Asuka & Shinji's Infinite Playlist

Chapter 2: Well, I'm Here With You

After the fifth listening, Shinji took his earphones out and looked at his SDAT player: It won't play anything else. I hope it's not broken, not after everything it's been through.

The first couple times through the new song were interesting and mysterious, and while the next one got annoying, it wasn't until the fifth that he began to worry the tape that had essentially become the last connection to hermay be gone forever.

"Whatcha listening to?"

Shinji looked up to see his new friend from the elevator standing in front of him, "Hey, uh, Mana, right?"

The newest stranger smiled brightly, "You remembered! Yes, Mana Kirishima!" and she held out her hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you, my name's Shinji, Shinji Ikari," he said, pausing before shaking her hand.

"I don't have cooties, Mr. Ikari."

Smiling back, Shinji shook the young girl's hand, pumping it twice before letting go. Her hand was soft and delicate, matching her light grey-blue eyes. Her short, brown hair briefly reminded him of home, and a gentle, dazzling smile quickly washed away any uneasiness he'd been feeling.

"Wow, such an official handshake!" Mana teased him.

Shinji blushed slightly and looked at her, "Well, all of my handshakes today have gone wrong, so you got the best one, I guess."

"I don't know how a handshake can go wrong, but I appreciate getting your best. Now," she changed subjects, "whatcha you listening to?"

The boy looked down at the SDAT player in his hand, turning it over a few times before responding, "I don't really know. I've had this tape for almost a year, but I found a song I don't quite recognize."

Mana stooped down to Shinji, leaning in close, "Well, I listen to a lot of music, so maybe I can help?"

"Sure," he said as he passed her one of the earphones.

Putting it in, Mana waited for Shinji to press PLAY and listened intently. After a minute, she spoke, "This is… that one guy. Uh, Beethoven! It's that really famous piece he wrote after he went deaf."

"What?" he said as he stopped the music. Shinji knew Beethoven, especially the Ninth Symphony: 'Choral', more commonly known as 'Ode to Joy'. He'd rehearsed the woodshed section in the fourth movement on cello easily a hundred times when he needed time to think, or to not think. This song definitely wasn't anything by Beethoven. "No, it's not."

"Maybe it's mixed up?" Mana asked, pulling her earphone out and offering it to Shinji. "Trade me."

Swapping the earphones out, Shinji again pressed PLAY on the player and heard the same song as before.

"Still Beethoven. Are you trying to trick me, Mr. Ikari?" the girl asked with a sly grin. "I may look innocent, but you're not gonna pull one over on me."

Shinji stopped the music and sighed, slightly defeated. "No, no tricks. I'm worried I've lost the music that was on here."

"Well, can't you just take the tape out?"

"No, it's been jammed shut for a long time. I've been listening to the same songs for… forever. The SDAT kept on working, even after she dropped it. It's a miracle…" Shinji faded off after bringing up the bitter memory.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Mana pleaded.

"No, it's fine," Shinji looked up and smiled softly, attempting to hide the sadness behind his eyes. "I remember listening to this together every day in the hospital. And now, it's all I have left."

"And you're sure there's no Beethoven on there?"

"That's the thing: there should be Beethoven. That's where I'm confused," he explained. "But all I hear is some song about the end of the world."

"Shinji and his Beethoven, I've got to get you into something more age appropriate," Hikari teased as she and Asuka walked up, minus their heavy coats and bags.

"I'm sorry, should I consult one of the boy bands you have plastered on your wall?" Shinji fired back.

"Hey, I have exquisite musical tastes!" Hikari defended.

Shinji's preferred genres weren't always as outdated as they'd become in the last year, but now it felt as if he wouldn't move on in fear of moving on from her. There was a fine line between honoring someone's memory and living with a ghost in the past, and oftentimes it seemed Shinji was unable to tell the difference.

"You'll have to introduce me to some good Japanese music," Asuka requested. "And I'll share some German bands."

Hikari quickly agreed, "Deal! I like expanding my horizons. The only modern German music I know of is that David guy. Uh, David-"

"No." Asuka quickly shut down Hikari's thought with a glare. "That wasn't good twenty years ago, it definitely isn't good now."

