Asuka & Shinji's Infinite Playlist
Chapter 4: One More Last Try
Shinji's eyes darted around the expansive library for a moment, completely missing the reference Asuka was making. Jumping out of his seat, he cried out, "What?!"
"No, sit down, idiot," she hissed. "Not literally 'on fire', I meant in the songs."
The boy collected himself, sitting back down and breathing a sigh of relief that their immediate surroundings weren't ablaze. He watched as his partner started circling lyrics on the most recent entry.
"'Building it up to burn it down', 'we can't wait to burn it to the ground', 'fan the flames as your blazes burn'..." she read aloud, the pencil then jumping to the top of the page. "'Explosions broke in the sky', 'flames climbed into the clouds'..."
Shinji eyed the notebook curiously as Asuka flipped back a page, her hand darting around the page circling more and more frantically.
"And here: 'I said the world could be burning, burning down'..."
The confident redhead appeared more nervous than ever, as Shinji watched her breath catch repeatedly in her throat, an almost undeniable pile of evidence seemingly piling up in front of them.
"And in the first one: 'But I believe the world is burning to the ground', 'well I believe it all is coming to an end,' and, uh, here, 'I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world..."
Asuka slumped back in her chair, almost all color drained from her face; her complexion matched the falling snow just outside the building, skin as cold as the icicles hanging from the building's awning. Even her eyes, normally a brilliant, dazzling shade of blue, momentarily glazed over with a dull sheen.
Whatever the two teens were in suddenly bore much more significance: the music, once seemingly random and unfamiliar now showed to have a common theme. Unfortunately, it appeared that the theme was a cataclysm of some form.
Shinji reached out and took the girl's cold, trembling hand in his, slowly coaxing her out of her shell and back into the Myojo Academy library: "Asuka... Asuka, talk to me. Please."
"Does 'Second Impact' mean anything to you?" she asked dryly, eyes still unfocused.
The flash of classroom reappeared in Shinji's mind: he definitely remembered seeing those two strange words in the vision from earlier. "You saw that, too?"
Asuka squeezed his hand back and looked at him, a reassuring sign to Shinji, "Yeah. I saw the words written on this chalkboard at the front of the room. I've never heard that term before: 'Second Impact'."
"Me neither. But, it feels like I should know the answer."
"Right?"
Shinji stood from his chair, twisting and stretching, "Hey, we're in a library: let's go look. I'm sure there's something in here about it."
"You know, that's a pretty smart idea coming from you," Asuka bluntly stated.
Aghast, Shinji stared at Asuka, who he noticed just realized what she had said.
"Mein gott, I'm sorry, that was rude," she apologized.
Truth be told, Shinji didn't think anything of it, which was definitely confusing for the normally confident boy. But that was something he could ponder later, it wasn't important at the moment.
"It's okay, Asuka. I know you didn't mean it," he accepted.
The two then silently nodded and headed deeper into the library, searching in different sections for references to the two strange words. At one point Shinji logged onto a computer, scouring the Internet for any information the impressive library might be missing.
After a couple hours of searching and collecting data, Shinji found Asuka sitting in the medical section, pouring over a book, and invited her back to their table.
"So, I'm guessing you found the same thing I did," Shinji mentioned as they sat down, referencing the section she was found in, setting his stack of printouts on the table next to her textbook.
"It's all medical: something called 'second impact syndrome' is the only thing I could find," the redhead opened her finding to the marked page.
"I found the same," Shinji pulled out a stapled packet from his stack of papers. "Here's a 2009 medical journal: 'Controversy surrounds Second Impact Syndrome, SIS, a condition so rare that even the frequency of its occurrence is in question. From 1980 to 1993 the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, identified thirty-five probable cases among American football players."
"I feel like I'd remember getting a concussion," Asuka thought aloud. "And the likelihood both of us got one and it's causing us to have the same vision..."
"... is pretty much impossible," Shinji finished. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke up again, attempting to add some levity to the situation, "Well, there is one other thing..."
The redhead perked up as he sifted through the papers, pulling one out with a familiar logo on the top and handing it to her. She read it aloud, "'Street Fighter III 2nd Impact: Giant Attack'?"
Shinji chuckled out loud, "Yeah, I know, but I figured we could use something to lighten the mood."
Asuka began to start giggling, the small sound working its way down from her shoulders to her chest, finally becoming a full belly-laugh. She tossed her head back, gasping for breath as she cracked up. Several loud shushes from around the library brought the lively girl back to Earth, and she clamped her hand over her mouth.
Wiping tears away, she looked at the stunned boy, "Oh come on, you don't see how this is funny?"
Shinji shrugged, happy to see Asuka was taking it well.
"Shinji, I feel like I'm going crazy, and for a very brief moment I honestly considered it because of a video game: all of this because of verfickter Street Fighter!"
Finding the humor in it as well, Shinji smiled and laughed with her. Street Fighter warning of the end of the world through the two teens was incredibly unlikely, but so far nothing else made much sense of it all either.
Asuka's eyes finally dried up, her cheeks returning to their normal color. "It's more likely than both of us having multiple concussions, but even then, it's just impossible."
"Well, I looked into something else, too," Shinji started, "But nothing came of it."
"What's that?"
"Well, I imagine if there's a second 'Impact', there should be a first, right?"
"That would make sense."
"But I found nothing useful. Nothing we'd be learning about in a school setting."
The redhead paused, deep in thought, "Yeah, about that: why were we in class together?"
Shinji hadn't considered that before, but it added a new wrinkle to the equation.
"I've never been to Japan before now, and I don't think you've ever been to Germany."
"No, I would've mentioned it."
"Exactly," Asuka continued. "Do you think... do you think we're seeing the future? We're seeing us together at Myojo Academy?"
"Maybe?" Shinji unconfidently answered. "I don't know. None of this makes sense. We're not seeing enough of the picture. Are you suggesting that the songs are trying to prevent the end of the world next year?"
Asuka shrugged, nervously twisting her hair in her fingers, "I don't know what I'm suggesting..."
The two sat in silence for a bit, each deep in thought, trying to remember any more details of their two experiences, but neither could come up with anything helpful or interesting.
"What," Asuka was the first to break the silence, "uh, what do you think is triggering all this? The songs and, you know, visions and stuff?"
Shinji pondered the thought before answering, "Honestly? I think it's you."
He watched as the redhead raised her eyebrow questioningly.
"More like, it's us."
"Elaborate."
Shinji shifted in his seat, piecing together the events as best possible: "We first met at the subway station, I pulled you off the car before the doors shut."
"I remember, you held my hand like a weirdo."
"Yeah, sorr-" Shinji started, but a sharp look from Asuka shut down the line of thought. He cleared his throat and corrected the course, "Well, part of that was this weirdly familiar sensation I got from you: like we'd met each other before."
"Makes sense, I think I felt the same thing," she responded, continuing, "but I guess I brushed it off like you were some kinda pervert."
