girl's hand, widening her own smile in an effort to imitate the girl's own expression.

"You may have as many as you wish."


Shinji was dancing! He was having fun too, he was moving a lot and could feel his muscles burning from continuous use but it was easy to ignore. Once he and Asuka had started dancing together it became pretty clear that their Sync training hadn;t worn off nearly as much as they'd each thought.

He'd forgotten he was supposed to be nervous, before tonight he felt like he'd rarely see the electric blue eyes of the girl he'd spent most of his time with. He still couldn't get enough, his limbs moved on their own. They'd silently agreed to take turns with, one leading the other than vice versa

He was feeling good, and a little cocky, he felt like anything was possible. He'd made it this far right? What was the worst thing that could happen?

His sheltered upbringing had included precious little entertainment, he spent most of his time studying or reading whatever stray book was left around the house. There were a few precious VCR's not ever used by his uncle, that he had watched so many times he'd damaged the tape on most of them beyond repair.

The memories remained, one of them was an american movie, it wasn't even dubbed in japanese so he had no idea what they were talking about. He always had fun making up different plausible stories and even voicing the different characters when he got lonely.

He looked at Asuka and she backed up to let him take the lead, before she could stop him he clasped her hand with his own. Gently he began to spin her, causing the girl to let out a few surprised laughs as she quickly caught him and helped him pick up more speed.

Shinji tried to visualize the movements in his head and put them into action, twirling the redhead around his arm. She looked surprised but her movements didn't show it. He decided to go for broke when he winded the girl back up on his arm. Feeling high on adrenaline He spun the girl again, this time lifting her into the air briefly hearing her let out a muffled yelp, he almost gasped when he realized how light the girl felt. He'd always assumed since the girl was taller than him she'd be heavier but the reality in his arms was different.

He couldn't believe this was happening, he felt like at any moment he was going to wake up or the roof was gonna collapse. He was waiting for Asuka to berate him or attack him for daring to touch her without asking but he could tell she was having just as much fun as he was.

His body moved with barely any effort on his part, it was like he was watching himself dance as much as he was taking part in it. When he finished another twirl of the widely grinning redhead he dipped her low, finding no trouble in supporting the entirety of her weight with one arm.

Time froze and he was suddenly acutely aware of himself, the girl he was now directly holding in his arms and the circumstances that led up to this unbelievable event. He could feel panic begin to set in as he broke into a cold sweat, he looked back into the girls eyes that were currently boring into his own.

He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, he completely lost any sense of time. The high energy song they'd been moving along to faded out. It was a much slower romantic sounding song, he could see all the people around them breaking off and splitting into pairs. He met eyes with Asuka again and found the approval he was seeking.

"You better move that hand up before something bad happens." Shinji blushed furiously and moved his hand up past her hip to the girl's midriff. They settled into a steady rhythm as the song kept playing. It would be a good time for him to catch his breath if he didn't have to keep reminding himself to breathe.

"Is this really happening?" He bit his tongue as soon as he realized he had vocalized that thought, even when he wasn't looking at her he could feel the heat coming off her body. It was like standing next to a fire without the risk of burning. The normally hostile girl didn't mind; she chortled playfully as they continued to sway on the dancefloor.

"I'm pretty sure, I can pinch you if you wanna be certain about it."

"No, I think I'm good."

His mouth was cotton and if his limbs still felt awkward even with them being intertwined in a dance with the girl sparking these feelings in him.

"What?" He realized this time he had been caught staring directly, considering he could feel the girl's hot breath on his skin when she spoke he knew escape wasn't possible.

"You look really pretty."

The girl blushed a little but otherwise seemed unphased by the difficult to say words.

"You said that already." Dang, she was right, it was the first thing he'd said when he saw her outfit. He needed a fresh compliment that the use of wouldn't put him in mortal danger.

"Well, you look really really pretty now." He received a flick on his nose with no real force behind it and smiled widely at the girl.

"I'll let you get away with it, this time."

The song was reaching it's crescendo, he realized they wouldn't be able to dance like this all night, maybe Kaji was onto something, this did seem like a good idea to tell her how he felt, then again if she didn't feel the same he'd be torpedoing this entire fun time they had for his own selfish reasons.