Hikari put her hands up defensively, still smiling, "Ok, ok, you're the expert." And she turned back to her childhood friend and yet another female stranger, "So, Shinji, who's your new acquaintance?"

Mana held out her hand to the other girls, "I'm Mana. Mana Kirishima! We just met on the elevator a little while ago!"

Hikari and Asuka both shook Mana's hand, introducing themselves.

"Hikari Horaki."

"I'm Asuka. Asuka Langley Soryu! Charmed, huh?"

Mana smiled bright at both of them, "I am charmed! It's great to meet you all. Shinji has such beautiful friends!"

While Hikari thanked the new girl for the compliment, Asuka turned and whispered to Shinji, "So, did you hold her hand, too?"

"Will you stop?!" he blushed and palmed his face.

Asuka couldn't help but laugh at him again, "Last time, I promise."

But Hikari had to chime in, "Oh no, Shinji, I'm not letting this go. I leave you alone in Tokyo for one morning and you're suddenly surrounded by all these girls!"

It wasn't until Hikari had mentioned it that Shinji realized how dreamlike the entire day had been. Beautiful strangers from all over the world were talking to him, befriending him. It's hard to meet new people in a city with less than 25,000 residents, and now he felt like the center of the Universe.

Shinji rolled his eyes again and decided to poke his best friend back, "What, are you jealous?"

"Shinji Ikari!" Hikari quietly shouted.

He couldn't help but laugh: relationships were always a touchy subject between the two of them, mostly because Hikari had the oddest taste in boys. Being a dutiful student and sister, Shinji had always thought she'd be more interested in someone more her type, but every time he found her talking to a boy at school it was some sort of athlete.

It's not that it bothered Shinji, but Hikari very rarely gave him openings to tease her, so her penchant for jocks was a hard target to resist.

"Hey, sorry, but my friends are over there! I'll see you in the cafeteria!" Mana quickly interrupted.

Happy for the distraction from where the conversation was headed, Shinji smiled and waved, "See you there!"

"Bye!" "It was nice meeting you!"

"See ya!"

After a brief silence, Shinji was thankful when Hikari moved on from his newly forming harem: "So, you were showing off your Beethoven?"

"No, I don't know. That's not what I hear. It's something very different, something I've never heard before. It's definitely not supposed to be on this tape."

Hikari looked at the SDAT player. "Shinji, you've had that thing forever, are you sure you've just never listened to it all the way through?"

Focusing on the puzzle in his hands, he kept turning the player over, hoping it would give some hint to what happened to it in the last four hours, "I have. I know I have. And it's not a new tape, it's still jammed shut." He showed her how the tape wouldn't budge.

"Well, have you tried-"

"I don't want to break it. Please," Shinji pleaded.

"I know, I'm sorry. Can we try and give it a listen?"

He shrugged and offered it to Hikari. What's the worst that can happen?

The teen brushed her hair away from her ear and inserted an earphone before handing the other side to Asuka, who stared at it for a moment, "Wait, am I a part of this now?"

"Yeah, we're just listening to it for a second."

"Oh, ok," Asuka agreed before placing the other earphone in her ear. "What is it I'm supposed to be hearing?"

But before anyone could answer her, Hikari pressed the PLAY button. Both girls stood in silence, while Shinji watched their eyes, hoping for any hint that he wasn't crazy.

The lobby was still buzzing with dozens of kids checking in and hanging out, but Shinji only focused on the two girls standing in front of him. A fire could break out six feet behind him, and he'd still be sitting on that bench waiting for confirmation that he wasn't hallucinating music.

Hikari waited for a bit before asking, "Uh, yeah, this is Beethoven. 'Ode to Joy', I think."

Sighing, Shinji hung his head. Damn… not them, too...

Sensing that wasn't the answer he was hoping to hear, Hikari turned the music off and took her earphone out, "I don't know, Shinji. I know 'Ode to Joy', and that's definitely what I heard. Are you feeling ok? I know you've been especially anxious about the exam."

"I'm fine Hikari, let's just go," Shinji answered shortly, pushing his emotions down. He held out his hand to Asuka, passively requesting the earphone back, and noticed the normally fiery girl was lost in her thoughts, "Ready to eat?"

