There was something different about the day. Perhaps it was something in the air, or the vibe from the citizens of Daten who seemed a bit more glum. It seemed as if the energy of Daten itself was being drained, but perhaps Shinji Ikari was being dramatic about life. His dream (or was it an actual conversation between him, Lilith, and Rei) was certainly an influence to why he thought things were different today. He kept his eyes peeled for any unusual bugs, especially around the school.

While on the topic of school, it began like any other. A few simple 'hellos' here and there, but nothing seemed out of place. The few teachers he saw smiled and waved politely at him. His fellow classmates were happy, socializing without a care in the world as he walked towards his locker. Upon reaching it, he noted a small slip of paper hanging inside the louvers of his locker.

'This must be the address to meet up at.' Shinji opened his locker and saw the paper hanging from the louvers. The sight of a paper should not have made him blush red, yet it did. The paper was white and pink with red hearts scattered across it. At a glance one might mistake the paper for a love letter. Shinji certainly did for a moment there! With a few calming breaths Shinji grabbed the paper and curled into his locker to read it. The address didn't seem out of the ordinary. In fact, it seemed to be somewhere near the school if his memory of the blocks around the school was right. Though why did she want to meet at 6P.M.? School ended at 3:00, and, if he remembered correctly, she didn't have cheer practice today. So why meet up so late?

"Well well well. What do we have here hmm?" Startled, Shinji quickly stuffed the paper into his right pocket and turned to see Mari Makinami Illustrious, her flirtatious smile, and her eager eyes glancing at his pocket. She stepped close to him with the tip of her left index finger circling the edge of his right shoulder.

"Hi M-Mari!" A stammer escaped him as he tried to contain his nervousness. "How are you today?" She flashed a smile a she swirled her finger slowly down his arm.

"Oh I'm fine Shinji." Mari replied before letting out a sigh. She flashed a sad, animated expression as she brought her right hand to her forehead and tipped her head backwards. "Except for the sheer amount of sadness that we haven't hung out in forever! Oh what secrets you've developed without me Shinji. Why must you keep me out of your life?" A pang of sympathy rang in him at her words. She wasn't wrong, if he was honest to himself. Between Ghost hunting, Barby's most recent request, the Angels coming to Daten High, and taking more time to train with Lilith, he hadn't spent time with Mari. Though hanging out meant Brief and the Akuma sisters were with him and Mari, there were few and far between moments of just the two of them. It was those moments that Mari seemed to cherish most of all.

And he kept denying her of those moments.

"Earth to Shinji. Earth to Shinji." A flutter of pink caught Shinji's attention as he brought himself out of his thoughts. A horrifying realization struck him as the pink paper in Mari's hands was, in fact, the address Barby wrote to him. "Now are you going to tell me who you're meeting for this secret rendezvous, or am I gonna have to go good cop on you hmm?" Mari followed her words with a smack her lips and a wink of her left eye. Shinji yanked the paper out of her hands, grabbed his books for his first class, and quickly left with a slam of his locker. His heart must have been beating fast with how embarrassed he felt at that moment. It might have been the fastest he got to class in quite the while. As he sat down at his desk, a whistle caught his attention.

"Either you got drained good or you were caught groping someone's daughter." Panty smirked from her desk. She leaned her head back to look at the blush he knew was prominent on his face. The laugh she let out immediately deepened the color. He just knew it.

"I would never do such a thing!"

"What, cop a feel or get a blowjob? Gotta say, if I had to pick between them for the rest of my life, I'd pick the blowjob. There is so much fun to have-"

"Don't want to know!" Shinji did his best to not pay attention to Panty's infectious laughter. Though, glancing around the room, most of the boys in the class were doing their best to either hide or flex their erections to the blonde Angel. Yet another thing to blush about. The sound of creaking wood brought Shinji down from his emotional roller coaster and reminded him that there was more than just himself to worry about.

Stocking, who sat next to him, was gripping the edge of her desk with a glare that would have killed him several times over. Well, it could have been focused on Panty since Stocking was looking at her sister. It was common knowledge in the school that if Stocking wore that expression at any time, it was due to her thinking about Shinji. Sometimes he could hear her mutter the titles she called him what felt like ages ago. Slayer of the Elders. The Killer of the Progenitors. Plague of Adam's Children. Usurper of Instrumentality. He wish that she would help him understand what happened from the perspective of an Angel.