It was happening again, he still didn't understand what was happening or who moved to close the gap between them first. Their faces were inching slowly towards each other, he reached his arm out from behind the redhead and cupped her face as their lips touched.

It was an explosion of warmth and a million different pleasant sensations coursing through his senses.

For that one moment, that stretched out to eternity, it all made sense, all the struggle, all the hardship, all the pain he'd gone through to make it this far. He'd do it all over again just for another chance like this.

God help anyone who tried to take this away from him.


"Have you seen Asuka and Shinji?"

Hikari looked to see her date shaking his head, looking down the street towards the school they'd just left from.

"Nah, they'll be fine, you saw what they were up to, they might want some alone time right about now."

"Pervert." She giggled playfully and punched the boy's arm. Then let her hand go back to dangling aimlessly next to the boys. Considering how well the dance had gone tonight, she felt confident enough to take a shot, even a boy this ignorant wouldn;t dance with a girl he disliked for an entire night. There was something there, some connection or unspoken thing that ignited between the two of them. She hoped she wasn't imagining it and chose to find out for herself.

"So what… are we?"

The boy squeezed her hand almost crushing before easing up. It was the first time the boy had failed to meet her gaze as he stared at their feet. She was patient, she made sure to keep walking so the stunned boy would follow.

"Hikari?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to, uhh, well, be my girlfriend I guess?"

She smirked at the uneasiness and was glad that she was the least nervous of the two of them. "You guess?"

"I mean it"

"Yes Toji you idiot, took you long enough."

"What does that mean!?"

"Who goes to a dance as friends? Honestly."

"Well I mean Asuka and Shinji did and they…."

"See what I mean? Kind of pointless, right?"

"I think everyone was a little nervous, me and Shinji talked about it when we went shopping."

"You went shopping?'

"Yeah? Man's gotta get his clothes somehow."

"I guess, I just can't picture you doing it."

"Maybe we could do it together sometime? Is that a thing couples do? I have no idea what I'm doing here."

"Don't overthink it, now shut up and walk me home."

Hikari giggled as the boy dramatically bowed next to her without releasing her hand.

"As you wish."


"What have the Magi said?"

"There were no detected breaches of any of the databases, it already confirms our previous suspicions."

"So if someone gave him this information, who is it? Could it be an insider from the committee?"

'Seele agents do not flip, attempts at repeating our success with Agent Ryoji have proved this, he is an exception to the rule."

"And he's the only person we can safely rule out."

"We've watched him like a hawk, he's only discovered what we allow of him, he would not possess knowledge of the dead seas scrolls. Knowing that the Third child was given such sensitive information limits the number of possible suspects dramatically."

"Why not just bring him in and ask him directly? If he was willing to give you this information he might give up his source, especially with your connection."

Gendo made sure to give the subcommander a chastising look shaking his head at the words. "It is doubtful he would be so willing, he appears to understand the value of his information and is using it accordingly. We do seem to agree on the Angel's being a common enemy, I suspect that was his main purpose behind informing us. Using force directly will always remain an option but once that card is played it cannot be put back. We have more important things to focus on for the present moment."

"Perhaps you're right, have we gotten everything we need?"

"Full names, dates of birth, places of business and residence. The trap is prepared, all we need to do now is wait for them to take the bait."

"I really can't believe it, after all these years. Maybe with them out of our hair I can finally take a vacation. I hear the south of France is lovely for people with arthritis."

Gendo allowed himself to chuckle at the absurd suggestion of either one of NERV's commanders taking time off on some idiotic dalliance.

"There is no rest for the wicked."

"Hah, Don't I know it."


Asuka was smiling like an idiot and she was too happy to care. She was walking hand in hand with a cute boy who she'd just had her first real kiss with. She'd been reserving it for Kaji but considering he was at least another pilot she could definitely do a lot worse. He was a pretty good kisser for his first time, not that she had any to compare against.

They hadn't spoken since the dance ended, each of them were afraid that the fragile dream they found themselves in would be shattered by the slightest disturbance. She picked her head up from watching the sidewalk and stared out at the night sky, trying to pick out the faded out stars in the sky.