Shinji blushed at the thought, stammering out, "Wha- what?! That's the impression I gave off?!"
The girl shook her head quickly, "No, that's what I thought, because I couldn't explain it otherwise. Because normal strangers don't hold your hand for an awkward amount of time. And normal strangers definitely don't make you feel like you've forgotten the name of one of your closest friends."
His heart slowing back down, Shinji nodded, "That's almost exactly what it was: I felt like I knew you, and then guilty because I couldn't remember who you were."
"Okay, okay. Let's move on."
"I listened to the song by myself later, and that's when you and Hikari listened. You said you heard it, too, and we tried again together after lunch."
"And I felt that familiarity again," Asuka continued. "I think that's what you were trying to say earlier in your dorm?"
Again, Shinji nodded in agreement, "Yeah. Beyond the physical temperature change, I felt a different kind of connection to you. Like we were... almost friends."
"'Almost friends', that's one way to put it. I was going to say roommates."
"And the last time was just now. With the pencil, of all things," the confused boy finished. His mind raced, so many clues laid out in front of him, but seemingly none connected. "Which is why I say it's 'us': us being together."
"'Being together'," Asuka echoed in thought.
"Doing things together."
"'Doing things toge-'" she paused her repetition, "'Doing things together'? So, you are a pervert."
"Not like that!" Shinji refuted, smiling after he caught Asuka's giggle.
"I know, I know. But still... does that mean we have to, you know, go..." she gulped. "... further?"
The two teens stared at each other in the quiet library. Two lonely souls in a room with a million stories, each watching to see if the other makes the first move. Not one of the million stories would help them now as they stared, but the first move would have to wait as they were interrupted by a pig-tailed girl sitting at the table with them.
"You two have been off on your own for hours, and you're reading..." Hikari rifled through the stack of papers and the textbook on the table, "... about concussions?"
"Uhh, yeah..." is all Shinji could muster.
"This is your secret project from the Director?"
There was an unconvincing silence until Asuka spoke up, the first to pick up the line of thought: "Yeah, there was a student, uh, that slipped and fell. And they needed help with it."
But Hikari clearly wasn't buying it, "The Director is a doctor, of some sort, and my test proctor was also a doctor. Why would they need your help?"
Another pregnant pause, and once again Asuka came to the rescue: "Well... they knew I was a 'Langley', and the Langley Foundation is a well-known head-trauma research group. The Deputy Director assumed I would be able to help some."
Shinji sat, dumbfounded, watching the brilliant redhead come up with an answer for everything, "Yeah, that."
Said redhead rolled her eyes at the boy's confirmation, muttering under her breath, "Very helpful."
Apparently Hikari bought it, though, as her concerned look turned to a smile, "Wow, I didn't know that! That makes sense. How's it going, then?"
"Oh, she'll recover. Just needs some rest."
Shinji chimed in, trying to help again, "Good news is back injuries-"
"Head injuries, dummkopf," Asuka corrected.
"Yeah, head injuries are easy to care for!" he finished with his cheesiest smile.
Hikari looked at Shinji suspiciously again, before shrugging and standing up, "Well, okay then. This is beyond me, so, it's almost dinner. See you in the cafeteria?"
Asuka and Shinji both agreed, seeing Hikari off before settling back down at the table with a deep sigh.
"'The Langley Institute'?" Shinji asked incredulously.
Asuka winked at him, "Actually, that part's true. Remember when I said my parents were wealthy? My father is a neurosurgeon, and after an, uh, accident with mama- I mean, my mother, he created the Langley Foundation."
"Oh, that's cool."
"Yeah. My father's pretty famous around the world for it, and we've all travelled quite a bit, so that part wasn't even a stretch. They even partnered with..." she paused uncomfortably, "... another group, for... another cause. But... that didn't work..."
The girl trailed off, leaving both teens in silence. After a few minutes, Shinji reached out and touched her hand, smiling at her when she finally looked him in the eyes.
"Never mind all that. Let's put this away and get to dinner!"
"Sounds good, Asuka."
At dinner, the two teens found themselves at the center of a lively conversation. Originally beginning with the Langley Foundation and the mysterious student with the head injury, the topic morphed into the more general question of their regular disappearing act.
"Mana, my goodness, we've only been here a few days. How do they 'keep' doing anything?" asked Keita.
"Well, it just seems like they're together an awful lot," Mana answered. Turning back to said duo, she questioned them, "Are you together? Like, 'together' together?"
Shinji turned bright red, unsure of what the appropriate answer is. He attempted to put it into words, "Well, I really-" but Asuka interrupted him.
"We just met, I barely know him!" she got out quickly.
"I met him the same day you did, Asuka, and I already think Shinji's wonderful!" Mana beamed again, blinking her eyes bashfully.
"Well good for you," Asuka replied sarcastically. "But I don't fall in love with everyone I meet."
Shinji turned and looked at Asuka, unsure of what to make of her response. She certainly seemed interested in the library, on the verge of opening up to him, despite the oddly dark topics they were discussing, but now she was again distant. He waited for a bit while both Asuka and Mana chided back and forth at each other, hoping the redhead would look his way, but she had targeted Mana and never once glanced at the very boy they were arguing about.
Thankfully, Hikari inserted herself in between the feuding girls, "Asuka, Mana, please: let's let Shinji decide."
Oh, come on Hikari! he pleaded with his eyes. But before he could attempt to answer, the doors next to their table burst open and several of the school's administration entered the room, arguing amongst each other.
"Misato, I'm telling you this is a terrible idea…" Director Fuyutsuki said, rubbing his temples as they walked.
"Relax, Kozo, it'll be fine," the tall woman replied, looking around the room.
"I told you this yesterday: a school dance held at midnight with 400, ahem," he cleared his throat, "'trapped' adolescents is a recipe for disaster. How are we going to manage them all?!"
Deputy Director Katsuragi smiled confidently, "The same way we handle every school dance!"
"I don't have enough booze for that."
"Shut up, Ryo," the blonde woman retorted before turning to Misato. "Except those dances aren't usually held until one in the morning."
"Exactly! We never get to do this! It'll be fun!"
The Director shook his head disapprovingly and tossed his hands in the air, leaving the remaining three adults. Smiling at the table of teens before them, the Deputy Director sat down at an empty chair and slapped her hand on the table, looking back at the woman and man.
"And this is my ace-in-the-hole!" Misato gestured to the teens. "Mana and Hikari here are helping plan this baby! They've been helping me find decorations in the storage closet, and are going to help spiff this place up Thursday after lunch!"
"About that: if the cafeteria is going to be set up for the dance, where are we supposed to eat dinner, Miss Katsuragi?" Hikari asked.
"We'll just have you eat in the lobby and your rooms!"
"And how are we going to collect all the plates and silverware?" the blonde woman asked.
"Ritsuko, we're making it up as we go. We'll just have a bin for it on each floor! Quit poking holes."
"Well, it seems you've got it all figured out, Misato," Ritsuko shrugged. "I'm just here for the show. So, lead them, o wise party planning deity of Kanagawa."