A not so horny Angel thank you very much. Panty's antics from the rooftop still got him to blush and lose focus on things.

"Sooooooo, you gonna let me in on your secret yet?" Shinji held back a groan, pinching the bridge of his nose as Mari's words reminded him that they shared the same classes. He was never going to escape her pestering would he? Thankfully for him, the teacher came right in time to distract everyone to focus on the typical topics of their class. A quick glance around the class, just to see if anyone was running late or absent.

'Nope,' he realized. Just kids focused attentively on the teacher. It was then that he realized something a bit unusual. Maybe it was a cultural thing. Discipline for lack of focusing on teachers was handled differently in Tokyo-3 after all. But it seemed as if the students, most of them at least, were focused solely on the teacher. Sure, there were a few whose eyes lingered on Panty, whose legs were spread VERY far apart for reasons unknown, but most focused on the teacher in a way that seemed...unnerving.

ZZZ

It was faint. Practically a whisper in the wind between the sound of squeaky markers being pressed into dry erase boards and the shuffling of the teacher's feet, but he heard it.

The buzzing.

Shinji didn't know what exactly was going on, but it definitely wasn't normal. So Shinji kept a pleasant facade as much as he could. Doing his best to seem normal despite focusing on that buzzing sound throughout the day. The hallways were filled with buzzing, mingled between normal conversations and excited chatter. Aside from Mari continuously asking him about the address from his 'secret admirer', the first half of the day was normal. Nothing out of the norm aside from typical antics from the Angels flirting or rough rejections.

It was during lunch that the buzzing became louder. His skin bristled as the sound danced along his flesh, nearly provoking him to use his A.T. field to gain some sense of normalcy. He kept his pace even as he walked past his classmates, eyes peered for anything unusual among the tables. Everyone seemed normal, wearing bright colored clothes with expressive reactions and talking about typical things such as part-time jobs, money, the latest phones, and homework. The next big sports game was the most relevant topic though. Mostly every table, at one point or another, had someone talking about the big sports game.

As Shinji walked towards the condiments table to grab some napkins, it was then he noticed something different. The person ahead of him was, in a word, a slob. Tall yet fat with a dirty black shirt many times larger than he with skin paler than Lilith's own. The person's pants barely fit on them, and that was with a belt on! The person looked around with a quick turn of their head, their greasy black hair masking their face before leaving the cafeteria in a hurry. Not wanting to lose what could be a lead, Shinji followed with tray in hand.

Despite their large size, the person was fast. They wove through the hallways swiftly, dipping between classrooms to try and shake him off his trail. They even opened unused lockers to stall him. It took a lot of self-control to not simply slash the opened doors with the Spear of Longinus, let alone to throw it in front of the runaway and instill some fear. Consequences be dammed! Suddenly, an idea sprang in Shinji's head. He hoped no one was in the halls, but he had no other choice. With a deep breath and focus of manipulating his own A.T. Field, he channeled a small collision of two A.T. Fields beneath his feet, acting as a spring to enhance his jump over his target.

"AHHHHH!" They screamed as Shinji, who took a quick second to see if his clothes were ruined from spilled food (thankfully both his food and clothes were fine), did something out of character and grabbed the collar of the person and brought them eye to eye.

"Hi! You seemed rather lonely and in a hurry! Mind if I join you for lunch. Keep you company?" Their greasy hair concealed their features like a blackout curtain, but the visible shaking was a good sign that they'd be compliant to his request. A rapid series of nods brought a polite smile from Shinji. "That's very kind of you!" Shinji let go of the person's collar, waiting a few moments before standing next to them. "I'm ready to chill and eat whenever you are. Lead the way!"

"Okay." Despite their large size, they spoke softly. The fear in their tone made Shinji feel a bit guilty about how strong he came off. His intimidation might have worked too well. The next few minutes were quiet. The further they walked through the school, Shinji noticed the fainter the buzzing became. That wasn't the only thing he noticed; however, as things around them began to look old. Lockers were dented or rusting. The floor tiles seemed to be cleaned by either dripping pipes from above or from whatever liquid spilled from a bottle. Lights flickered at different rates that reminded him of cheap scary movies.

