AN: I really felt strongly about the NGE manga. Yes, it's a leaner retelling of the show, and doesn't quite have the same interpretive meat on its bones as the show does, but i appreciated the simpler story line and the slight tuning of the characters' personalities. So, i wanted to put this together to work through my feelings on the ending, and some of the ideas that i thought the manga was trying to put forward.
I hope you enjoy!
Mute motes of snow drifted across the dark streets of Tokyo. The young man's soft brown eyes drifted up to the sky and traced little shapes out of the darker, heavier clouds in the slate gray canvas. His palm kneaded absently into his cheek.
On the ice glazed street below his eyes scanned black hair, brown, even a few bleached blondes.
But no red.
Was it a deep autumn auburn? No, that was too dark; it definitely stood out more than that. Maybe a sunny strawberry blonde? Yeah… that seemed about right. His brown eyes drifted back up to the clouds.
A loud and cramped train.
A sharp call for help.
A hand seeking blindly.
A helping hand found.
A slow smile crept across his face as the bright fall of lustrous red hair burst forth from the anonymous masses. A dizzying flash of deja vu. Like seeing, what, an old friend?
"Shinji? If you would come up to tthe board and solve this problem for the class?"
His attention snapped to the front of the class and the algebra problem on the board. He pointedly ignored the snickering hiss of 'busted' from behind him.
"Uh, yes, Ms. Makinami!"
He briefly met the eye of the bespectacled boy to his right before marching up tot he board. His eyes swept the problem and puzzled it out for a minute. Finally, he snapped up the chalk and started slashing his answer and method onto the board. A bright glimmer of understanding sparkled in his eye.
When he was done, he stepped back and faced his math teacher. He was careful to ignore the fetching hose, the plunging neckline, and worst of all, the alluring burgundy glasses that framed nearly perfect almond shaped eyes.
He gulped dryly.
She deliberately bent forward and slowly rose from her desk. Her neckline plunged, and Shinji determinedly looked past her at an anonymous spot on the window behind her. "Well done, Shinji." As she passed, her eyes mercifully left him and swept the class. "You may go back to your desk now." Her breath tickled the back of his neck and sent a strange electric zip down his spine. "Everyone, can we see how Shinji got to this conclusion?"
He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. He retreated back to his desk at a brisk walk. The young brown haired student who sat next to him held out his hand low at his side. Shinji smiled and quickly slapped him five before settling back into his desk. He took a few settling breaths and allowed the heat to drain away from his cheeks.
Classes wore on, and the snow continued to fall like ash from a long ago cataclysm. Finally, the dismissing bell rang and the collective population of the school breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was some nice work at the board. I thought she had you there for a second."
Shnij smiled at the boy to his right. "It's gonna take more than that to stump me, Kensuke."
Kensuke smirked. "I wasn't talking about the equation."
He blinked. Kensuke watched, bemused, as the wheels turned in his head. Shinji leaned forward, his eyes darting around for eavesdroppers. "How was my face? I didn't light up like a Christmas ornament did I?"
Kensuke snickered. "Naw, you did pretty well. A bit hasty on the retreat, but otherwise fine."
Shinji deflated. Good.
Two long arms wound around both their necks and squeezed with surprising strength.
"School's out. It's Friday. And you two are sittin' here swappin' gossip like a couple o' hens." The new boy squeezed Kensuke's neck. "You still up for today, nerd?" Kensuke choked out an affirmative. The boy squeezed Shinji's neck next. "And how about you, prof?"
He nodded into the choke hold which only resulted in him feeling even more pressure.
The boy unwound his arms from his victims and stood back. "Good. Cause I wasn't goin' alone anyway."
Kensuke massaged his neck, wincing from the pain. "Touji, tell us again how you scored this opportunity?"
A rakish grin spread across Touji's tanned face. "Simple. Captain o' da basketball team had a family ting. I, being da star freshmen, and o' superia stock was tagged in. Den his two good buddies mysteriously dropped out, so…." He gestured to the two of them.