Asuka's eyes opened wide, her bright blue orbs quickly looking around the room as if she was regaining her sense of balance, "Huh, what? Yeah! Let's go."

"Hey! Shinji, Asuka, Hikari! Let's go eat! I'm staaaaarving!" Mana loudly shouted across the room.

Hikari offered her hand to Shinji, pulling him up from the bench and patted him on the back. They shared a quiet smile before the older girl turned towards the cafeteria, calling back to Mana, "We're coming!"

Shinji took a single step forward past a still frozen Asuka before her hand reached out, resting on his upper arm and stopping him in his tracks. He looked at the redhead and she looked at him, "Asuka, are you alright?"

"I know Beethoven. And that wasn't Beethoven."


Sitting at a large table in the cafeteria, the three teenagers were soon joined by Mana and her two friends after they'd grabbed their food. Introductions went around the table and Shinji's group found themselves in the presence of three Tokyo natives.

"Well, I wasn't born here like these two," Mana corrected. "I was born in Akune, but my dad works in Tokyo, so I've lived here since I was 7."

"That's still fantastic! Cafeteria food is fine for lunch, but I need something real for dinner," Asuka commented. "I'm only in Japan for the exam, so I want to be blown away. Do you have any nearby suggestions?"

Mana's male friend started to make one when the other girl, Keita, interrupted, pointing past the group, "Musashi, look at how the snow's coming down. I don't think it's smart to go anywhere tonight."

The group looked out the large cafeteria windows and watched as the snow piled up on the ground. While snow wasn't unusual in a Tokyo winter, a full-blown snowstorm in late December was pretty unheard of. The large fountain out front of the school had long since frozen over, leaving no indication it ever existed beyond an oddly shaped pile of snow fifteen feet high.

"Yeah, this is the worst I've ever seen it," Mana commented. Turning to Shinji and Hikari, she asked, "Do you get more snow in the countryside?"

Shinji considered the question for a second before answering, "I… don't remember the last time it snowed."

Hikari elbowed him, giving him the strangest look, "Really? You can't remember the last time it snowed?" And answered for the both of them, "It snows a little every winter, but we got a pretty decent snowstorm late last February. I don't know why Shinji wouldn't remember that."

"What about Germany, Asuka?" Musashi asked.

Also seemingly unsure of how to answer, the group watched as Asuka pondered the question, "I mean, I'm sure it does. I just don't remember the last time it snowed. All I can remember is summertime…"

"What I'd give for summer in December!" Mana laughed. "I've got the cutest dress I could wear instead of all these snow clothes."

Shinji caught himself glancing at Asuka and noticed she also looked his way. The idea of sweating in December didn't sound very attractive, but there was something familiar about it. He could see the wheels turning in her head, her mouth opening for a second, before loud cheering from across the cafeteria interrupted her.

"YEAH! GREAT SHOT SUZUHARA!" a boy shouted and almost everyone turned to see several teenagers tossing paper balls into trash cans.

"SUZUHARA'S MADE TEN STRAIGHT! THE OSAKAN TERROR CAN'T MISS!" another loud boy announced.

"Of course that's my roommate."

The group looked back at Musashi curiously.

"There's a gym bag of stuff in my room marked 'SUZUHARA T.', and from the smell it's probably his actual gym bag," he explained.

Shinji couldn't help but smile at Hikari, knowing where this was likely heading. He watched as every brain cell immediately disappeared from his best friend, turning her into nothing but a pile of hormones.

"Co- could you, maybe, introduce me?" she asked, almost zombie-like.

"We haven't actually met, yet. Sorry," the boy answered.

Deflated, Hikari shrunk back down into her chair, suddenly realizing that everyone was now very aware of her odd preference for athletes, when Asuka stood up and grabbed her hand, "Jetzt ist die beste Zeit. Let's go get you a boyfriend."

"Oh no, Asuka, I-"

"Consider it a favor for a new friend," Asuka grinned like a shark while Mana and Keita cheered them on.

Blushing and stammering for a few steps, Hikari stopped herself and took a breath before cleaning up her pigtails and smoothing out her shirt. "How do I look?"