Even the classrooms, from the little he peaked at as they walked, were unused and dusty to the passing of time. Part of him wondered if the skeleton he saw in the teacher's desk was a prop or real. Eventually, past a mound of turned over desks in the middle of the hallway, the unknown classmate turned to the first classroom behind the mound and opened the door. The door, he noted, seemed fortified with extra wooden planks. As they stepped into the classroom, there were three things Shinji noticed. The first being that the classroom was clean and the desks were in single file. The second, much to his surprise, is that Shinji couldn't hear any buzzing. Not even a single peep. But the third?

They weren't alone.

He didn't mean to be rude, even in his own head, but each and every person he looked at would have been considered a shut-in back in Tokyo-3. They looked feral, dirty, and overall possessive over anime and video games if their various accessories were anything to note. One of them was even cosplaying as Darth Vader!

"An outsider!" Most of the students backed towards the shimmering blackboard. Wait, was that blackboard an actual flatscreen TV? It had to be at least an 85 inch TV! A few of them seemed ready to defend themselves with makeshift weapons in the forms of books, rulers, and backpacks filled to the brim with who knows what. Yet one of them, a blond haired boy that some might consider handsome stayed where they stood. They wore a plain white button-up shirt and black slacks. They held a hand high above their head and pointed at the ceiling.

"Halt!" The blond boy's squeaky, nasally voice broke the handsome illusion quickly. "You dare tread upon the Domain of Introverted Cool Kids!" Something was off about that name, but what exactly Shinji couldn't put his name on it. The classmate who led Shinji here placed their tray of food on a nearby desk and got on their knees.

"I'm so sorry oh great hikkikomori!" They pressed their forehead to the floor, muttering for forgiveness and apologies for what they had done. Honestly, it was a little much for Shinji to see. It was all so surreal. "But he isn't a drone!"

"A drone?" That was a first. He hadn't heard that word being used at all during his time as a student at Daten High. Was it a clique thing?

"I'll be the judge of that!" The blond pointed at him with a stern look on their face.

'If they glared any harder, they might make Stocking jealous.'

"As the Kage of Domain of Introverted Cool Kids-" It finally clicked. Shinji couldn't help but to snicker and shake his head. "What is so funny, outsider!"

"Your little group is named DICK for short." Shinji let out a sigh. "I'm not surprised really. It seems like perversion creeps around no matter where you go in Daten City after all." The blond seemed to deflate upon hearing that. They turned to another classmate, who got quickly singled out by everyone as if being parted by Moses, and pointed at them.

"You came up with this on purpose didn't you Blubbers!"

"But you picked the name Richard!"

"You're the vice president! You should look out for these type of things!"

"Hey!" Shinji called out, bringing the attention back to him. He couldn't help but to fake a cough that must have come off as awkward. "I just want some answers then I'll be on my way." Richard tried to sneer. He really did. But the energy left and he shrunk a bit into himself.

"We're a club of dicks..." Richard muttered before straightening out with an uneasy smile on their face. "Well, oh wise traveler, ask your questions so we may guide you to your next destination!"

"Yeah, lunch is halfway over!" Someone called out from the back. Shinji turned to the person who spoke and gave a nod.

"Sorry, I'll be quick." Shinji focused his attention back to Richard. "Why are you calling the classmates drones? Is it a clique thing?" Richard shook his head and pointed at the left side of his skull.

"Haven't you noticed how uniform certain students are like a Jonin with their Genin team? They never stray far from each other like mindless Wishiwashi. Focused on each other or on those of higher ranking within the school like a Squad Captain in the Seireitei. They strive to be the best at everything they do, like no one ever was." As Richard continued to talk, he became more passionate in tone. His voice reaching higher, squeaky notes like a chew toy. "They're vampires who hunt for those who stray from their views and convert them into part of their legion. Sometimes the victims only disappear for an hour, but others disappear for even days! Yet they always come back as one of those abominations!" Shinji had to wonder if Richard always spoke so quirky. He was really going out of his way to throw in references to a few different series to the point his forehead was getting red from thinking too hard. Was he going to pass out?

"So who is in charge of the drones? Do you know?"

"Ha!" Richard scoffed and shook his head. Despite the nasally, squeaky voice, he certainly wore the cocky sneer well. "If I knew that, I would have slain the beast myself and made them a mount on this classroom for future members of this club! Which, before I forget, will need a new name by the next meeting. Someone mark that down."