Shinji smiled softly as he put away his books. Touji was good people.
"Ey prof! I'm gonna need ta see yer math notes over da weekend. I need ta, er, compare em to my own an' all dat."
Shinji sighed. "What marks did you need to maintain to stay in this school again?"
"Ey! Don't jinx me!"
The cold snap of winter numbed their cheeks as the trio of boys traversed the streets of Tokyo. Patches of ice glistened in the neon glow of storefronts and advertisements. They shouldered past bustling crowds that never seemed to thin. Shinji absently wondered just where everyone was going, but then, they were probably wondering the same thing about him.
"I tink it's around here somewhere." Touji led the pack, glancing down at his phone every now and again, then springing up to check if reality conformed to the screen. After moving down a few more storefronts, Touji stopped. "Yeah, dis one. I tink dis is it fellas."
Shinji looked up to find the soft red glow of a sign inviting him to make a damn fool of himself at karaoke. A rueful smile crossed his face.
He gripped the little steel cross that hung dutifully around his neck. Wish me luck.
The cool steel was reassuring against his warm palm.
As they entered the establishment, they were buffeted by a blast of hot air. Their cheeks and noses grew red and tingled as they regained feeling. The place was done up with cream walls and deep earthy brown trimming. Professionally intimate.
"Hey, kids! Welcome. What can we do for ya?" The greeter was a young man of indeterminate age, slicked back black hair polished to a glossy shine. His outfit made Shinjji self conscious. A crisp white button down, a sharp black vest, and a striking red tie which strangely reminded him of the girl on the train. His heart dropped a little bit thinking about her again.
"Uh yeah," Touji stepped up and dug around in his bag for some sort of receipt. "Party of six? Nakamura?"
The greeter nodded politely and took Touji's rumpled paper. He tapped away at a computer that was just out of sight. A beep indicted something, probably the paper, had been scanned. "Yes. Everything seems to be in order. Room Twelve. I believe your other friends have already arrived."
Touji's shoulders stiffened. "Thanks pal."
He stiffly gestured for Shinji and Kensuke to follow him and they silently walked down the carpeted aisle. Shnji could hear muted bass notes thumping through the soundproofed walls. His heartbeat pitter pattered faster as they approached their destination.
He hadn't really given much thought to girls. Not that he didn't have an interest. Not that he hadn't had the time. Life, just got away from him back in the countryside. He'd been too busy concentrating on making his childhood memories that he didn't spare any time to thinking about the girls around him.
But then, one train ride seemed to have changed all that.
"Dis is it." Touji turned around and glared at his two companions. He jabbed his thumb at the unassuming door to room twelve. "Behind dis door our destiny awaits. Uhh…." He screwed his brows together losing his train of thought. "Hang on I had somethin' fer dis." He dug around in his pockets before pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. "Ah, here it is."
Shinji felt his forehead grow hot. Why was he making such a big deal out of this? He's going to psych us all out! He took a deep breath and drew courage from the cool steel cross around his neck.
Touji smoothed out the paper in his hands, cleared his throat for dramatically eye rolling effect, and began to read. "One pork bun, five hundred yen. One juice, two hundred— Ey, what the!?"
Just then the door to room twelve slid open and out came a girl with warm chestnut hair done up in two long pigtails.
"Uh, are you guys the ones we're supposed to be meeting here?" Touji looked as if he was about to be run over by a small truck. He slowly turned around to face the girl. "Nakamura said someone named Touji was coming instead."
"Y-Yeah, dats me, er, us!" He retreated and quickly slung his arms around his friends,' necks.
The girl gave them all appraising looks before she finally sighed and smiled at them. Shinji liked her smile.
"Alright, well, come on in. I'm Hikari. Hikari Horaki. I was just coming out here to look for you."
Shinji felt a tingle in the palms of his hands as he crossed the threshold. The electric thrill of meeting new people. Kensuke and Touji were easy enough to associate with. They were his classmates after all. But these people could be anybody from anywhere. He tried to remember if Hikari had a uniform he'd recognize, but she was wearing a dark green sweater over her clothes.