"Like a million bucks."

"Okay, Asuka. Let's go."

The table continued to hoot and holler after the two girls, while Shinji couldn't help but laugh.

Mana turned to him and asked, "So, what's the deal with Hikari?"

"She's such a perfectionist in everything: top grades, everything clean and organized, but she just can't turn down a messy jock. It's the strangest thing, and I'll never let her live it down, as much as I love her."

"Oh, you 'love her'..." Mana repeated.

"Not like that," Shinji backtracked. "We've known each other forever, she's the older sister I never had, and I'm the brother she never had. And her sisters became my sisters, by extension, leaving just me and a bunch of girls. I couldn't look at her any other way."

"That sounds so sweet, Shinji. So…" Mana leaned in a little closer, "are there any other girls in your life I should know about?"

With that question, he found himself unconsciously turning to look at Asuka. Even from across the room, the boisterous redhead was easily spotted aggressively pushing Hikari in front of the tallest of the jocks. She's fearless.

"You two are cute together," Mana smiled, bringing Shinji back to the conversation.

"No, wait, we just met this morning!"

"I see the way you look at her."

Shinji was still staring at Asuka from across the room, but speaking to Mana, "It's… there's just something so familiar about her."

He'd been wracking his brain since the subway encounter trying to solve that mystery, but had nothing to show for it. Deep down, Shinji was certain they had met before, but he couldn't remember ever seeing her prior to that morning.

Looking back to the table, he saw Musashi and Keita standing up. "Hey, Mana, let's go check out the rest of the campus. There's still some places to see."

"Yeah, sounds good!" she answered her friends before turning back to Shinji. "Well, I hope you can figure out how you know her. I know I'd sure hate it if you forgot about me."

Mana stood up and left with a small wave, leaving Shinji alone at the table. He looked back across the room and saw Hikari standing closely by the tall jock, Asuka heading back alone.

"She'll be getting to know Mr. Suzuhara for a little bit, I hope you're okay with that," the German explained. "Liebe ist in der Luft."

"She's a big girl, she can handle herself," Shinji replied.

"Good. Now, changing topics…"

"Oh?"

"I want to ask you about that music. Were you messing with me?" Asuka asked.

There was a brief silence between them. Shinji could feel the mood change, "No, Asuka. I'm serious."

She sat down on his right and held out her hand, "Let's give it another try, then."

"Ok."

Pulling the SDAT player out and unwinding the earphones, Shinji handed one to her and put the other into his right ear. He watched as she started to reach up and put hers into her left ear when the redhead paused, the cable stretched too tightly between them.

Looking at the cord and then at Shinji, Asuka scooted right next to Shinji, their hips and shoulders almost touching: "No funny business."

Shinji put his hand up, "On my honor."

Rolling her eyes and taking a deep breath, Asuka waited until Shinji pressed the PLAY button and their ears were filled with drums and guitar.

Asuka began to nod her head to the beat, eventually looking into Shinji's eyes, "Yeah, this definitely isn't Beethoven. I've never heard it before. Who is it?"

Shinji shrugged as the verse continued, "I don't know. It just kinda appeared on here. The tape's jammed in, so I've been listening to the same 26 tracks since earlier this year. This morning's the first time I've ever heard it."

"'This morning'? Huh..." Focusing on the song, Asuka turned her head and closed her eyes. Shinji got the hint and followed suit, letting the music swell and grow inside of him. Having someone to share the song with brought a new emphasis to every word, every note, every rhythm, and Shinji found his finger tapping the beat on his knee, somehow knowing deep inside himself that Asuka was doing the exact same, perfectly in sync.

The sounds of the busy cafeteria faded away, instead gently replaced with a sprawling cityscape below them. The sweltering heat of an eternal summer embraced the two, washing away any hint of a winter snowstorm, a gentle breeze stirring the laundry drying above them. The weight of all of humanity suddenly resting on their shoulders, any thoughts about entry exams and private schools were replaced.

Names, words, locations, none familiar, started to creep into his memory, fuzzy and shapeless, just out of reach. But the one thing that grew stronger was his attraction to the spirited redhead to his right, his emotions confused and conflicted in an uncertain way.