"Got it!"

"Thank you." Richard focused his attention back to him. When he thought Richard was about to say some more anime references, his face softened. "We used to be a club of nearly a hundred fold. We cared not for societal norms such as doing well in school or participating in sports or academic gatherings. We took upon the motifs of Genshiken and, like the forefathers of this club before I, made a safe space for those who simply wanted to enjoy being in our youth before being forced into the dredges of adulthood. Yet over the last few weeks we've become a trickle of what we once were. We are but, what, sixteen Straw Hats? Our Nakama are becoming Marines and we can't do anything about it!"

"Have you tried talking to the Angels about this?"

"The human killer and the cum swallower? They'd wear our skin like pelts and syphon our sperm and eggs to eat like caviar. No thanks!" Awkward imagery aside, he couldn't argue with that logic. Even if Panty was the more social of the two, she was very focused on sex instead of getting to know people. Shinji couldn't help but to shake his head and gave a small wave.

"Thank you for your time. If I have any other questions, I'll be sure to come back during lunch tomorrow to ask."

"Fare thy well traveler! May we never see your face again!" Shinji must have channeled some sort of LCL through him, because Richard wince and suddenly said "Joking," with fear across his face.

'Talking with Richard certainly gave me plenty to think about.' Shinji thought to himself as he closed the door to the clubroom and began walking back. A few steps past the mound-

Z

It was faint. Almost nonexistent even. He turned to the mound, hoping to see something unusual. Something that clearly didn't belong within that pile. Yet only the fluorescent light fixtures above seemed to be making any sounds. Their flickering lights and hissing noises must have caught him off guard. He really should hurry up and eat before the next round of classes began. He certainly needed it after his rough night of sleeping.

The remainder of the day ended without any hassle. A blessing Shinji was rather thankful for. It gave him time to think of what he learned from Richard and his DICK club. He still couldn't stop himself from snickering at the indirect potty humor of Daten City. He kept his focus on the other students as he walked throughout the school and attended classes for the rest of the day. He began to notice how some students almost seemed perfect. Their skin perfectly smooth without a single blemish. Their hair, no matter the color, the definition of healthy and shined radiantly, unlike the greasy hair of the member of DICK he followed. They either always took notes with swift precision or were practically fighting to answer questions from the teacher.

But it was the end of the day, as Shinji went to his locker and began packing his backpack for the day, that he learned something important. He turned from his locker, bag filled and ready to depart the school, when he noticed that several rows of lockers had students taking items from them systematically. These rows of lockers seemed to have the same kind of clique, which was unnatural. One row had jocks. Another had cheerleaders. A cluster of artists followed by mathematicians, musicians, and the system seemed to repeat a few times. Was it like that on the other floors of Daten High? There was, mathematically speaking, no way that every row of locker would have students part of the same club or extracurricular activities. Even back in Tokyo-3, when he attended school, students of all sorts were mingled with each other. Not categorized in such a way. It was then that he saw it.

A student that didn't fit the mold. Their black ACDC shirt, bulky orange headphones that blared music past their Styrofoam insulation, and stylish Converse shoes was, compared to the average Daten City resident, looked completely normal. But comparing them to the line of football jocks he shared a row with? He was a puppy among the wolves. Maybe they were a member of DICK. They could have simply been an average classmate or not interested in anything but their part-time job. Several ideas popped into his mind as Shinji watched the student who didn't notice his surroundings being stared at by not just the football jocks. No. He was being stared at by each row of students as if assessing their worth or talents.

"Nakama into Marines." Shinji whispered to himself with widened eyes. The principal told him and the Angels that students were going missing. But what if they weren't going missing at all? What if, instead, they were being brainwashed? But why brainwash them to be better students? Ghosts, from what he saw, only cared about themselves and everything being done to better themselves. The idea of a Ghost trying to help instead of hurt definitely didn't sit right with him. Like he was still missing a few pieces. He hoped that Barby learned something today that they could take to the Angels.

If things came down to it, he would step in. Consequences be damned.