The room was done up much like the rest of the establishment. Two dark leather couches framed a simple wooden table. A small tablet glowed, waiting for orders. At the far wall was a screen and microphone setup.
"Hey, they're here!" There were two other occupants in the room. A girl with black hair cut into a smart bob, and sharp black eyes perked up. And the other-
Shinji's breath caught.
Sitting on the far end of the sofa furthest from the door sat a girl with unmistakable strawberry blonde hair. Her chin was resting on her palm and her head was turned away staring off into a random point in the nearby wall. Her long legs were crossed and her brown boot waved listlessly. And as she turned her head to acknowledge the newcomers, Shinji knew it was her. He'd seen those bright blue eyes on the train into Tokyo.
"Guys, this is Mimi Takahashi, and this is Asuka Langley Soryu."
Asuka. So that was her name.
Shinji only vaguely registered his friends giving their own introductions. Her mouth was set into a neutral line as her eyes roamed over the boys. Would she recognize him?
Kensuke nudged him in the ribs and shot him an expectant look.
"Huh? Oh! I'm Shinji Ikari. Nice to meet you!" He resisted the urge to bow.
Asuka blinked, her eyes lingered on him for a split second before she settled back into her seat with a contemplative frown.
Hikari beamed and gestured for everyone to settle in. Shinj felt a wave of dizzying deja vu. He dropped rather more suddenly than he intended into the first seat he could. He was diagonally across Asuka. As he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, she was still silently watching everyone unfold and relax. He never expected to see her again. Sure, he hoped to, if for no reason than to settle this crazy idea that they'd met before, but he always expected it would pass and he'd just move on with his life.
Before he could deliberate on it any more Mimi sat primly across from him, a small smile on her face.
"Oh, uh, hello there." Shinji offered her a welcoming smile of his own.
"Hello. I'm Mimi." Her crisp voice made Shinji sit up straight. "Are you perhaps from Tokyo too?"
"Oh, no, I'm from the countryside. I just got here a few weeks ago. For school, y'know."
She nodded. "Of course. After graduating I'm hoping to concentrate in physics. Yourself?"
He offered her a thin smile. After graduation? He barely knew what he wanted to do next week! "Uh, well, things are still a bit up in the air for me." He saw her lips purse slightly, her dark eyes dimmed. "I mean, I used to do some writing back in middle school. I was even published in the paper a few times."
"Hm." She nodded politely.
Shinji cursed himself. Was he really that lame? City folks really did have high standards. He glanced around to see how his two companions were doing. Touji was holding his own with Hikari. They were both sitting ramrod straight and had such intense expressions on their faces that the were almost glaring at each other, but they were talking. Haltingly. But talking nonetheless.
Kensuke was talking to Asuka. Or at least trying to. He was ratting off some sort of techno babble and Asuka had adopted a thousand yard stare to help her cope.
Just as he was about to refocus on Mimi he swore he caught a flicker of movement in Asuka's eye. She'd glanced at him. He was sure of it. There it was again!
"Well?"
"Huh?"
Mimi rolled her eyes. "Do you know any songs?" She gestured to the karaoke machine with a nod of her heard.
He searched for the weight of the steel across around his neck. Finding it still there, he screwed up his courage and nodded firmly.
"Yeah, a few. You wanna go first or should I?"
She was stunned for a beat before replying. "Oh, no, please by all means."
Shinji got up to make his way to the mic. Touji and Hikari seemed to deflate, having something to distract them from their mutual awkwardness. Kensuke trailed off mid ramble. And Asuka stared after him with those steady ice blue eyes. He resisted the urge to rub his prickling neck.
As he made his way around the mic he fought down a wave of vertigo. Five faces stared at him with varying degrees of expectancy, from Kensuke's eager anticipation though what he could only hope was Asuka's version of guarded curiosity.