Misato stuck her tongue out at the woman before turning back to the table, "Girls, we found some leftover Christmas lights in the storage, so we can really make the place sparkle! We'll need our 'big, strong Toji' to help out for sure."
Toji turned bright red, embarrassed by the attention from the beautiful older woman, "Right, uh, I'm here to help!"
"Good!" she stood back up, "Let's meet tomorrow to discuss how we want to set things up. I will see you in the cafeteria at, say, 2:00?"
"No problem!" "Can do!"
"And then, I say we get started on decorating early so you girls have plenty of time to pretty yourselves up. Let's also do 2:00 on Thursday?"
Mana, Hikari, and Toji agreed, loudly volunteering the rest of the table, "Deal. We'll all be there, won't we guys?"
There was slight grumbling among the volun-told, but everyone came on board, lacking any sufficient excuse to avoid helping considering their current locked-in predicament.
"That's the spirit! Now, I need to find Aki: she's in charge of the playlist!" And the woman and her crew ventured further into the cafeteria.
The slight grumbling grew louder when the teens were left alone at the table.
"So, apparently we're also helping out with the decorating?" Musashi asked, annoyed.
"Well, yeah, we could use your help," Mana smiled sweetly, cooing, "And anything to spend more time with my Shinji…"
Asuka rolled her eyes at the girl, "He's all yours…"
"Plus, what else were you going to do? It's not like we can leave," Hikari questioned them.
"I guess so, I just wish you would've asked us first," Asuka said, turning her nose up at the group.
"Oh come on, Asuka, where's your holiday spirit? We're only going to be here a couple more days. And who knows if we'll all be here in March," Mana suggested.
The thought hadn't yet occurred to Shinji, that his time with Asuka was quickly running out. Unsure of how to trigger the strange visions and music, he didn't know what it would take to hurry their discoveries up, but another obstacle had seemingly just presented itself: the girl's attitude towards him and their time together.
Before dinner, Shinji could've easily accepted that there was a mutual attraction between each other, especially considering how she kissed him on the cheek earlier that day. But now she was acting distant, outwardly offended by the group's soft accusation that they were in any way a couple.
Shinji didn't realize how lost in thought he was until his best friend tapped him on the shoulder, "Hey, sleepyhead, are you awake?"
He looked up and saw most of the group had already left the cafeteria, with only Hikari and Asuka remaining behind, "Huh? Yeah. I think so."
Hikari started to invite Shinji to leave, until she noticed Asuka nervously glancing at Shinji, and smiled, whispering to the boy, "I'm going to let you two talk. I'll see you tomorrow morning?"
"See you tomorrow morning," he confirmed, also realizing Asuka seemed as if she had something to say.
The redhead waited for a few moments for the brunette to leave before sitting back down next to Shinji, "Hey, I think we should pause our little project for tomorrow. Just to get everyone off of our backs."
Surprised and disheartened at her lack of urgency, all Shinji could do was nod. "If that's what you want, Asuka."
She waited, trying to find the right words, "I just- I don't really know what to make of it. And if we're off doing who-knows-what too often, they'll get suspicious. And we don't really know if we're actually looking at the end of the world, which would rightly freak everyone out."
Shinji sighed, about to give up, when he decided to change his tact. Knowing time was against them, he tried a more direct approach: "We're running out of time, Asuka. Whatever this is, I want to figure it out with you. I don't- I don't want to lose you."
These words had clearly taken the girl by surprise, as she sat with her mouth open for quite some time. Her expression eventually softened, "Ok. It looks like we've got two days left. So, how about tomorrow, after dinner? We'll hang with the group all day, help plan this ridiculous dance, and then get back to work later that night. That way we'll still have all of Thursday, too."
"I can do that," Shinji agreed. At least she wasn't completely avoiding him.
"Deal."
"That girl just drives me crazy," Asuka commented, settling down at the study desk in the library.
The last twenty-four hours had passed agonizingly slowly: what would usually have been considered an enjoyable day with friends turned to tedium as it increasingly felt like Shinji and Asuka were ignoring a dire warning about their future. The laughter sounded quieter, the food tasted blander, all weighed down by the heaviness of a potential apocalypse.
They'd found themselves mostly disinterested in the decoration planning, not only due to their initial reluctance to help with the dance, but also because Shinji was busy defending himself from an increasingly aggressive Mana, and a weirdly agitated Asuka.
"Oh?" Shinji played ignorant, sitting at the table next to Asuka.
"I don't know why you can't just tell her to leave you alone."
He thought for a bit, unsure of how to broach the issue of their pseudo-relationship. Mana was nice, and Shinji didn't want to offend the girl by spurning her advances, but Asuka was being standoffish enough to make him wonder if there was any hope for anything between the two of them.
"I think she's just being nice, Asuka," he replied.
"Surely you can't be that oblivious… She's been all over you all day."
Shinji grinned slyly, "She's too direct for me. I prefer someone that plays coy for a bit."
Asuka's eyes grew wide, her cheeks quickly flushing for a moment, before she quickly reached out and snatched the notebook from Shinji's hands, "So! Back to work on this... this thing."
Shinji knew he had her cornered, but didn't want to press too hard and allowed the subject to be changed, "Yeah. Have you figured anything out?"
"Not a thing. I have absolutely no idea what's going on."
He watched as the girl slowly pulled her arms out of her sweater, "Me neither. I don't like the idea that it's telling us to somehow stop the end of the world: that seems like a lot for two teenagers."
Now pulling the sweater over her head, Asuka agreed, "Yeah. On another subject, why did you pick the third floor?"
"I don't know, I thought it would be quiet enough for us to openly discuss this without anyone overhearing."
"Sure is. It's also insanely hot up here," she replied, fanning her face.
"Yeah," Shinji replied, also pulling off his sweater. "Why is it so hot?"
Asuka paused, staring at him, "What are you stupid?"
He paused, too, staring back with a blank expression.
"Heat rises, so all of the heat they're pumping into the library will settle up here," Asuka explained. "It's basic physics."
Shinji shrugged, science was never his strong suit: "I guess I am."
"Japanese education, what am I getting myself into?" Asuka sighed, standing up. "We need to find another table that's not directly underneath a vent: I think that's making it worse."
The two stood again, collecting their belongings, and set off, searching the third floor aimlessly for a table that wasn't located directly under a heating duct. After turning down five other tables in the same situation, they eventually found one tucked away in a corner and got to work.
At 9:30, an alarm Asuka had set on her cell phone chimed brightly, startling both her and Shinji. They had deen deep in conversation discussing the potential "Second Impact" and what its relation to the end of the world may be.
Still on edge, Asuka attempted to put herself back together when the library was suddenly plunged into darkness, capitalizing on the earlier fright and sending her upright as she leapt out of her chair.
"SHINJI, WAS ZUM TEUFEL?!"
Sitting not three feet away from the girl, it was surprising how hard it was to see her, "Asuka! Asuka, I'm right here!"