He thought of going to the principal and asking for club rosters. School pictures from picture days to compare before and after from the past few years. If students were being converted, there had to be some form of proof. Yet, without any idea as to who it could be, he hesitated. It couldn't have been the principal. After all, he apparently went to the church where the Angels lived to request their help. Why bring the enemy to them to find and dismantle their operation? That didn't stop the possibility of the culprit being a teacher, a secretary, or the vice-principal. Whoever that was. Goal in mind, Shinji quickly closed their locker and tried to catch up to the ACDC classmate.

Tried being the key word.

As if sensing his intentions, suddenly students of all sorts began to meet in the middle of the hallway. A wall of flesh and blood keeping him from reaching his target. He did the same trick with his A.T. Field and jumped over the first few rows of students. It worked, for a moment. But then students began to systematically jump for hi-fives and chest bumps. Shinji couldn't help but to blush as cheerleaders pressed their breasts together and flutter their eyes lustfully at him as he tried to pass by them. Unfortunately, much as Shinji tried to catch up to the target, they disappeared. He only hoped that they got away instead of being taken. He turned around and began walking the opposite direction to leave. A choice that, swiftly, made the other students who did their best to block his path suddenly found themselves being scarce and left the hallway.

'That really wasn't normal. Even by Daten City standards!' Shinji quickly left the school grounds, trying to see if anything was different as he walked off the property. Yet the only thing that met him were departing busses and the sounds of different clubs and sports teams being lively. Coachings shouting drills and critiques. Band kids playing instruments loud and proud. Passionate debates occurring through open windows. He tried to hear the buzzing, but couldn't hear anything past the layers of sounds. Every sound harmonized together, making it hard to separate any buzzing.

So Shinji explored the neighborhood surrounding Daten High. Despite the time he spent living in Daten City, Shinji couldn't recall a time he explored neighborhoods like this. Did Mari live around here? The thought of Mari brought guilt to the forefront of his mind again. He needed to be a better friend and hang out with her more often. Maybe she would like to go watch a movie or walk around the mall? That seemed too much like a date, making him blush though!

Walking through the neighborhood revealed a bit of details that worried Shinji. The houses all looked similar to each other. Mowed yard with the same one story house with triangle roof and built-in garage on the right side of the property. Only the colors of the houses seemed to be different. Even that detail wasn't that different though. The colors were all solid colors of yellow, green, white, or blue. All inviting colors of course, yet it was a pattern. Yellow house, followed by a green, white, blue, then repeat over and over again. There were a few houses with yards that were being mowed by a male with a woman (their spouse he assumed) sitting on their concrete front steps with a glass of lemonade. At a glance the gesture was cute. Yet like the patterns of the houses, this too became a pattern. Multiple yards were being mowed with the same unified movements. Spouses sitting with chilled glasses in their hands and frozen smiles and calculating eyes.

Every now and again he would see a vacant house for sale. These houses were still fit the pattern with their colors and yard care. Even the realtors he witnessed fit a similar mold. Women with stiff postures, wide smiles, and watching with calculating eyes as the potential buyers (all families of one to three kids, he noticed) were walking around the properties. The kids, who seemed to be teenagers like him, didn't seem to be your typical good kid. They seemed to be annoyed. Moody even. Spiteful to the idea of change. Change was uncomfortable to those who didn't want to do it. It was something Shinji struggled with during his time in Tokyo-3. The words 'I mustn't run away' echoed within him for but a moment. Something was going on in Daten City, and Shinji would either do his best to direct the Angels to it, or handle it himself.

But he pressed on. With every step he took, he kept an observant eye on his surroundings. Some of the mowers waved. Others nodded politely. Yet, he noticed, none of the spouses waiting on the porch ever acknowledged him from their perch. There were a few houses with some charm to them though. Lawn ornaments such as gnomes or stone fairys decorated these lawns with adults that seemed human. Not as stiff or mechanic as the others he witnessed before. Were they normal? Well, normal as a resident of Daten City could be of course? Or was it a front to blend in? As he walked further and further past the neighborhood, the neighbors seemed to become more human. Normal, even. Arguments could be heard from one house as another blared rock and roll music next to a house hosting a cookout.

There was variety. There was life. It brought a small smile to his face as he continued on. Whatever was happening between the school and the neighborhood directly around the school had yet to effect everyone.

