I played disco elysium and this came to mind, don't take anything it too seriously.
"Mein liebling!" Asuka bellowed at the zenith of her vocal capacity, hurtling towards an open-armed and inviting Shinji, who leapt up to intercept her descent.
"Darling!" Shinji exclaimed, enveloping her in his embrace as they cuddled, rubbing their noses together.
The spectacle instilled fear and bewilderment among their fellow students; no one could comprehend the unfolding scene, particularly the friends of t1he aforementioned duo. They found themselves shrouded in ignorance.
"What's he up to?" Toji questioned, desperately seeking an answer to the inscrutable riddle. However, Kensuke remained mute; all he grasped was the imperative need to encapsulate this moment, to preserve it on film for all eyes to see.
Hikari, on the other hand, approached the peculiar pair, abruptly terminating their petite honeymoon.
"What in the world are you two doing?" Hikari inquired, a mixture of annoyance and sheer confusion evident in her voice—this was undeniably unusual.
The trio stood there, frozen in a tableau of awkwardness, as the rest of the students exchanged perplexed glances. Shinji and Asuka reluctantly disentangled themselves, and a peculiar tension hung in the air like an unspoken secret.
Hikari, with an arched eyebrow and crossed arms, demanded an explanation.
"Well, spill it. What's with the sudden public display of affection?"
Shinji and Asuka exchanged glances, both seemingly at a loss for words. Finally, Asuka broke the silence, her tone defiant.
"Why does there have to be a reason? Can't a girl show a little love without the whole world going mad?"
"The whole-" Hikari was at a loss for words, love, what was she talking about, these two despised each other, they were like an old married couple on the verge of a divorce, now they're in love. No, this is absolute madness.
All these thoughts crumbled and Hikari's annoyance shifted to disbelief, she glanced at Toji and Kensuke hoping for some kind of confirmation or explanation.
The duo remained as clueless as she was, still capturing the bizarre scene on Kensuke's film camera.
"I'm as lost as a kitten in a maze." Toji said "Kensuke, what do you make of this."
Kensuke let out a minor laugh, still filming intently. "This is cinematic gold!"
The school bell rang, snapping everyone back to reality. Asuka gave Shinji a quick peck on the cheek before strutting off, leaving a befuddled crowd in her wake.
Hikari, bewildered, turned to Shinji.
"You better have a good explanation, Ikari."
Shinji scratched his head nervously. "I... uh, well, we just felt like it, I guess?"
Hikari sighed, realizing that extracting coherent reasoning from these two might be futile.
"Just try to keep to yourselves next time…please…"
With that, the group dispersed, leaving Shinji and Asuka alone in the aftermath of their impromptu spectacle.
Later...
During the break, a group of honest eyes observed the now confirmed lovers, revelling in shared laughter and cherished moments. The spectacle was as grotesque as it was unsettling.
Asuka playfully fed Shinji with a spoon, their laughter resonating in the air as he reciprocated. They genuinely enjoyed each other's company on this beautiful sunny day.
Disturbing, indeed.
"What's happening, seriously?" Toji said, peering from behind the bush, alongside Kensuke and Hikari.
In fact the entire school had been discreetly observing, all students held in collective gaze.
"They're lovers now, I guess." Hikari acknowledged.
"Since when?" Toji questioned.
"Since now," Hikari succinctly replied.
But In the midst of their debate, Shinji boldly pulled Asuka in for a kiss, leaving all onlookers startled and catching the attention of the couple.
"What was that?" Shinji said.
As the lingering echo of Shinji's question hung in the air, the surrounding crowd, both seen and unseen, held their breath. The courtyard seemed to hush in collective anticipation. Asuka, slightly flushed but with a mischievous glint in her eye, looked at Shinji and smirked.
"Oh, just sealing the deal, darling," she retorted, casting a knowing glance at the onlookers. The crowd's silence gave way to a mixture of gasps and whispers as the revelation unfolded before them.
Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari exchanged incredulous glances. The entire school, it seemed, had been swept into this unexpected romance. Murmurs spread like wildfire, and curious eyes continued to watch the unfolding scene.
Shinji, seemingly caught off guard by Asuka's bold response, blinked in surprise. The weight of the moment sank in, and a nervous chuckle escaped him. "Well, alright then," he said, trying to play it cool. The two shared a lingering look, a silent understanding passing between them.