Shinji attempted to reach out and calm her down, but the girl slapped his hand away, "I know that, idiot. I was asking you what happened."
Ignoring yet another barb from the girl, he shrugged, the action unseen in the dark, "Looks like the power went out."
"Yeah, I figured that much," Asuka commented, turning on the flashlight on her phone. "So... there's a bit of a problem: I have no idea where the stairs are."
Following the beam of the light, Shinji realized he also had no orientation of their location in the library. Originally they were situated near the staircase, the first table was immediately to the right of the landing, but they had bounced around searching for one that wasn't uncomfortably hot. Now, he had no clue where they had started their search nor where the exit was.
"Verdammt nochmal!"
Guided by only the small amount of light emitted by her cell phone, Asuka attempted to lead Shinji out of the expansive library, "I know this isn't your fault, Shinji, but somehow this is entirely your fault."
The boy chuckled at this, having grown comfortable with the girl's strange personality, "Yes Asuka..."
He almost knocked her over, bouncing off of her stopped form as he fell backwards onto his bottom.
"You dolt!" she started, but immediately her mood shifted as she reached forward to help him up, "Uh, I meant to say 'I'm sorry.'"
Shinji took her hand and stood up, dusting himself off, bruskly remarking, "Sure you did."
Asuka punched him in the shoulder lightly, "Believe me or don't, it makes no difference to me."
"Well, why do you have to be so mean to me, sometimes?" Shinji asked. "Do you realize how confusing you are?"
Asuka turned her phone light directly towards Shinji's eyes, causing him to back away slightly and shield his face from the assault. As the beam illuminated his entire head, he couldn't see the girl's reaction until she loudly shouted, "Hallelujah!"
Shinji lowered his hand for a moment, again blasted in the eyes by the bright light, "Huh, ahh!"
Lowering her phone, Asuka pushed past the boy and stopped after a few steps, "I found the stairs!"
Happy to be making some form of progress out of the foreign building, Shinji turned and followed Asuka down the steps. Well, I guess we're done talking about that, he thought.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be 'confusing'. Teenage girls are complicated..."
Or maybe not.
"For some reason, sometimes... sometimes I find myself weirdly annoyed by you."
Oh.
The two turned the corner on the second set of stairs, standing at the landing between the first and second floor. Asuka had stopped and was now staring off into the darkness, her phone shining down the steps towards the bottom floor.
"Look, Shinji," she turned and stepped close to him, their faces only barely lit up by the source below them. "I like you. I didn't intend on coming to Myojo to meet someone, or be doing whatever this whole thing is with the music and visions and stuff."
"I like you, too, Asuka," is what Shinji wanted to say, but the girl continued to talk over him.
"I was dealing with some personal stuff before I came here, and between it and you and all of this... I... I'm sorry if I'm a bit all over the place. Emotionally."
Shinji smiled and offered his support, "It's ok. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Oh gott no," she almost blurted out. "It's all too fresh. I don't even know if I can escape it: if I don't get accepted here... I won't be able to avoid him at all."
"Your father?" Shinji asked. He was all too familiar with paternal issues.
But before she could answer, a loud voice barked up at them, "Students, identify yourselves!"
Both Shinji and Asuka were again frightened back to reality, turning to the bottom of the stairwell to see a figure standing, pointing a flashlight at them.
"Ikari Shinji and, uh, Langley Soryu Asuka Soryu, sir," Shinji answered back. He immediately felt a light elbow to his ribs.
"Brilliant."
"The power's gone out: all students have been asked to return to their dorm rooms immediately," the voice called, softening from the original harsh tone.
"We've been trying, sir, we got lost on the third floor," Shinji replied.
"The third floor, you didn't check the third floor?" another voice asked.
The first voice quickly apologized, "I didn't realize they were up there!"
"One job, Shigeru. You had one job!"
"Calm down, Maya, they're here now!"
Shinji and Asuka finished descending the stairs and stopped at the front desk of the library, in front of the two adults that were arguing with them.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, sir," Shinji apologized to both of them. "We'll get back to the dorm."
"It's ok, I'm just glad you're safe. But, bad news: the elevators aren't working," the woman identified as Maya commented.
"That's fine, I'm only on the fourth floor," he replied.
"Fine for you, maybe, but I'm on the twelfth!" Asuka loudly announced, clearly annoyed.
"Well then, miss, you'd better get started," Shigeru chuckled.
"Ich lach mich kaputt! Ich bin fuchsteufelswild!" the German grumbled as they exited the library and walked towards the stairwell. "Jetzt haben wir den Salat..."
Unaware of how to sooth the ranting foreign girl, Shinji simply decided to act on their previous conversation and try to calm her. As they entered the stairwell, he reached out and took her hand in his, gently intertwining their fingers. The action seemed to have the intended effect on Asuka, her rant quickly fading into nothing. Her fingers slowly tightening around his, a gentle squeeze from either of them being the strongest outward display of affection they were capable of at the time.
After several floors of gentle silence, hand-in-hand, Asuka stopped on the fourth floor landing. Shinji turned towards the next set of stairs while she stood at the Exit door.
"What are you doing?"
"I was going to walk you to your floor," Shinji explained. "It's still a long way up."
The proud redhead smirked, "I'm a big girl, Shinji. I appreciate the thought, but I can handle myself."
"Asuka-" he started, but was cut off again.
"Shinji, it's fine. I'll see you in the morning."
He stood for a moment, unsure of whether or not to ignore her, but ultimately decided he'd pressed his luck enough tonight. As he walked away from the girl their arms stretched between them, hands unwilling to let go, fearing the moment would never return. Eventually, though, the distance was too great, and both of their arms dropped clumsily to their sides.
Opening the door to his floor, he turned to take one last look at Asuka, who shot him a quick smile that he swore would light up the building on its own, "Good night, Asuka."
"Gute Nacht, Shinji."
Once again the fourteen year old boy found his heart fluttering, barely able to calm his shaking hands enough to swipe his keycard on the door. After a few clumsy passes, the door whirred slowly and a small light blinked yellow.
Shinji pushed the door handle down, but found it wouldn't budge, still locked. Another swipe of the keycard and another yellow light, but the handle remained locked.
Great. I'm locked out.
Frustrated in more ways than one, Shinji briefly contemplated dashing up the stairs to meet Asuka. Taking the power outage as a sign that it was meant to be, Shinji smiled and turned back down the hallway towards the stairwell, only to be greeted by his floor's chaperone.
"What are you doing out, still?" the man asked.
"Oh, sorry, sir. I just got back from the library. I got lost and had to climb the stairs back up," Shinji explained, peering past the man. If I just sprint past him, maybe I can make it in time!
The man pushed his glasses up, sighing softly, "Nice job on the auxiliary buildings, Shigeru."
"Um, also, I can't get into my room?" the boy asked, giving up on his ill-informed plan to dash to Asuka.
"No?"