"This can't be right." Shinji looked down at the note Barby had left him. The address matched the one on the building. It matched on the map app on his phone. But there was no way Barby lived in this building. Unlike the houses he passed from the neighborhoods, which paralleled each other, this building stood between them as if the houses were bowing to it. It was tall, sturdy to the test of time and wide made of slightly chipped brown bricks and pristine black tinted windows. The door to get in wasn't your typical door either. Not a wooden door from an inviting home or even an automatic door from a super market. Nothing fancy like a metal gates for private communities either. It had a silver metal outer frame as if to contrast against its black glass interior. He couldn't see through it like the windows. It reminded him more of the doors one would see in those mature movies Kaji and Misato would tease him about back in Tokyo-3. Those doors that led to... "A strip club." Shinji gulped. He was reading too much into this. Way too much speculation with his imagination.

He was early, about forty-five minutes, and wondered if he should try to step in or wait for Barby to call and ask if he was nearby.

ZZ.

It was a bit louder, he realized, but he heard it. He heard it clear as day. The buzzing. But where was it coming from? He turned to look left-

"Shinji!" He turned back forward and saw Barby waving from the ominous door. Her smile immediately made him match it with his own as he walked towards her. "I didn't expect you to be so early! I thought you might have taken the time to do some homework or eat." She placed a finger on her right cheek and looked up at the sky. "Now that I think about it, I didn't see you in the cafeteria today."

"I was following a lead." Her eyes widened as he got close to her. Her skin looked a bit sweaty. A little detail that was easy to spot thanks to her wearing her pink and white head cheerleader uniform. Was she working out or something? It made him hopeful that this building wasn't a hidden strip club and was, instead, a private gym or community center. A weird place to host a private meeting, but he wouldn't complain.

"W-Well we can talk all about the details in a bit. Come in. Come in!" Barby opened the door wide enough for Shinji to step inside. Upon the door closing the buzzing stopped. A bit of relief filled him as he followed Barby through the building. The hallway was clean for the most part. There was the occasional gas station cup on the ground or a candy wrapper, but nothing too messy. The olive green walls were pristine. Practically untouched to time.

"So what is this place anyway?"

"Not yet." Barby immediately replied. She grabbed his right hand and pulled him a bit closer as they walked. The sudden, unexpected action made him blush as they continued on their silent journey. A few minutes later the two found themselves in front of a pair of metal double doors. Though these doors were different. Where the outside doors were made with black glass, these were made with thick, icy plexiglass that didn't let him see through it but let him see...a rainbow?

A rainbow wasn't right. It was more like different flashes of random colors. What was going on in there? The doors opened on their own, much to his confusion.

"Ta-da!" A roar of techno music and energy ran rampant within seconds of the doors being open.

"HEY, IT'S SHINJI!" Classmates of jocks, cheerleaders, and others from various clubs were hanging out in a larger than life room. Red plastic cups in hand, most of his classmates were dancing in the center of the room where someone (from the music club, if the logo on their chest was anything to go by) sat behind a DJ table. Speaking of the room, it was black with flashing neon lights coming from different spotlights from the ceiling. There was even a disco ball, silver and shiny, dangling in the center of the massive room. In a word, he was shocked. So lost and confused, he simply followed Barby as she led him through the crowd. He could feel various jocks and cheerleaders patting his back as if congratulating him on something he did not understand.

There was so much to focus on. Too much, in fact, to simply focus on one little thing over another. People hung to the walls to chat. Dancing occurred not just the center of the room but almost anywhere a gap was. He heard cheering from another part of the room where it looked like someone was dancing along a metal vertical pole and, oh no! Shinji quickly diverted his head away and felt his face burn from what he might have saw. A playful laugh brought him down a bit and had him focus back to Barby. She led them to a bar with a lit, refrigerated display of various sodas and alcohols that were not meant for teenagers like themselves. The person behind the counter was a tall, well dressed man with a social flare to him. His bright, perfect teeth matched his smile as he ran a hand through his slick brown hair.

"So this is the special guy huh Barbs?" The gentleman asked as she sat at one of the yellow barstools near him. Shinji followed suit, glancing around the crowd once more. He knew that he would see some familiar faces, especially from the sports and cheerleader teams, but something was still off.

"Yeah, this is Shinji. New guy in Daten City." Barby's words brought him back to focus on her. She looked at him with a flutter of her eyelids and a smile upon her lips.