Well Shinji, nothing ventured….
He tabbed through a few pages of modern classics and poppy stuff. Finally he got to the eighties. As expected, there wasn't much of a selection, but that was alright. He knew everything on the list. He selected one that was starting to gain traction in the west. His body buzzed with energy. He bounced on the balls of his feet, eyeing the prompter like a sprinter waiting for the starting pistol.
Finally, the song began. His first few lines were shaky and unsure. But he caught his stride soon enough, nodding his head to the beat. He closed his eyes, blocking out the five pairs of eyes searing into him and pretended he was singing in front of his cousins again.
He'd subject them to those tapes so many times. Of course he wasn't going to let them escape in karaoke either.
As the peppy synths wound down, Shinji opened his eyes to the audience. He was met with enthusiastic applause from his two friends and light applause and smiles from the girls. Asuka's was smaller, but something told him it was genuine.
As he walked back to his seat, Touji slung his arm around him. "The prof over here is a master o' dat overproduced corny mall reject music."
"Hey!"
"Just don't get him stahted on how its makin' a comeback. We'll be here fer hours."
Shinji held up his hand, preparing to explain himself. "Look, just because its original purpose was to—"
Touji sprang up from his seat. "And dat's my cue! Watch a real pro at work, everyone."
Shinji sighed, smiled, and gestured to the mic. Hikari seemed to park up as Touji panned through the available tracks. Shinji filed that away for later.
"That was some very, er, interesting music." Hikari's smile was infectious.
"Yeah, well, my folks left me a bunch of cassettes from over the years and I just sorta gravitated toward the eghties stuff over time. But you haw to admit music just isn't what it used to be. It's missing the essential funk."
Hikari giggled. "Wow, you really are a throwback aren't you, Shinji?"
"Yeah, I guess I am."
Touji belted out a modern rock ballad, mostly off key, but it was a valiant effort. Hikari clapped the loudest.
With two songs under their belt the girls seemed a bit more at ease.
"Would anyone like something to drink?" Hikari cast about for any takers.
There was a general murmur of agreement. Tablets were produced and after a few swipes, jabs, and mental math, their orders were in.
As they waited, Touji glanced over at Kensuke who had gone back to eagerly babbling on to an Asuka whose eyes had gone dull from boredom.
"So you see fourth generation night vision is great and all, but it's just far too expensive for the rank and file citizen right now. The best you can hope to find is—"
Touji nudged him in the ribs. "Yo, Kensuke, you haven't had a turn up. Belt one out will ya?"
"Huh? Oh! Yeah." A smug smile crossed his face. "I just didn't want you amateurs to feel too bad. Prepare to be amazed."
As he walked up to the karaoke machine Asuka slowly roused herself out of her stupor. She blinked a few times as if remembering where she was. A small contemplative frown settled onto her face.
What was she thinking about?
Before he could give it much more thought, his attention had been wrenched away by Kensuke, who had launched into his song. Three and a half minutes of ear searing pain ensured. Shinji tried to decipher his friend's 'singing' and placed the song as an old tokusatsu classic from the mid eighties. He silently apologized to the everyone involved in the production.
When he refocused his attention on Mimi, there was instead Asuka, all red hair, piercing blue eyes, and long legs. He glanced to the right and saw that Mimi had taken her old space, an uneasy smile on her face as she recognized it was now her turn to suffer through Kensuke's ramblings.
Then their eyes met. A disorienting wave of deja vu washed over him. Only the cool reality of the steel cross around his neck prevented him from slumping in his seat. Instead, he sat up straighter. He plastered what he hoped was a confident expression on his face, but his cheeks were starting to hurt and he was sure that wasn't supposed to happen when one was trying to project casual confidence.
Asuka pinched the bridge of her nose and muttered something Shinji couldn't recognize. He didn't think it was even in Japanese.
As Kensuke wound down, a sigh of relief swept across the assembled students. He made his way back to his seat and was momentarily disappointed in seeing Soryu had swapped places with her other companion. He seemed to shrug it off as he happily struck up conversation with Mimi.