"It just blinks yellow when I swipe it," he explained, demonstrating it for the man.
"Oh, that means the battery's dead. And without power, it's completely offline."
"Great. I'm locked out," Shinji said again, except this time out loud.
"These locks aren't exactly the best," the chaperone explained. "Let me try something."
Moving around Shinji, the older gentleman jiggled the handle and pushed hard on the door, where it eventually gave way and swung open, giving access to Shinji's room.
"Good to know my stuff is so secure..." he muttered, thankful to finally be in his room.
Shinji thanked the man and closed the door behind him and looked into the cold, dark room. Out of habit he flipped the light switch on, but when nothing happened he chuckled, remembering the power outage. Then the only light source was the moon shining dimly through the window, mostly covered by clouds and falling snow. He checked his watch and walked toward the window, staring out at the world.
The clouded sky presented him with little moonlight, but it was still more than the rest of the dark room. After a few long minutes of thought and reflection, he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.
There was a gentle knock and Shinji went to answer it, toothbrush still in his mouth. Speaking muffled through the still closed door, "Who ish it?"
"It's me. I'm locked out."
Shinji blinked and opened the door, greeted by the sight of his redhead companion.
"Sorry, my keycard wouldn't work and my roommate's either not in or she's fast asleep," explained Asuka, hurriedly entering the room after peeking one last time into the dark hall.
"Yoursh too? It'sh no big deal," Shinji answered, slurping up a bit of the toothpaste and drool running out of his mouth. He reached up, feeling the forgotten toothbrush still held between his cheek and teeth, and darted back to the bathroom, spitting and rinsing. Pull yourself together! he coached himself in the mirror.
Walking out of the bathroom, he noticed Asuka had made herself at home and sat on the other bed, rubbing her arms, "It's freezing in here."
Shinji chuckled, "Where's your jacket?"
Asuka nodded upwards and shrugged, "In the room that I can't get into. With my toothbrush, and the rest of my stuff."
Not wanting his surprise roommate to freeze, Shinji stood up and took his parka off of the coat hook and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Here, I'm not using it."
Flustered by the boldness of the boy, Asuka pulled her shoulders up, hoping to hide her reddening cheeks in the fur of the collar. "Thank you," she quietly offered.
"Wait, how'd you get past the chaperone?" Shinji asked, sitting down on his bed, opposite Asuka.
"There wasn't one. Maybe he was in the bathroom, or maybe he left? It's almost midnight."
Shinji swung his legs under his blanket, "I didn't realize it was that late. Well, I don't know when the power's going to come back on; I'm going to try and get some sleep."
"Schlaf schön," said the redhead, laying down on her bed, pulling the parka tightly around her.
Shinji laid down and answered, "Good night, Asuka."
Shinji rolled onto his side, facing away from the girl, attempting to give her as much privacy as possible. He reached for his SDAT player, but decided against it on the off chance Asuka wanted to talk. But there would be no talking, and he quickly found himself drifting off to sleep.
A gentle bouncing of his mattress brought Shinji back from the land of dreams, as he felt a weight shift the springs underneath him.
He turned his head to the right and peered over his shoulder to see the back of a head of red hair. Groggily, he asked into the darkness, "As- Asuka?"
"S-s-s-so cold-d-d..." she shivered back. "J-just t-t-t-turn b-back around-d. Wi-w-will you let-t m-m-me l-lie here?"
Shinji was frozen in place, unsure of what to do next. The room was incredibly cold, and he certainly felt for the girl that was currently locked out of her room. But she was now in his bed, shivering uncontrollably, and there were no extra blankets.
"S-s-sorry Shin-j-j-j-i. I w-w-w-won't-t-t-t-t be a b-b-b-b-bother…" the girl continued to chatter through her teeth. "Th-th-this-s-s-s-s is al-r-r-r-read-d-dy bet-t-t-t-er..."
After a few moments of staring into the darkness, Shinji took a deep breath and rolled over, diving headfirst into the deep end, and put his arm around the shivering girl. As she started to protest, Shinji lifted his blankets and his parka, snuggling up close behind her, before laying them back on top of them, trying to preserve whatever warmth was left.
Whatever disagreements began to form out of the girl quickly faded as he could feel her body relaxing. Her temperature slowly came back up, and the two of them laid in silence in the room.
At least it appeared to be silent, until Shinji heard a faint sound coming from the SDAT player behind him. He craned his neck, trying to search for the source of the sound without disturbing their position, eventually realizing something had begun to play out of the earphones.
He turned back to the head of red hair, shaking her gently, and whispered in a hushed excitement, "Asuka, something's happening."
In a moment of bliss, Asuka turned her head to the left and smiled, "Yeah, it is..."
Cobalt eyes opened even wider: "What?"
And sapphire eyes blinked: "What?"
Both missing the moment, all eyes were temporarily blinded as the power was restored to the dormitory and all the lights in the room turned on at once.
"AHHH!" both of the teens shouted, the bright overhead lights searing into their eyes, causing Shinji to roll backwards off of the bed with a loud THUD!
"Mein gott, it's so bright!" the girl exclaimed, shielding her eyes. "Why are your lights on?!"
Shinji slowly stood up, rubbing his sore shoulder, "I forgot to flip them off when I got in, I'm sorry!"
Yet another moment lost, Shinji watched as Asuka sat up in the bed, her shivering ceased. They could both feel the heat blowing into the room, ending the need for the impromptu cuddle session. The silence grew increasingly uncomfortable, neither again knowing how to make the first move.
"Well, uh, I guess I should probably get back to my room," Asuka eventually said, standing up and straightening her skirt.
"Oh, yeah, probably..."
Another awkward moment hung in the air, but it ended when Asuka started towards the door. In their pause, however, Shinji was suddenly reminded of what had just happened.
"Wait! Asuka!"
The girl turned back just before the door.
"Earlier, while we were, uh, together, I heard a new song!" Shinji rifled through the tangled blankets on the ground and pulled the SDAT player out. He thrust an earphone towards Asuka. "Here!"
They stood silently for a few moments, only faintly catching anything coming out of the tiny speaker:
We've been stuck now so long
We just got the start wrong
Asuka reached her hand out and pushed Shinji's back, declining the earphone, "It's late, Shinji, and if I get caught in here I can guarantee neither of us will get accepted. Let's listen to it later."
Shinji nodded, understanding her position, and pressed STOP on the music player: "Ok. We'll listen tomorrow."
The girl yawned and stretched, "Don't listen to it without me. I mean it."
"I won't," he replied.
Peeking out into the hall, Asuka ducked back into the room, "Promise me."
"I promise."
"Mr. Keeps His Promises better not let me down."
Asuka worked quickly towards the elevators, looking back just before she entered. Shinji gave a small wave to which she replied with a smile, and she was gone.
Shinji exited the elevator, head still spinning from the events of the night before. Another romantic almost he'd chickened out of; another missed opportunity. However, before he could begin the self-flagellation, his eyes opened wide as he took in the scariest sight imaginable: Hikari and Asuka talking on a bench.