Unaware that he'd been transported to a balcony he'd never been to, Shinji opened his eyes, feeling the powerful connection dangling between their ears. The boy looked at Asuka fondly, and watched as her eyes slowly opened. Cobalt met sapphire again, and Shinji blushed and smiled. And Asuka smiled back.

Suddenly their ears were suddenly filled with a new song, a light piano leading into drums and more:

I have,
I have you breathing down my neck
Breathing down my neck
I don't, don't know
What you could possibly expect
Under this condition
So, I'll wait, I'll wait
For the ambulance to come
Ambulance to come
Pick us up off the floor
What did you possibly expect
Under this condition?

So, slow down
This night's a perfect shade of

Dark blue, dark blue
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room
When I'm here with you?
I said the world could be burning, burning down
Dark blue, dark blue
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?
Well, I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning
'Til there's nothing but dark blue

The redhead broke the silence first, causing Shinji to stop the music: "Did you change it?"

"No, I didn't touch it."

She eyed him suspiciously before removing her earphone and standing up, the moment having since washed over them.

"Asuka, I mean it. I… I don't know this song either," Shinji pleaded, fearing he'd ruined whatever had just happened. What did happen?

Shaking her head, Asuka wrapped her arms around each other, shivering, "Does it suddenly… feel…"

"... colder?" Shinji finished without thinking. He had definitely felt a breeze, a warm breeze. And so did she, he was sure of it.

But before he could elaborate, the fiery German girl briskly walked off, once again leaving Shinji behind. His heart ached again, like a piece of it was ripped away, What was that? What is going on?

He turned his SDAT player over in his hands, staring at the faded display, now reading as "02", and started to put the other earphone in. His thumb reaching for the PLAY button, he found himself unable to press it. He couldn't just move on with everything even more of a mess than before.

She heard it, too, he thought. She felt it, too...

Removing his earphones and wrapping them back around the SDAT, Shinji stood up, glanced over at Hikari, making sure she was still with her new found crush, and headed after Asuka.


After searching for some time, Shinji found Asuka standing in front of a vending machine around the back of the lobby, furiously pressing buttons and muttering to herself.

"Ach! Scheiße! What's wrong with this damn machine?!" she punctuated with a kick.

"Just once, I wish a girl like her would order me around!" Shinji heard from behind him. His mind racing with yet another odd form of déjà vu, he shook off the sensation, tired of his brain seemingly melting into itself today, and turned to see the bespectacled boy from earlier this morning gawking at the redhead.

"She's usually not like this, I think you're just catching her at a bad time," Shinji defended. More like a bad mood that I caused…

"Hey! What are you guys looking at?" Asuka shouted, now approaching the two boys, hands on her hips.

Kensuke folded his hands, almost starstruck, "Oh wow, she's spoken to me…"

Now standing directly in front of them, the girl crossed her arms and spoke only at Kensuke, "I need you to leave. Shinji and I have to have a little talk."

"But-"

"Now." She emphasized with a glare.

Bowing and backing away slowly, Kensuke apologized and left, feeling the tension between them, "Nice knowing you…" he offered before slinking off completely.

Shinji spoke first, not really sure how to start. "Asuka, I-"

"Buy me a soda," she interrupted. "The machine ate my money, and I'm still thirsty."

Without hesitation, Shinji opened his wallet and inserted money into the vending machine, stepping aside to let her make a selection. Asuka tapped her foot until the can popped out of the bottom and she retrieved it.

"Now, why would you I just command you to do something like 'buy me a soda'?" she asked, popping open the beverage. "And why would you unquestioningly do it?"

Asuka took a long sip from the can, eyeing the boy and waiting for an answer.

His mind raced with a million thoughts, but none of them truly made sense. "I don't know. I felt like it was the right thing to do."

Lowering the can slightly, Asuka looked right into Shinji's eyes and asked as directly as possible: "'Felt like it was the right thing,' just who the hell are you, Shinji Ikari?"

Taken aback, Shinji couldn't answer the girl. He suddenly feared the stranger and her words, unconsciously knowing the damage they could do without even trying.