"There's too much light pollution in this city, you can't see the stars, it was like that in Berlin too, I hated that."

She patiently waited for the boy to collect his thoughts and reply, she could tell the boy's mind was completely elsewhere.

"Yeah, it still looks cool though, I didn't think there could be a sky without stars until I got here, it still seems weird honestly."

"Where were you living before you came here?"

"I stayed at my Uncle's, I didn't go to public school, I had a teacher who came to the house everyday."

"Everyday!? You mean you didn't even get weekends off?"

"Not really no, it's not like I had anything else to do. What was it like in Berlin?"

Asuka was surprised by the question and decided to think about her own answer. "It was boring, all I did was NERV training and school, I didn't really have time to do much else."

"Sounds lonely."

She didn't know what to say to that, it was the truth, not one she'd ever admitted. The people in that city were all idiots whose opinions held no value, family included. The only people she held any real sort of connection with were probably Misato and Kaji, besides them she didn't really talk to anyone her age. She'd tried to get rid of every shitty guardian NERV forced on her after her mom, they were just the most stubborn ones.

"Like you're one to talk."

"You're not wrong." Asuka was disappointed at his lack of ability to hold a conversation, then again she had no idea what to say either. They were getting close to the apartment and she felt a chill at the realization that the night was almost over.

"Still not gonna tell me why you asked me out?"

"I think you can guess." The blush on his face confirmed her suspicions but that didn't make sense, Asuka was a scientist at heart, she tried to think and act as logically as she could manage. She was still a teenager and hormones were a bitch and a half.

All logic pointed to this boy despising her very existence. She'd given him no reason to think otherwise, she'd treated him like dirt, heck worse than dirt since she'd first laid eyes on him. At first it had succeeded in making her feel better, now it felt like she was kicking a puppy whenever he got that teary look in his eyes. She could hurt him, genuinely, having that power over someone, it scared and excited her at the same time.

If she let this continue it would inevitably come back to bite her, she can hurt him because he cares, despite her efforts to prove otherwise. If she let herself get that close she was signing up for unimaginable pain in the future when he inevitably left.

Damn it! She really was an idiot, she already did care, it was too late to stop it.

"Asuka." Her eyes were immediately brought back into focus with the boy's gaze having an intensity to it now that stirred something in her.

"I l-l-l-" Time froze as the first stuttered L came out of his mouth. Panic immediately began to set in, she hadn't been planning for this at all but couldn't tear herself away, she was too desperate to hear what he had to say.

"I love you." Asuka's eyes became saucers, that was not at all what she was expecting to hear; she'd been ready for the worst case scenario being the lower grade L word. Instead the boy went straight for it.

"Wait I don't! Not that I actually don't! I just meant to say that I really like you! Cause I do! Know what I mean?"

Before she could respond she felt her legs carrying her in the opposite direction towards the apartment with incredible speed. Her mind had only one thought to keep it occupied, it was a phrase running endlessly on repeat.

''What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? WhatDoIDo? whatdoIdo? What Do I Do?'

With the benefit of hindsight, it may have been an overreaction at the time.


Thank you reading this for so long, I really do appreciate it and all of you who have taken the time. holy shit I swear I only planned for this to be 100k tops but I am one wordy bitch and this original draft kinda sucked ngl that's we improvised and improved. Alright new rule guest reviewers leave a number or some symbol at the end of your reviews so I know which one of you is which, I would like that if you could because you threw a curveball at me as soon I think I got it. Alright, you got me, I'm sorry, I thought the intros to scenes later in the chapter ruined the momentum of the chapter and I thought it was more interesting to throw you right in the deep end and figure out as you go along. I had hoped my characters spoke in a way that made them stand apart or when they didn't it wasn't dialogue that mattered who specifically it came from, I'll stop doing that, I think it's getting annoying for some. I'll behave, I'm a nice guy, honest. not like that I'm actually an asshole irl, fuck you review my story, you already read it sucker. You're only allowed to say nice things about the story or this'll become an Asukawo fic like that. I will turn this Asushin around right now!

(That was a joke)(Or was it?)

See ya on the next one, also be sure to leave in your review to vote on this chapters big looming question, who self sabotaged more Shinji or Asuka? The answer may surprise you