Oh no...
He slowly approached the two girls, knowing there was no hope in avoiding them. As he slunk up next to the bench, Hikari turned to him, hands on her hips with an accusatory frown strongly jutting out of her usually smiling face.
"And with that, I'm off," Asuka turned away from Shinji and Hikari and pulled her phone out, placing it against her ear as she walked off. "Hallo? Hallo Amy!"
"Uh- bye..." the boy meekly got out before slowly turning to face his still frowning friend. "Good morning, Hikari?"
"Yes, Shinji, it is a good morning. But, for some reason, I'm much more interested in your good evening."
He gulped, putting on his best innocent face, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I caught Asuka coming back to her room at midnight, Shinji. And she's already told me all about it," Hikari explained. "Your turn."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he repeated, unsure of who he was trying to convince with the words.
"Ikari Shinji, a late night with a girl?"
And his heart sunk, Oh no...
"Do I need to call Kodama for this one?" Hikari threatened, slowly pulling her phone out.
"Oh god, no!" Shinji shivered at the thought. Kodama already gave him enough trouble for his apparent lack of interest in girls: arming her with the knowledge of what happened last night would give the eldest sister enough ammunition for a lifetime. "I'll tell, I'll tell..."
"Good!" Hikari smiled and sat down on the bench, patting the open spot next to her. "Shinji, I'm here as your sister, not as your friend. I want to help you with your girl troubles."
'Girl troubles', oh my god she really did tell her everything, he grimaced. "So, uh, we were off working together in the library."
"Uh-huh."
"And the power went out."
"Yes, I know all this."
"And we were on the third floor."
"Of the library?"
"Yeah..."
"Alone."
"Yes, alone. And we were lost."
"Alone."
"Yes, Hikari, it was just the two of us!" he blurted out.
Hikari smirked, "The two of you were alone on the third floor of the library. And then..."
Oh god, oh god, oh god, he panicked internally. Taking a deep breath, Shinji closed his eyes and got it over with: "And Asuka told me she liked me, and I wanted to tell her that I liked her, but then we got caught by some of the teachers and we had to go back to the dorm but the elevators were broken so we had to climb the stairs and I held her hand until we got to my floor and she wouldn't let me walk her to your floor, so I went to my room but she showed up because she was locked out of her room because the power was out and then she was cold so we slept together on my bed, I was just trying to keep her warm, but then the power came back on and she said she had to leave and I didn't want her to leave but she reminded me that we'd never be accepted to the Academy if we were caught and that's all that happened, I promise nothing else happened!"
Hikari sat silently on the bench next to Shinji, mouth agape, staring for an uncomfortable amount of time.
"So there's my 'girl troubles'."
Blinking slowly, Hikari was still speechless.
"I think I blew it. What did Asuka say?" Shinji asked.
The pig-tailed girl slowly closed her mouth, "So, Asuka just told me you were in the library late and that you'd fallen asleep at one of the desks, holding hands."
"You're kidding."
"Nope."
"Well why'd you call them 'girl troubles'?!"
"Shinji, she's a teenage girl, everything about us is 'trouble'," explained Hikari.
Shinji buried his head in his hands, "She's going to kill me."
"Oh-ho-ho no, not until I'm done with you. I won't even get into having Asuka in your bed last night, but, traditionally, when a boy has a beautiful girl in his arms, you think he'd try and kiss her!"
Said boy ducked down, trying to avoid the verbal knives being hurled his way by his best friend and confidant, "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I've never been in that situation before. Did I blow it?"
Hikari chuffed and rolled her eyes, "I think 'blowing it' is the understatement of the century, Shinji. You quite literally had her in your arms and you let her slip away."
Shinji's posture collapsed, once again feeling as if he'd blown his chance. How many people get a second second chance?
"Fortunately, you have the best friend in the history of the world," Hikari bragged, putting her hands on her hips and thrusting her chin out, triumphantly. "And I'm going to try to talk to her."
"Please don't, Hikari. I really think she'd kill me if she found out how much I told you."
"There is nothing I wouldn't do for you, Shinji. And swearing it upon my honor that you're just clueless may be what she needs to hear."
"Am I really 'clueless'?" he asked, considering his options. "That doesn't make me look very good."
"It's either that or you're not interested," Hikari answered. "You decide."
"'Clueless' it is." The boy slowly perked up, a second wind hitting him, reinvigorating his soul.
"But there's a catch: your next big romantic gesture needs to be tonight: at the New Year's Eve Dance."
And the gust of air lifting his spirits ceased, again dropping him to the ground at terminal velocity, "I completely forgot about that."
"Us four girls are going to share outfit parts and see if we can whip something fashionable together out of what we have. You had better be on your best, Ikari. Don't mess this up. You can crush a girl forever, tonight."
Shinji weighed his options for a moment and agreed with the girl, this was his final chance to make things right. A feeling he'd carried since their chance encounter at the subway so many days ago: one last chance to start over.
"I'll do it."
Lunch was a lively affair, the group talking about their last day together and the upcoming dance: something to cap off what was supposed to be a brief overnight stay for an entrance exam that quickly ballooned into a multi-day lock-in.
As the cafeteria cleared out, the teens cleared out the tables and chairs, folding and putting half of them away in storage. While they worked, Mana started a lively conversation reflecting on their 2015s:
"2015 was a great year for me! Not only did I meet you all, but in the summer I spent two weeks in Paris and just had the best time! What about you Keita?"
The dark-haired girl thought for a moment, "This year was nice. I got to see my grandma for the first time in almost two years! She's just the best!"
"I also had a great year," Toji added, "I won the Osaka Regional 1-on-1 basketball tournament, and the 2-on-2 tournament with my man Kai! How about you, Shinji?"
The boy stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes and internally reflecting on the previous year. The memories were mostly fuzzy, lacking most discernible detail. All except a select few: a hospital. A cemetary. Crying. Arguing. Sadness. Anger. Emptiness.
"Uhh, this year was actually pretty awful... I lost..." he began to choke up, until Hikari quickly came to his side, rubbing his back comfortingly.
"Let's just say we're looking forward to next year and all of us being back here in March!" she saved him.
"Yeah! I'm sure next year will be better for all of us," Toji smiled.
Mana turned to Asuka, "What about your 2015?"
Said girl stood still, clearly deep in thought, balling her fists at her side, "I don't want to talk about it."
Instead of pressing any more, the group worked in silence for a few minutes, letting Shinji and Asuka regroup.
While Hikari and Mana started rolling out the Christmas lights for hanging, Shinji found a moment to catch Asuka by herself, across the room.
"Hey, Asuka, are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm just fine," answered Asuka curtly. She angled away from him slightly. "I really don't want to talk about this year..."
Shinji stepped in front of her again, trying to get the girl to open up to him physically, but she continued to shift away, "I want to talk about last night."
This stopped Asuka in her tracks, who glanced over her shoulder at the boy, "I definitely don't want to talk about that."