Shinji and Asuka stared at each other. Both willing the other to open the dialogue. Shinji opened his mouth to speak, but a small chime played through an intercom.
"Oh, our drinks are here!" Hikari sprang up and walked over to the door.
"Uh, I'll help you." Touji followed.
The pair came back and passed out the drinks. Shinji leaned forward to collect his, Asuka did the same. As they came together Asuka finally spoke.
"First you don't hit on me, now you don't recognize me?" Shinji sat frozen with his hand outstretched and his mouth slightly agape. "How many stunning foreign redheads do you really know!?" Foreign? "I seriously doubt your soul would be so pure!" She finished with an exasperated hiss.
Shinji sat stunned for a moment before a slow smile crept onto his face. "I was hoping I'd run into you again."
Her bright blue eyes sparkled "Well, here I am."
Hikari leaned over. "Hang on, you two know each other?"
Asuka nodded. "We met on the train coming in for the entrance exams."
Hikari's eyebrows shot up. "Wait Asuka, do you mean this is—"
A sharp thud under the table and Hikar hissed in pain.
"Uh, never mind. C-Carry on."
They stared by reintroducing themselves. He was Shinji Ikari from the countryside. Here to study. He was keeping his options open. She was Asuka Langley Soryu from Germany of all places. She spoke both German and Japanese. She was here to reconnect with her maternal heritage. They were both mildly surprised to find out they went to the same school. They all did, in fact.
"How have we not run into each other?"
Asuka smiled. "Our class is on the other side of the quad. Not impossible, but unlikely."
"How are you liking it so far?"
"It's… different. Hikari has been a real help."
Hikari beamed back at her.
Shinji changed a glance at the brunette. She'd gone back to speaking affably with Touji. Her eyes were bright and attentive. She chattered away with a smile in her voice.
As the evening passed, Shinji, basked in the tumult of sensations that came with meeting new people. Hie smiled so much his cheeks hurt. His mind flashed, drawing connections to things he'd read or seen as the girls shared more about themselves. And a welcome warmth spread throughout his body whenever his eyes met Asuka's. Her sharp blue eyes sparked in a curious way that he couldn't quite place.
But more immediately, he felt something fall into place as he found Asuka again. That nagging feeling that he'd seen her before faded away. He concluded that he really hadn't seen her before. He couldn't have. She was from another country after all. But a lingering feeling of familiarity remained. Like meeting an old friend after a very long time. Or in this case, meeting a new friend who you could see becoming an old friend. Whether from their shared encounter on the train, or their reunion here, he didn't care to scrutinize.
He was just happy it was there.
As Shinji stepped out of the karaoke lounge, he turned his face into the brisk wind, allowing the cold snap of the evening air to soothe his burning cheeks. At the behest of his companions he had ended up doing most of the singing. And while he didn't mind as long as he got some new converts to City Pop. It was still a little embarrassing.
"Ikari kun, sorry about making you do most of the singing, but you really are very good!" Hikari shot him an apologetic smile. "We'll make it up to you next time."
Shinji smiled and waved her off. "No problem. I"m just happy you're happy."
Touji slapped him on the shoulder as he passed. "Told ya prof here's a jack o' all trades."
The newly minted group of friends started on their way back home. Shinji noted with a wry smile that Hikari and Touji seemed to be walking a little closer than absolutely necessary.
Glancing around he noticed a certain redhead was missing. As he stopped, his ears picked up the muffled curses of what he new recognized as German emanating from around the corner.
"Hey, guys, I'm gonna wait up for Asuka alright?"
Kensuke glanced back at him, a complicated expression on his face. After a beat, he sighed and continued to wordlessly escort Mimi.
Hikari waved at him with a strange glint in her eye. "Take care of Asuka, okay? You two be careful on your way back!"
Shinji threw her a thumbs up before jogging around the side of the karaoke building to a row of vending machines. A fuming Asuka stood with her hands on her hips, muttering what he could only assume were curses at the stalwart Coke machine.