"So is he your crush or just someone you're trying to impress hmm?" Barby let out a playful scoff. Though this did nothing from stopping a small blush from coming back on Shinji's face. The gentleman must have noticed, for he glanced his way and grinned. "Aww look, he's blushing! What a sweet, innocent boy!"

"Two of my regular Jerald." Barby said. Right as she began to turn her head to Shinji, she quickly looked back at the now named Jerald with a glare. "And leave Shinji alone!" Jerald, still with his playful smile, raised his hands up in surrender. He reminded him of Kaji with how playful he seemed.

"Alright alright little lady." Jerald turned his back to them to grab drinks from the displays and began to, well, make whatever Barby's regular could be.

"So how do you like it?" Shinji tried his best to seem natural. But Barby must have noticed something was amiss for she placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "Overwhelmed huh?"

"Yeah." Shinji began. He took another curious look across the room. He saw people dancing, chatting, quickly diverting attention from a couple making out, and forced words out of his mouth. "This is a little much. What is all this?" He noticed a black movement in the background. What was that?

"Well you have Anna on the cheer squad to thank for all this!" Barby spoke loudly. Shinji turned back to her, though he couldn't help but to glance above her for a second to see if something was amiss or moving suspiciously behind her. "Anna, or at least her family I should say, has had family in Daten High for generations. They've always allowed this building to be used by the high schoolers as a hangout." A pair of red plastic cups with dark brown liquid and a large, round ice cube were placed between them. "Thanks Jerald!" Barby quickly took a sip and let out a small, happy moan. "Oh he makes the best drinks. You should take a sip before the ice dilutes the taste!" Apprehension bubbled within him. Outside of the occasional sniff of some of Misato's day-old beers, he never partook in drinking alcohol. It just wasn't something he was ever curious to try during his school life. Not to mention would he be able to maintain himself to prevent a sudden Angel transformation?

"So why have us meet here? I thought we would be meeting-"

"Meeting where, at my house?" Barby let out a chuckle before really looking at him. He looked to the side, making her take a more serious expression for a moment. That moment only lasted, well, a moment before she suddenly let out a loud laugh. "Oh my God Shinji, really!" My parents would kill me if I brought a boy over to the house, let alone my room!"

"How bold of you Shinji. Were you going to put the moves on her in her own bedroom hmm?" Jerald commented from where he stood. A look from Barby made the man whistle and quickly walk over to another student who wanted a round of drinks. Shinji couldn't help but keep his eyes on Barby and looked out into the crowd.

'Wait.' He noticed the black blur yet again. But it wasn't some mysterious Ghost or a figment of his imagination. No, it was worse.

It was a member of DICK. Surrounded by a cluster of cheerleaders, they were smiling widely and danced between the different girls. Did they even know about a place like this? Were they even ALLOWED in a place like this?

"You seem tense still." Barby stated with irritation clear as day in her voice. Shinji focused his attention back on Barby and looked down at her legs. A blush came back as he couldn't help but appreciate how smooth her legs looked. "Wanna talk about what's on behind that cute face of yours?" Why was everyone so insistent on making him blush so much? His skin could only handle so much embarrassment!

"I'm just overwhelmed with what I've discovered today. A club of, well, to be blunt,-"

"Oh you mean the nerds from DICK?" The giggle Barby let out was magical. Maybe it was the atmosphere, but something about being here was making him feel at ease. More carefree even. "Thanks for that by the way. I can't get over the fact that they named their club with such a vulgar name. Hilarious!" Shinji raised his head to stare at her with widened eyes. A sense of dread began to replace the carefreeness he felt mere moments ago. When, no, how did she know any of that? He would have felt if someone was following him.

"But wait, how did I help you? I went by myself."

"Oh Shinji. I have eyes everywhere." She gulped her drink with speed that would make Misato proud and stood up with a flourish. She reached a hand out for him to grab. "Come Shinji," Barby began, "lets dance together." Shinji shook his head and glanced down at the drink yet to be sipped. Was this shame or anxiousness he felt? Between the dread, embarrassment, and the flux of emotions from these last few days alone, Shinji felt as if he would crack.

"I don't know how to dance." He doubted that dancing to a DDR game counted. Let alone the synchronized fighting style he learned fighting alongside Asuka against Israfel. A single finger placed beneath his chin lifted his head to make him look at Barby. Her face wore a gentle, caring expression that almost made him feel guilty for making her try so hard for him.