Pressing her advantage, Asuka lowered the drink and started poking him in the chest, while almost shouting in his face, "I'm trying to leave Germany to get away from bullshit. And everything was fine until you started with your mind games!"

Shinji almost cowered from her, "I- I'm not bullshitting you, Asuka! There are no 'mind games'. I'm sorry-"

Another few pokes to his chest, more forcefully, "And again with the apologies!"

Almost instinctively, he found himself shrinking away from the girl. She was barely taller, but in this moment the European aggressor towered over him. Shinji's brain could only proffer the same meaningless words, "I'm sorry. I-"

The words enraged the girl, and Shinji watched as she pulled her hand back to slap him. Having had enough, he caught her hand before it reached him, and he pulled it to his chest, holding it with both of his, pleading into her eyes with his own, "Please, Asuka, you're the only person that can help me!"

Shinji didn't know where those words had come from, but they seemed to have worked. He watched her beautiful ocean blue eyes open wide, tears beginning to form in the corners.

After a tense moment, Asuka shut them hard, turning her head away, pulling her hand from his: "The exam is in the morning, and I fly back to Germany tomorrow night."

"Ok. We ca-"

But the girl looked back at the boy and her words cut through Shinji like a hot knife: "Stay away from me."

And again she left.


Tears rolling down his cheeks, Shinji found himself laying on his dorm room bed, unaware of how or when he'd made it there. Staring at the stained ceiling, he stopped from instinctively reaching for the SDAT player like he'd done so many times before.

Music was always important in the Ikari household, and the SDAT player was one of Shinji's most prized possessions. As a young child, his mother had surprised him with his first few tapes and the player. He remembered opening the gift to find his name engraved on the back plate.

But it wasn't until Shinji found himself spending more and more time in the hospital that the SDAT became more than a mere hobby: the player and the music found within it quickly became a coping mechanism, a form of escapism, and, most importantly, a tool to drown out the endless beeps and buzzes of the hospital's monitoring equipment.

At one point, Shinji and his mother spent an entire weekend crafting the tape that was now permanently wedged in it, full of their favorite songs spanning several centuries and genres. That tape became the soundtrack of almost a year's worth of sadness, overnight morphing into his only remaining connection to her.

However, now that the music was lost, the connection broken, every dark thought and memory it suppressed came boiling to the top.

"Shinji, I need you to promise me… promise me, even after I'm gone, that you'll do your best. Promise me you'll still test for Myojo..."

Please, please stop, he pleaded to the air. He didn't want to remember that last night, not now..

"Promise me you'll find your own path."

I can't do this.

"Please… promise me… Shinji..."

Tears continued to spill over his cheeks, the old familiar pang of loss now topped with a fresh new layer. Emotions from an hour ago amplified by emotions from a few months ago.

He could see those dying eyes in that hospital bed, the light almost completely gone. They'd known for months it was terminal, but it still did nothing to dull the pain.

I- I promise.

With that, the memory faded, hospital machinery blending back into his unconscious, replaced with the constant humming of the heating system and the faint sound of people walking and talking in the hallway.

A gentle knock at the door brought him the rest of the way back into the conscious world, surprising Shinji as he jumped to his feet, heart racing all the way to the door. He took a deep breath and opened it, surprised at his guest.

"Shinji, hey! Come join us for dinner!" Mana beamed.

Looking at her, puzzled, Shinji could only wonder where the time had gone. Wiping his cheeks to hide any evidence of what just occurred, he replied, "Hey… Uh, yeah, yeah, let me get my shoes."

Mana held the door open while he turned back into his room and slipped his sneakers on, making a conscious decision to leave his SDAT player on the bed. Some time away from all of that will be good for me, he thought as he entered the hallway and found himself surrounded by Mana's friends, Musashi and Keita.

"Good to see you again, Shinji!" Keita greeted him as they headed towards the elevators.

"You too, guys," he replied.

The foursome entered the next available elevator, finding Hikari already on board, "Hey, I was heading down to start looking for you!"

"We didn't have Shinji's phone number, so Mana asked around and we decided to just grab him from his room," Musashi explained. "Speaking of, hey, what's your phone number?"