"Asuka, is everything—"
"We put a man on the moon and we can't figure out reliable vending machines!? In the land of vending machines, no less! Bah!" She gave the offending machine a swift kick and after an unsettling rattling noise, it gave up a bottle of water.
"Hah! Who said violence doesn't solve problems?" She shot him a triumphant smile and snatched up the drink. She offered it to him. "Here. For the crash course in City Pop standards."
Shinji accepted the drink with a smile. "Was I really that impressive Miss Soryu?"
She rolled her eyes. "Call me Asuka already. There's no way I'm calling you Ikari. Besides, it's not like we're strangers or anything. We know each other." She shot him an impish wink.
Shinji felt a twinge of vertigo. They knew each other… From the train! From the train….
He took a long pull from the water bottle, relishing the cool liquid rushing through his unexpectedly dry throat.
He was about to turn down the street in the direction Hikari and the rest had gone, but Asuka threaded her arm through his and tugged him in the other direction.
"This way! I'm over this way."
"But isn't it easier to get to the—"
"No! This way is quicker. Schnell!" And with one final tug Asuka dragged Shinji along with her.
The pair walked in relative silence, the soundtrack to their evening no longer the fumbling musical styling of freshman high school students. Instead, their ears were met with the clicks of heels on pavement and the crunch of boot on snow. The public parted around them, their conversation a dull roar that competed with the rumble of engines and bleats of horns. Commercial signs and headlights from oncoming traffic played across the pair in irregular waves of color.
Shinji glanced down at their intertwined arms. He could feel her tensed muscles. It would be difficult for him to break free of her grasp. He frowned down at his own relatively limp arm, just dangling there noncommittally.
Can't have that.
He bent his arm at the elbow and completed the arm lock.
Asuka, feeling the shift, glanced down with a curious expression. Then, a triumphant gleam flashed in her eye.
She tugged on his arm and they hooked a left at an intersection. Pleasant though the companionable silence was, Shinji didn't want to squander this opportunity.
"So, how are you liking Japan so far?"
Her strawberry blonde hair shimmered in the lamplight. "It's nice. Things are more… compact than Germany, I suppose. I'm a bit disappointed in the weather. I was hoping to escape the cold a bit."
"Yeah, we're in the dead of winter right now. It'll settle dawn in a few weeks."
"I hope so. I wanna check out a beach or something. I brought my swimsuits and I intend to use them."
Shinji valiantly tried not to think of Asuka in a swimsuit lest he make a fool of himself. Steady breaths, Shinji, steady breaths.
They crossed a few more streets in relative silence. Every now and again, Asuka would change their direction and Shinji would idly wonder where they were going. He quickly realized, however, he didn't really care.
"I really do have to thank you again. You really are a life saver."
"Eh?"
She giggled. "Silly. The train!"
"Oh! No, think nothing of it."
She nudged him playfully with her shoulder. "Really, though. I don't know what I'd do if I ran into an actual creep."
Shinji remembered the unfortunate vending machine which dared to withhold her drink.
"Probably put a few people in the hospital."
She smirked at him. "Oh ho! Professor Ikari, encouraging violence in the youth?"
He rolled his eyes. "Come on, not you too."
Soon they came upon the entrance to a park Shinji had seen in one of his Tokyo guidebooks back home. Before he could question her, Asuka pulled them into the park. The lamplight was warm and inviting. He could see several couples dotted throughout the red cobble path, huddled together in shady, out of the way corners.
As they walked deeper into the park, the blaring of car horns and the sheer volume of public gradually fell away to the muted sounds of flora waving lazily in the winter breeze. A curiously sweet fragrance tickled Shinji's nose. As he cast about looking for its source he wondered if Asuka had always been walking this close. In the dim lamplight he could see a softness to her eyes where there was normally sharp confidence. Shinji had to struggle not to stare.
He slowed their pace. She didn't object.