"Asuka, I told Hikari-"
She quickly turned back to Shinji and moved in close, hissing through her teeth, "You told her what?!"
"Oops."
"Shinji, I might kill you."
"Asuka, she's my best friend and she wants to help us."
"'Us'?" she hissed again.
Shinji backed off a bit, raising his hands in surrender, "Ok, not 'us'. There's no 'us'. Sorry."
"No, it's... ugh. What did you tell her?"
"Everything. I'm sorry..." he whispered, barely audible.
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Everything."
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Asuka roared, loud enough to draw the attention of the entire room.
"Uh oh, the newlyweds are fighting!" Toji called across the room, breaking the tension almost immediately. The room erupted in laughter, at the quarreling couples' expense.
Both Shinji and Asuka's faces turned bright red, as they answered simultaneously, "Oh shut up!"
The two looked at each, still in perfect sync, and blushed deeper. Not only were their reactions identical, but everything down to the cadence of their words lined up perfectly, which was an incredibly strange sensation for the teens as they had no explanation for it.
After a moment, Shinji turned back to Asuka, "Well, we should get back to work. But after, where do you want to meet up?"
"'Meet up'? For what?" Asuka asked, irritated.
"We have a new song. From last night."
"Oh, that. Yeah..."
"I promised to wait for you. And I did."
"Alright, alright. How about at dinner, since we'll be eating in our dorms?" she suggested quietly as they walked back to the group, still hanging lights.
"Won't you need time to get ready for the dance?" Shinji asked.
"Do you think I need three hours to get ready?"
"I don't know, I'm not a girl!"
With that the conversation was over, and the two grabbed a strand of lights and got to work. As Shinji slowly unrolled the lights, Asuka, at her insistence, climbed the ladder and affixed them to the ceiling. Several times she would overextend herself, stretching farther than safe on the ladder, but she ignored every one of Shinji's protests.
"Asuka, are you being safe up there?" the Deputy Director called across the cafeteria. "I don't want to cancel the dance because someone broke their neck decorating for it!"
"Haw haw haw," the girl faked a laugh. "I'm plenty capable of doing things on my own!"
Shinji, steadying the ladder below, called across to the adults, "I can trade her if you'd like, Miss Katsuragi."
But Asuka shot that down quickly from above him, "I've just about had it with boys telling me what I can and can't do! Between you, my father, and- just, urghh!" she growled at the end.
"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to help!"
"If you want to help, hold the ladder steady! I'm almost done, I just need to reach... a little... more..."
"Asuka, come down and I'll move the ladder, that's not safe!"
The defiant girl ignored him and continued to stretch, extending her opposite leg for balance, trying to staple up the end of the strand of lights.
"Don't... you... tell... me... what... to... do!" she yelled, as she clumsily turned the stapler around to secure the decorations.
"My goodness, you do sound like an old married couple!" Misato called back to the duo.
Shinji's ponytailed test proctor began to chime in, too, "Did I miss the ceremony? Tsk. A real shame."
Shock and frustration caught both Asuka and Shinji at the worst possible moment, as the overextended girl lost her balance and began tipping the ladder beyond his control. Once Shinji realized it was too far gone, he immediately let go of it and dashed towards where the top was landing.
"Shinji!" the girl called as the ladder tipped over.
"Asuka!" the boy called back, catching her off the ladder, spinning and knocking him to the ground.
There were several worried shrieks from across the room, where others were quickly running to their side to check the status of the two.
They laid on the ground, Asuka awkwardly on top of Shinji, his arms wrapped around her in a protective embrace. She slowly pushed herself up, her eyes catching his for a moment, until she noticed they were about to be surrounded.
"Oh my gosh Asuka, are you okay?!" Keita asked, the first to arrive.
The girl, still straddling the Shinji's lap, rubbed her head and patted her body, checking for injury, "I, I think I'm okay. The invincible Shinji, here, caught me."
"Man, you two work awfully quick," the older man commented, giving a quick smirk.
Asuka looked down at their positioning again, blushed, and quickly stood up, backing away, "That's not- it's not-"
"Oh, knock if off, Kaji," Misato scolded the man, bending over to tend to Shinji. "How's the little hero?"
Shinji slowly sat up, also inspecting his body for injury, "I'm okay. My butt hurts. I'm just glad I could catch Asuka."
"I'd like the both of you to get checked out by Dr. Akagi, though," she said as she helped him up. "Even if you think you're okay, just to be safe. We're just about done in here anyway."
Said doctor interjected, "I'm not a nurse, Misato."
She shrugged, slowly pulling Shinji to his feet, "You're the closest thing to a nurse we have here, Rits."
"Sure, dual doctorates in metaphysical and evolutionary biology, and a masters in ecology make me the perfect candidate to patch boo-boos," the blonde woman grumbled.
"That's the spirit! Oh, I thank you, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi: it's good to have a friend you can count on!"
The doctor shot Misato a glare and then turned to exit the cafeteria, "Follow me, children."
As the three silently entered the lobby, Shinji spoke up, "Umm, Dr. Akagi. I'm really feeling fine. I don't think you need to go to any extra trouble for me."
"Same here," Asuka added, not wanting to be poked and prodded for no reason.
The blonde doctor turned, "I'm mostly worried about a concussion. Did you hit your heads? On the floor or each other?"
"No ma'am." "Nein."
She looked at the teens closely, watching their eyes for a bit, "Well, if you say so. I'm not that kind of doctor any way, so I don't really know what I'd be looking for."
"Headache, confusion, lack of coordination, memory loss, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, ringing in the ears, sleepiness, excessive fatigue," Asuka rattled off nonchalantly, waving her hand.
Ritsuko paused for a moment, "You're that 'Langley' girl, aren't you?"
"That's me."
"Well, I guess you'd be more of an expert on this than I. So, if you think you're ok, then I'll head off."
Shinji watched as the doctor left, turning back to Asuka, "Wow. Your family name garners a lot of respect."
The girl sighed, her shoulders dropping for a moment, "More like 'a lot of attention'. Or 'a lot of expectations'..."
"I'm sorry, I can relate, but only on a small-town scale. No one's heard of the Ikari's outside of Yamanashi," Shinji tried to comfort her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Do you want to go back to the cafeteria?"
Asuka shook her head softly, "No, they're just about done. Let's head up to your room: I want to hear that new song."
The two walked back to the elevator banks, getting a lift to themselves up to the fourth floor. Shinji took a deep breath as the doors first closed and reached out to take Asuka's hand, where she reluctantly let him hold it.
Sensing her trepidation, he spoke up, "If you don't want to, you don't have to."
She turned back to him, shutting down that line of thought, "No, I do, I'm sorry. I just... I haven't held anyone's hand in... in a while. It just reminded me of someone for a second."
Shinji almost asked about it, but decided against it: he wasn't exactly interested in hearing about ex-boyfriends, or crushes, or whatever you'd call the two of them. He wanted to focus on what he had, not dwell on the past.