Shinji smiled and shook his head, able to predict word-for-word what Hikari was about to answer for him, "Old man Shinji, here, doesn't have a cell phone. He doesn't think he needs one."

Coming from a smaller city like Otsuki, Shinji considered a cell phone an unnecessary luxury. There were only a couple dozen people that would end up calling, anyway, so what was the point if they already knew where to find him.

"What?" "That's crazy!" Mana and Keita simultaneously exclaimed.

"I don't think I could live without my phone," confessed Musashi. "No judgment here, Shinji, but you could totally replace that outdated tape player by now."

Knowing how touchy the subject was, Hikari quickly came to Shinji's defense, "Well, there's a bit more history behind that than any old cell phone, guys. Don't bother getting into it, though, I've tried to fight this fight. It's Shinji's choice: he doesn't need a phone if he doesn't want one."

Shinji gave Hikari a silent thank you with a smile and a nod, before attempting to steer the subject, "So, what's for dinner-?"

But Hikari had already set her sights on another problem topic, "Any way, have you seen Asuka? She disappeared after introducing me to Toji, and I haven't had a chance to thank her."

"I don't know… I think she's upset with me," Shinji sighed.

Hikari gave him a questioning look when the elevator chimed and everyone began to pour out, heading for the cafeteria. Mana's trio led the way, and Shinji tried to follow but his oldest friend held him behind for a moment, "Do you want me to talk to her about it?"

Shaking his head, he attempted to decline the offer, "No, I don't want to-"

"Shinji, I'm sure it's not a big deal. She's a teenage girl, she's probably just confused about her feelings for you!"

"Hikari, we just met."

"What about 'love at first sight' and all that?"

Shinji started blushing and stammering, "It's not like that! I- we, we were just- ah!"

"I know, I know, I'm just trying to cheer you up. She probably wants nothing to do with you."

"H- hey! That doesn't help!" Shinji shouted, offended.

Hikari giggled, finally getting her best friend out of his mopey mood, "Now, there's my Shinji. Let's go eat and we'll talk about Asuka later."

Fortunate to have a friend like Hikari Horaki in his life, Shinji smiled as the two of them followed the rest of the students toward the cafeteria.


"Oh my goodness, the food here is absolutely dreadful," Hikari complained loudly. "Shinji, let's go to the kitchen and teach them a thing or two about cooking!"

The five Myojo hopefuls sat at a larger table towards the middle of the cafeteria, Shinji purposely positioning himself with an eyeline towards the entry. Despite knowing deep down inside what he was looking for, the teenage boy tried to convince himself he just wanted to know how to escape the group if the conversation turned a certain direction.

"Shinji, you can cook?" inquired Mana, eyes wide.

"I'm ok-" he started to answer before being cut off.

"Stop being so humble, Ikari!" Hikari turned to Mana, "Shinji's a better cook than I am, annoyingly enough. He's just a natural; something he must've gotten from his mom."

"You taught me most of my best recipes, Horaki," Shinji fired back. "So, it's not like I get all the credit."

Wrapping her arms around Shinji's left arm, Mana smiled brightly looking up at the boy, "He's handsome, smart, and a good cook?"

"And he's a beautiful cellist," Hikari added.

"Oh my goodness, how have you not claimed him yourself?" Keita interjected.

And there was one of the conversations Shinji couldn't escape fast enough. His nervous eyes scanned the cafeteria, Here we go again. Maybe I can pretend to be sick? he thought, still looking at the entrance for nothing in particular.

"Our mothers have been trying to marry us off for as long as I can remember, but I just couldn't," laughed Hikari. "Plus, 'Hikari Ikari' sounds absolutely ridiculous."

"And after fighting them for so long, our sisters would never let us live it down," Shinji chuckled nervously. "Except for maybe Zuzu."

"'Zuzu'?" Mana asked, still staring at Shinji.

"My little sister, Nozomi. She just turned 8," Hikari explained. "She grew out of the nickname a couple years ago, but Shinji's allowed to still call her that."

"Aww!" exclaimed Mana, "That's so cute."

"He's absolutely precious with her. She's already offered to be the flower girl at our wedding."