They wandered past various arrangements of flowers, that during the day would have looked like an explosion of color, but in the evening light only looked ghostly and remote. Those that were caught in the warm orange lamplight blazed lazily within the gloom.
"I'm… glad we ran into each other again." Asuka stared firmly ahead.
Shinji smiled. "Yeah. Me too."
"When you said you thought we'd met somewhere before I got spooked because, when you called for me to take your hand, I thought I recognized your voice. It's the only reason I reached out to you. But when I finally saw you, I didn't know who you were."
Shinji blinked at her. "Don't worry about it. People meet in weird ways all the time."
Finally, they emerged onto a long walkway peppered with benches. It encircled a large lake. The half moon cast the water in liquid silver. Here there were no couples shying away from the light for a moment of privacy. There was barely any sound—any sign of life at all. Just the rhythmic lapping of the water against the shoreline.
Asuka stopped abruptly with a sharp intake of breath.
A thin luminescent mist clung to the base of a large cross of petrified stone. It rose out of the water at an angle, forever falling over, but never sinking. Never leaving humanity's sight. Spotlights flickered, illuminating the landmark, accentuating the craggy surface with jagged shadows. Where the two beams of the cross met, a face screamed in silent agony.
Shinji couldn't wrench his eyes away from that tortured face. His stomach churned, his head felt fuzzy. The ground underfoot lost its solidity. His mind screamed at him that he was falling, but his body stayed upright and trembling.
He didn't know which of their hands sought the other first, but his world snapped back into focus as soon as thy clasped.
She was trembling too. He squeezed her hand hoping it would reassure her in some way.
"Let's get out of here." His breath felt thick and cold as he forced out the words.
Asuka didn't move, her eyes were fixed on the hulking monument. Their clasped hands quaked together. Their feet remained rooted to the spot despite their commands to move.
"What are they, Shinji?" Her voice was barely a whisper in the crisp winter air.
He swallowed thick, dry air, and began reciting what he knew. "They were here since the earliest known Japanese record. No one knows why they're only here, but most scholars chalk them up to some divine fetish from some protocivilization. It's theorized that over time they'd been destroyed. Not by natural erosion. Never by natural erosion, but by people. Superstition, fear, that sort of thing. There are only—"
"Baka Shinji." Her voice was breathless and rushed. "I don't wanna know what some stuffy scholar thinks they are. I want to know what you think they are." He wrenched his eyes away from the cross and shot her a glance. Her normally expressive blue eyes looked dazed and far away.
He stared hard at the ancient monument to a place outside of time. He fixed his gaze on the silently screaming face. For an instant he felt the clammy grip take hold of his heart. His breath became labored, but he refused to look away. A rush of warmth radiated from Asuka's hand as it crushed down on his own. A small fire lit in his core. Shinji squared his shoulders and willed his body to stop shaking, to stop being afraid. And it did.
After all, he wasn't alone.
He squeezed Asuka's hand pound for pound, hoping to give back the strength she had provided for him. And gradually she too stopped shaking.
The cross in the lake remained a hunk of rock in a big pool of water.
With a deep sigh his chocolate brown eyes found Asuka's blues. Her eyes had become stormy. Her mouth had fallen into a thin frown. He turned to her more fully and gripped her shoulder with his other hand. He gently turned her away from the lake, breaking the spell.
She blinked a few times, but to Shinji she still looked lost. Uncertain.
He offered her a gentle smile, and said slowly, deliberately, "I think they're nothing to be afraid of."
Her frown slowly lifted into a confident smirk that swelled his heart with courage.
"Yeah. You're right."
She turned to the monolith once more, her gaze steady, her grip on his hand, firm. A silent minute passed as the two teens stood hand in hand in front of the last great mystery of the world. Then, Asuka tugged on their enjoined hands.
"Come on. Let's go."
The pair wound their way through the sleepy park. As they strode away from the lake, their bodies moved in eerie unison. Their footfalls came down as one, their arms swung back and forth as one, and their hands remained entwined.