"There is no shame here. Just good times. It's easy anyway. Just follow your inner beat." Her gentleness quickly changed to a predator's grin and launched him out of his seat. His drink being quickly caught by Jerald was the last thing Shinji saw from the bar before he was forced towards the center of the dance floor. Loud thrumming from the speakers surrounding the room seemed to get louder as Shinji tried to reorient himself. He glanced around, seeing more of DICK members being surrounded by various cheerleaders and some of the more handsome jocks enjoying themselves. Each member didn't seem afraid, unlike when he saw them earlier at school. Laughing without a care in the world with a red cup in their hands.

ZZZ

Before he could raise a brow at what he heard, Shinji was spun around to face Barby. Their faces were millimeters apart, giving him a deep look of her lips as she pulled away, letting him go. The minute she began to move, he could not look away. Her hips swayed with the intense techno beat without failure or misstep. The way she twirled around the floor and seemed to be at one with herself. There was no hesitation within Barby right now. She was being true to herself. Going above and beyond for him.

Shouldn't he do the same?

It started with a tap of his foot. A feel for the electronic beat the DJ spammed through the speakers. He raised a shoulder up a bit, followed by the other a few times. He couldn't help but feel rigid, awkward no matter what he did while on the dance floor. Part of him wondered if he was being made fun of by someone in the crowd. But seeing Barby dancing without fear of being judged made him want to try. He lost himself in the moment, letting out a laugh as he felt himself let go. He heard some gasps in the background but didn't distract him from having his fun.

"Go Shinji!"

"Look at him go!"

"Oh God, HELP!" Shinji tried to turn to where he heard the cry for help. The desperate tone sounded too real to be a joke. But he found his head gripped by Barby, who fluttered her eyes and pressed her body to his. Her breasts felt too plump, free to compress on him. Was she not wearing a bra?

"All eyes on me Shinji. Nothing else matters." She ran her hands through the back of his hair, dragging them down and across his shoulders. He took a gulp, gripping her hips and taking a gentle squeeze of her hips. She jolted a bit, followed by a giggle and a smirk. "Oh Shinji!" She leaned in forward, her lips practically making contact with his ear as her left glided down his back. "I don't mind..."

"Eep." Shinji couldn't help but make a sound as the tips of her fingers dipped past the waistband of his pants. NO, his boxers. 'Oh dear!'

"...if you get rough with me." She whispered into his ear before...

She bit his earlobe.

Her hand roughly gripped his butt cheek.

He felt the sting of skin ripping open.

Then began the SCREAMING.

Shinji widened his eyes as his vision began to dim. He heard someone scream his name, though whether it came from within or someone from the crowd he did not know. He felt his legs weaken as he pulled away from Barby, expecting too see her look out in alarm at whatever was going on. Instead, he saw her take a few steps back as her lips began to peel away, darkening before his very eyes. Her left hand bulged and lengthened into a familiar black and red. His body began to burn as he felt his blood boil.

The last thing he saw was Richard, the big DICK himself, grabbing his head as what looked like a large bumblebee flew into his mouth before his head hit the ground and all went black.

-Author Note-

So I know I said it would be a couple of weeks before I updated or posted anything. Really, I meant it! I didn't expect to catch influenza-B though. So, while feeling congested and not 100%, I figured I'd use the extra days off to not just write, but revamp some things too I have in planning. All of which allowed me to post this chapter a lot sooner. So I hope everyone is ready for a ride, because things are about to take a turn! Major thanks to Blazingkill and Galaghiel for taking the time to review, and to everyone else who read and took extra time to follow the story. Even if I don't call them out in each chapter, I do take the time to read every review and PM. Well, if the site notifies me of course! I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

Oh, and for those curious, the next main story I plan to update is a toss up between Doing What is Right, To Try Something on My Own, and The Cursed Duelist. My new projects are consisting of Visiting the Family II: Brief's Reincarnation or Assimilation, a P&SwG/Danny Phantom crossover, a Megaman Battle Network/Medabots crossover called Relic of Another Time, and a Code Lyoko/Stein;s Gate crossover that, for the moment, is still unnamed. I have a few more ideas to work on, but these are what are on the writing que. Feel free to drop some input on what you'd want to see first.

Until next time, stay golden!