Shinji found himself smiling, missing the smallest member of the joint Ikari-Horaki family, "It's going to break her heart when I tell her you found a boyfriend on this trip and it isn't me, you know."

"Yeah, where is your new boytoy?" Mana asked, releasing Shinji's arm and sitting back up at the table.

Now nervous about the attention set on her, Hikari went stiff, "Ha, yeah, uh, I asked Toji to join us at dinner, so hopefully he'll stop by."

Keita and Mana started prying into the new couple, "Tell us about him!" "Yeah, tell us!"

Hikari blushed and started petting her own pigtail, smiling as she spoke, "Well, he's from Osaka, so he's got this accent…"

"Ooh!"

Shinji chuckled and rolled his eyes, Of course she'd meet a big city jock. Could it get any more cliche?

"Oh, oh, there he is," Hikari's blush continued. She shouted across a few tables, "Toji! Come meet my friends!"

But instead of coming to her summon, the tall athlete waved her over to his group of friends, deep in conversation.

"Ok! One sec!" She turned to Shinji as she stood up, "Hey, when you're done, please come meet him. He's actually a really sweet guy."

Shinji accepted the invitation and looked after their dinner trays, collecting Mana, Keita, and Musashi's as well.

"Such a gentleman!" Mana exclaimed, as Keita began to tease her about it.

"Oh my goodness, Mana, will you give the boy some breathing room?!"

The three of them laughed as Shinji nervously rubbed his head, uncomfortable with all the extra attention he was getting.

"You're no fun, Keita," the girl pouted. "In any case, let's go get one last study session in before bed. Shinji, you're welcome to join us."

He smiled but politely declined, "Thank you, but I'm going to go meet Hikari's new friend before turning in for the night. Good luck with your studies!"

"Oh alright, Shinji. See you tomorrow at breakfast?" Mana asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there."

And with that, Mana and Keita left, Musashi lingering for a second behind, "They're not gonna study, they're just gonna gossip for an hour."

Shinji slapped Musashi on the back, "Keep 'em on topic, I believe in you."

Musashi chuckled and followed after the girls while Shinji took all the food trays to the garbage cans.

Turning back to the cafeteria, Shinji scanned the room quickly before looking in the corner that Hikari's beau had sat in, only to find empty tables.

It's getting late, maybe they went back to study or sleep, he thought. Deciding to also turn in for the night, he walked towards the elevators, keeping his eyes open for any sign of the foreign redhead. However, he found himself increasingly let down with every step closer to his dorm room.

"Stay away from me."

Shinji recalled the bitter words, wondering what he could say or do to fix things. If she won't talk to me tomorrow, I'll never get another chance.

Lying back down on the mattress, he grabbed the SDAT and placed the earphones in, prepared to listen to the new song and hopefully come up with a more satisfying explanation to whatever was happening. I'll just have to find her at breakfast before the exam.

Determined to solve the mystery before the night's end, Shinji pressed PLAY, the new song picking up right where it left off:

Just dark blue

This flood
This flood is slowly rising up
Swallowing the ground
Beneath my feet
Tell me how anybody thinks
Under this condition
So, I'll swim, I'll swim
As the water rises up
Sun is sinking down
And now all I can see
Are the planets in a row
Suggesting it's best that I

Slow down
This night's a perfect shade of

Dark blue, dark blue
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room
When I'm here with you?
I said the world could be burning, burning down
Dark blue, dark blue
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?
Well, I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning
Dark blue

We were boxing
We were boxing the stars
We were boxing
You were swinging for Mars

And then the water reached the West Coast
And took the power lines, the power lines
And it was me and you
And the whole town underwater
There was nothing we could do
It was dark blue

Dark blue, dark blue
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room
When I'm here with you?
I said the world could be burning, burning down
Dark blue
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?
Well, I'm here with you
I said the world could be burning
Now there's nothing but
Dark blue

If you've ever been alone
You'll know
Dark blue

If you've ever been alone
You'll know
You'll know

Alone and seemingly underwater, Shinji found his eyes too heavy to hold open, falling asleep to yet another unfamiliar track beneath an unfamiliar ceiling.


Song: "Dark Blue" by Jack's Mannequin