The cross around Shinji's neck jingled lightly in the cool night breeze.
"Don't tell those two other stooges of yours, or Hikari for that matter but… Japanese Lit. I find it the hardest. I just don't see when I'm going to need this in life."
"Oh? And what do you expect you'll be doing with your life?"
"I dunno! Just, not sitting around reading the classics y'know?"
"Well, Asuka you said yourself that you came here to expand your horizons. The classics as you put it can help arm you with different lenses to view the world. I can think of no better exercise for someone in your position but to double down on the literature of the place you're trying to understand."
A pause.
"Thanks prof. Your wayword student bows to you."
Shinji puffed up in mock pomp.
Their laughter danced. out into the sleepy neighborhood. Shinji looked around at the buildings but couldn't quite make out what they were in the gloom. It was only when they passed an all night ramen joint with a loudly buzzing fluorescent light that he realized he was back on campus.
Wait a minute…. The wheels in his head creaked to life. They were from the same school. So why hadn't they just gone back with Hikari and the others? He glanced at Asuka who marched along without a care.
He opened his mouth to speak, but felt her hand slip out of his. The cool sensation against his palm was more uncomfortable than he expected.
"Well, this is me." Asuka waved at the brown brick building with a small but bright garden adorning the front.
"Oh. Right." He rubbed his hands together and looked down the street. Sure enough there was the newsstand that was just outside his own dorm. He was just a few buildings down from her!
The two stood huddling into themselves, readjusting to the night cold. They shot fervent glances at each other, neither sure who would initiate parting for the evening.
Finally, Shinji looked down at his watch and balked at how late it had gotten.
"Uh, can I walk you up to your door?" A sheepish smile crossed his face as the words felt slimy to him the moment he said them. It was the train all over again.
Asuka's eyes sparkled when she smiled.
She offered him her hand. Whether on purpose or by some reflex, he would never know because he took the offered hand before it could be retracted. As they walked silently up the path to the girls dorm, his heart drummed a frantic beat. His feet felt light. The night cold was replaced by a satisfying warmth that spread throughout his body.
Once more Asuka's hand left his and he found himself, all too son, at the entryway.
"This is me. Again." Asuka chuckled awkwardly as she folded her arms across her chest. She gave him an appraising look. Her appraisal turned into an intense glare.
"Gimmy your phone!" She demanded, pointing a finger at his pocket.
"Uh. What?"
She clicked her tongue. "Baka! Just do it!" The accusatory finger turned into an expectant palm.
"S-Sure." He passed it to her not quite connecting the dots as to what she wanted it for.
He watched her dab and swipe around. Then, she adopted a radiant smile he had only seen once before as he pulled her out of the crowd on the train.
A flash. The muffled sound of a snapping camera.
Then more dabbing and swiping.
She fished out her own phone from one of the pockets in her large red jacket, and nodded to herself having confirmed something. Finally, she thrust the phone back to him.
'There. I'm not about to lose track of my first friend again." A shock of pink cut across her cheeks. "And you don't have any excuse either, so keep in touch!"
Shinji didn't even have time to register the heat in his cheeks before Asuka whipped about, giving him a face full of downy red hair. She darted through the door and it clicked shut in front of him.
The young man looked down at his phone and saw the new contact, the winning picture, and a starter conversation.
Meet us for lunch tomorrow. Bring the stooges. I changed your wallpaper so you don't confuse me with the other stunning redheads in your life.
He smiled ruefully. He considered changing it back, an image of Kensuke flashed across his mind's eye.
No. He suspected it would be far more hazardous to his health if he changed it back. That and he just plain didn't want to.
He slowly turned and walked back down the sidewalk. He felt a prickle on the back of his neck. He turned back just in time to see a curtain fall back into place.
Shinji took a deep breath as the smile on his face grew wide. The stars in the night sky winked at him impishly from a thousand different directions.
The little steel cross around his neck bounced merrily along, twinkling proudly.
AN: Thanks for reading!