As the reality of the situation settled, Toji scratched his head, still struggling to process the sudden turn of events. "Well its official." He conceded
Kensuke, ever the documentarian, pulled out his camera, eager to capture the unfolding drama. Hikari shook her head in a mix of amusement and disbelief.
The school bell rang, signalling the end of the break. The crowd dispersed, but the buzz of the newfound romance lingered in the air. The once-hidden relationship of Shinji and Asuka was now laid bare for all to see.
A little while later…Shinji would meet up with Toji and Kensuke who congratulated him and Asuka with Hikari to whom she couldn't stop talking about her newfound relationship…
The following day...
In the intrinsic morning - just before class began, everyone observed as both Shinji and Asuka stepped into the classroom. They were unusually separated from one another.
"Well, if it isn't the new-newly wedded couple. " Toji teased, stirring small laughter and commentary among his classmates. "please shower us with your love once more."
He had anticipated the familiar response, where Shinji and Asuka would casually dismiss him and continue as a couple in their honeymoon phase, but reality took a detour.
Instead, they both pivoted towards him, voices harmonizing in an uproar, "What are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about?" Toji retorted, an eyebrow elevated in skepticism. "I'm talking about you two, what's the matter? Feeling shy today."
Shinji and Asuka stared at him, puzzled, entertaining the notion that perhaps Toji had lost his sanity. "Toji, are you okay?" Shinji inquired, genuine concern etched across his face.
"What do you mean, am I okay? What's up with you, honeymoon phase over?"
Honeymoon phase? The words hung in the air, leaving Shinji befuddled. If this was a joke, he was losing track, and Asuka was having none of it.
"Alright, you've had your fun, and I'm not listening to this." She said, headed determinedly for her seat, only to be halted as she noticed a group of girls giggling at a video on a desk. Their glances shifted between her and the screen.
"Hey!" Asuka stomped, demanding attention. "What's so funny?"
Unbeknownst to her, Shinji had been watching a video on Kensuke's camera, his expression a tableau of shock and confusion. The group of girls swivelled their laptop, revealing a scene that nearly sent Asuka reeling – What was she doing? hugging, cuddling…was she kissing him? Shinji. Thé idiot Shinji. Mein Liebling… oh my god.
"What the fu–"
"Hey!" Hikari's sharp interruption quelled the burgeoning chaos in the class.
Asuka completed the sentiment in her head. This had to be some elaborate prank; someone must be orchestrating this humiliation.
Meanwhile, Shinji, perplexed, watched the footage, his main concern not the acts performed by the figure that seemed to be him, but why he couldn't recollect any of it. "That's odd," he mumbled.
"Odd." Asuka caught his words from across the room. "It's insane!"
Indeed.
"This is a prank, right?" Shinji questioned his comrades, who mirrored the disbelief etched on his face.
"What?" he asked, met with unamused stares.
"Did you guys break up already?" Kensuke remarked, "Man, that was fast."
Again with these peculiar terms.
"Who put you up to this?" Asuka interjected, fuming, pointing her accusatory finger at the trio. "It was you three idiots. That desperate fool wanted to be with me, so he had his friends set me up. Yes, that's it."
She appeared to be teetering on the edge of a meltdown; someone needed to intervene swiftly.
"Asuka, that's–" Before Shinji could finish his sentence, a forceful blow sent him sprawling to the ground.
Toji braced himself believing that he would be next, but Hikari stepped in. "That's enough!" she declared, stopping Asuka.
The entire class observed in silence, and Toji, with a dry bit of humor, had one thing to say.
"I guess they're divorced now," he mused, eyeing his unconscious friend on the floor. "Oh man, I forgot to film this," Kensuke regretfully added.
The classroom remained ensconced in a heavy silence as Hikari tried to calm the visibly agitated Asuka, who was still seething with a mix of embarrassment and anger. Shinji, regaining his composure on the floor, attempted to make sense of the chaotic situation.
Toji, ever the provocateur, couldn't resist a sly comment. "Divorce rates are skyrocketing these days, huh?"
Hikari shot him a disapproving look. "Enough with the jokes, Suzuhara."
"Okay, okay…"Toji conceded.
Asuka, now detained but still fuming, pointed an accusing finger at Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari. "You three orchestrated this. Admit it!"
Toji raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, I might stir the pot, but I'm not capable of orchestrating reality TV drama. This is beyond me."
Kensuke, inspecting his camera, chimed in, "Maybe the answer lies in the footage."
"Where's Rei." Shinji though to ask out of the blue, tending to an eye of the same colour.
"There are more important things to think about third!" Asuka reprimanded.
"I'm just saying, maybe she-"
"Up to this?" Asuka finished for him. "If she is I'll kill her."
Shinji shook his head disapprovingly, removing the thought from his mind all together.
A bit later...
During the break, Asuka found herself unable to tear her eyes away from that dreadful video. Why was she behaving like this? Who would subject her to such a bewildering spectacle? It made no sense.
"Those laptops are supposed to stay in class, Asuka," Hikari remarked, taking a seat beside her.
"I don't care," she replied defiantly.
Hikari sighed in resignation, realizing there was little she could do to dissuade Asuka, who seemed consumed by the enigma of the video. As the playback continued, a moment arrived - "Oh, just sealing the deal, darling..."
Asuka recoiled. What was that? Did the Asuka in the video just peer into the lens? She knew – knew that she would be watching. That was it. A declaration of war.
"Whoever this is, I'm going to find you and hurt you," Asuka declared with fierce determination.
Hikari regarded her skeptically, pondering if Asuka was truly hearing herself. "That's you," Hikari pointed out, the response met with a resounding silence.
Asuka could only turn to her friend and utter one word, "No."
It was a statement meant to be taken quite literally.
Meanwhile, with Shinji and the stooges, he was still grappling with the mystery of how and why this had happened, and why he couldn't recollect a single thing.
"Where was Rei yesterday?" he inquired of his fellow compatriots, but neither of them had a clue.
"The two of you were at the centre of the show, so nobody really paid attention to anything."
"Not even our studies," Shinji questioned,
This is concerning.
"No, we have homework; it's just doubled for you," Kensuke replied. "Also, there's a class test next week."
Okay, this is very concerning.
This brought up the question in Shinji's mind: What else can't I remember?
"Shinji Ikari, Pilot of Evangelion Unit-01, Third child arrived in Tokyo-" He recited everything he could recall like some sort of mantra, possibly to calm himself down.
"What are you doing?" Toji asked, his interest piqued.
"Toji, when we first met, what happened?" Shinji inquired, choosing to sidestep Toji's question.
"I punched you in the face," Toji replied.
"Good," Shinji simply said. Everything seemed to be in order, so what exactly was the problem? What was this gnawing feeling in his gut that told him something was amiss? Nothing's wrong?... no, something is definitely wrong.
"What year is it?"
Shinji's question hung in the air, and the stooges exchanged puzzled glances. It was a seemingly simple query, yet it carried an unsettling weight, stirring a sense of disquiet among them.
"The year?" Kensuke hesitated, as if the answer were on the tip of his tongue but refused to materialize. "Uh, it's... well, it's 2015, right?"
"2015…"
Shinji's furrowed brow betrayed his growing unease. He continued his internal recitation, almost as if searching for a thread of continuity in the tangled fabric of his memories.
"Toji, what happened after you punched me?" Shinji pressed, his voice steady, but beneath the surface, a current of uncertainty ran deep.
Toji scratched his head, attempting to piece together the fragments of that peculiar moment. "Well, you didn't hit back. I expected a fight, but you just took it."
Shinji nodded, processing the information. His mind, a turbulent sea of questions, sought refuge in the familiarity of routine. "What about school? Anything unusual there?"
Kensuke hesitated once more, then reluctantly admitted, "Well, the whole school has been talking about you and Asuka. It's like you two are the main characters in some bizarre high school drama."
A disconcerting realization settled over Shinji. The threads of his reality seemed to fray, revealing glimpses of a narrative he couldn't comprehend. The mystery extended beyond the confines of the strange video and into the very fabric of his existence.
Suddenly, raised voices, whispers, and hurried footsteps suggested a disturbance of some kind.
The three stooges, driven by an instinct he couldn't quite define, rushed to the doorway, where he was met by a scene of chaos. Asuka, with a fiery determination, was confronting a group of students who seemed to be mocking her.
"You think this is funny?" she spat, her voice laced with both anger and frustration. "It must've been one of you then!"
Toji, Kensuke, and Shinji approached, attempting to diffuse the tension. Asuka, fuelled by a mixture of defiance and confusion, was determined to confront the unknown adversary.
"Asuka, stop these girls don't know anything." The three said, their efforts at restraining her proving to be a spectacular failure.
The corridors echoed with whispers, and the quest for answers continued, guided by the unsettling feeling that something fundamental had shifted.
The day eventually came to an end. Asuka and Shinji met by the gate, ready to commence their journey homeward.
"Listen, Third Child, let's just erase today from our memories." Asuka suggested, a plea wrapped in the weariness of the day.
"Forget? Isn't that why we're in this mess to begin with?" Shinji raised a valid point, a fine thread of logic woven into his words. However, Asuka swiftly dismissed it.
"No," she declared, a denial punctuated by a momentary pause, perhaps contemplating a contrary truth. "Yes? Maybe?"
"It'll all blow over by tomorrow. Hopefully, everyone forgets," Asuka muttered, a self-assurance attempting to mend the fractures of uncertainty.
"I highly doubt it," Shinji murmured in silent thought, his skepticism reverberating through the labyrinth of his mind. Nevertheless, he yielded to Asuka's proposal, and the duo commenced the walk home.
The following day….
Once again, in the early morning, the gathering of expectant students awaited the commencement of the class.
"Those two are awfully late," Toji remarked, noticing the absence of Shinji and Asuka.
"The teacher is too," Hikari added, diligently catching up on her studies.
It didn't take long before Shinji arrived, accompanied by Asuka, tethered along his arm. She held on gently, smiling and giggling, displaying the demeanour of an apparent girlfriend.
"Augh, Liebling, I'm so sorry," Asuka lamented, her gaze fixed on Shinji's injured eye.
"It's no problem," Shinji mumbled, savouring the tactile comfort of her touch. "I could never stay mad at you."
Asuka then leaped in front of him, and they held hands lovingly, touching each other's foreheads as Shinji guided her to her seat.
"I love you," he declared, prompting Asuka to give him a small kiss.
The entire class once again bore witness to the horror. The second-hand embarrassment permeated the room, leaving an overwhelming atmosphere of discomfort.
"Okay, what are you two doing!?" Hikari exclaimed, her confusion tangible.
Kensuke, at a speed unheard of before, pulled out his camera. Meanwhile, Toji, still cringing, felt like a turtle in desperate need of hiding in its shell.
"So you two are back together again?" Hikari inquired, her words creating a ripple of confusion between the pair.
"Again?" Asuka countered, "What do you mean, we were always together."
"But what about yesterday!?" Hikari pressed on, and both of them exchanged puzzled glances.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Shinji asserted, and Asuka nodded in agreement.
Hikari groaned, her hands pressed against her temples. "What!?"
"It's official," Toji deadpanned. "They've gone mad."
"Yeup," Kensuke concurred, his tone carrying a mix of amusement and disbelief.
"You don't remember any of yesterday?" Hikari posed a crucial question.
Shinji glanced at Asuka and paused for a while, a veil of uncertainty hanging over their shared memories.
"Yesterday..." Shinji began, his voice trailing off as he exchanged a bewildered glance with Asuka.
Asuka shrugged, a bemused smile playing on her lips. "Who knows? We're together now, that's what matters."
The response only deepened the mystery, leaving Hikari and the rest of the class befuddled. Toji, still recovering from the second-hand embarrassment, leaned back in his chair, watching the bizarre drama unfold with a mix of amusement and incredulity.
Hikari, determined to make sense of the situation, pressed on. "You seriously don't remember anything from yesterday? Not even a little bit?"
Shinji scratched his head, struggling to recall the specifics. "It's all a blur. I remember being with Asuka, but the details are fuzzy."
Asuka chimed in, her tone light-hearted. "Maybe we just had a case of selective memory. Who cares about yesterday when today is so much better?"
The classmates exchanged glances, the confusion lingering.
The teacher, who had finally arrived, eyed the scene with a mix of curiosity and resignation. "Settle down, everyone. We have a lesson to get through," the teacher announced, attempting to restore order to the disconcerting situation.
END.