As they approached his door, Shinji swiped his room key only for it to whirr and blink yellow again.
"Oh great, it's still not working."
"We can go to my room," Asuka offered.
"No, the SDAT's still in there. Hang on," Shinji declined, pushing the handle and forcing the door open. "I learned to do this the other night."
Asuka's eyes were wide in shock, "Well that's the scariest thing I've seen here. I hope the girl's doors are more secure than that."
All Shinji could do was shrug and agree, entering the room and grabbing his SDAT player off of his bed. He placed the earphone in and handed Asuka the other one, "Well, here we go."
And he pressed PLAY, only to be greeted by the middle of the song.
"Hey, I thought you said you didn't listen to it!" Asuka ribbed him.
"I didn't, I promise! Remember, it was on last night!" he defended, blushing slightly at the reference to their awkward midnight encounter.
"Ok, ok. Just start it over."
Shinji rewound the tape until it displayed "04" on the faded LCD, and pressed PLAY again:
Testing, testing, I'm just suggesting
You and I might not be the best thing
Exit, exit, somehow I guessed it right, right
But I still want you, want you, don't mean to taunt you
If you leave now I'll come back and haunt you
You'll remember, return to sender now, now
Shinji listened to the song, watching Asuka slowly nod her head in time with the music, eyes closed.
She's so beautiful… he thought.
Well, I just wish we could go back one more time and begin it
Back before I lost myself somewhere, somewhere in it
I've been stuck now so long
We just got the start wrong
One more last try
I'ma get the ending right
You can't stop this
And I must insist that
You haven't had enough
You haven't had enough
As the chorus progressed, he found himself tapping his foot to the driving beat, entranced by the music and the increasingly lively Asuka sitting next to him.
Stuck now so long
We just got the start wrong
No more last place
You better get your story straight
You can't stop this
And I must insist that
You haven't had enough
You haven't had enough
I still need you, need you, don't mean to tease you
If you want me, I'll come back and meet you
Whisper, whisper, you must admit you want it
You, you want it
Well, I just wish we could go back one more time and begin it
Back before I lost myself somewhere, somewhere in it
Back into the chorus again, Shinji watched as the girl's upper body wiggled and grooved more, her eyes still closed. He wanted so badly to continue to be a part of this, of her, especially as her mesmerizing dance continued.
We've been stuck now so long
We just got the start wrong
One more last try
I'ma get the ending right
You can't stop this
And I must insist that
You haven't had enough
You haven't had enough
Stuck now so long
We just got the start wrong
No more last place
You better get your story straight
You can't stop this
And I must insist that
You haven't had enough
You haven't had enough
By the end of the second chorus, Asuka's dance had taken control, bringing her to her feet and pulling Shinji by the hand upwards. Still held close together by the earphone cable, Shinji stood uncomfortably still as the girl danced in front of him.
Don't you need it? Don't you want this at all?
Testing, testing, I'm just suggesting
Don't you need it? Don't you want this at all?
Testing, testing, I'm just suggesting
Hey!
As the beat dropped out of the song, so, too, did Asuka's dancing slow. She stood close to Shinji, her shining eyes locked with his.
Stuck now so long
We just got the start wrong
One more last try
I'ma get the ending
The music continued as they watched each other, and when the drums returned the groove once again overtook Asuka. But her eyes never left Shinji's, and his eyes never left hers.
You can't stop this
And I must insist that
You haven't had enough
You haven't had enough
Stuck now so long
We just got the start wrong
No more last place
You better get your story straight
You can't stop this
Don't you need it?
And I must insist that
You haven't had enough
Don't you want this at all?
You haven't had enough
"It's actually a fun song. You can dance, too, you know," Asuka suggested over the music.
Shinji nervously shrugged, "I, uh, I don't really know how to dance."
Testing, testing, I'm just suggesting
You and I might just be the best thing
The song ended and he pressed the STOP button, continuing, "I've never really done anything like this."
Asuka put her hands on her hips, "Well, that just won't work. Not for tonight. Not if I'm going to be seen with you."
"I'm sorry. I think I'm better at playing music than dancing to it."
"How about this: let's go through this song a few times and write the lyrics down, and then I'll teach you the basics of dance so you don't embarrass me later," she offered, putting her hand out.
"I don't know how much you can help me with my dancing, but deal," Shinji shook it.
The two sat down on the bed, where Shinji pulled his notebook out and turned to a new page. Once things were settled, he rewound the SDAT again to the beginning of the song. But before he could start it, Asuka stopped him.
"By the way, did you see or feel anything last night? When the song was triggered?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Like, in the cafeteria, when we felt it get hot; or in the library when we saw the classroom."
Shinji stopped and thought for a bit, unable to remember anything other than the sheer bliss of holding the girl in his arms for a bit, "No. I don't remember a thing."
Asuka sighed, "Me neither. I wonder why… Wie auch immer, let's do the new song."
Shinji started up the new track again, diligently writing down the lyrics as they passed, watching as Asuka was again enveloped in the pounding rhythms of the music.
"Man, something about this just makes me want to dance. It's very addicting," she explained. "But, let's dive into these lyrics. I saw something that caught my eye."
"Me too," Shinji responded, his pencil searching the page for the line that resonated the most with him. "Here it is: 'well, I just wish we could go back one more time and begin it'."
"That's the one," Asuka agreed, wrinkling her nose in thought. "So, the world is on fire and we're going back in time to fix it?"
"Look at the next line, too: 'back before I lost myself somewhere, somewhere in it'. Who got lost and in what?"
"It kinda reads like a warning about, uh, a relationship. It literally starts: 'You and I might not be the best thing'. You don't think that's about-"
Shinji interrupted her thought, "But it ends, 'You and I might just be the best thing'. So, something got figured out? Like, the world is ending and we're going back?"
"To fix our relationship? Sounds like our priorities are a little off," Asuka chortled until she caught her inference and quickly corrected, "or whoever this is all about."
"You don't think it's us?"
"Shinji, I honestly don't know what to think. So far, we're the only people that can hear this or see or feel this, but that doesn't mean it is us. You know?"
Shinji didn't know either, but he didn't want to write it off; there was too much coincidence for it to be nothing, "I don't know, either. This is all too weird."
"Agreed. So, let's take a break!" Asuka offered.
"Yeah, that sounds good. What did you have in mind?"
"I'm gonna to teach you how to dance."
Suddenly a break from their music sounded like the worse alternative; dancing, especially with someone like Asuka, seemed much more intimidating than mysterious music about the end of the world. "Uhhh..."
"Oh, sei leise! Get up here!"
Shinji slowly stood up, meeting his partner between the two beds who reached to the bed for the SDAT. She pushed an earphone into her ear, offering the other to him.
"We're gonna work with this song, because it's fun and the right tempo. The trick is to just feel the beat and kinda move with it."
"This is ridiculous..." Shinji sighed, putting the other earphone in. Normally he wouldn't consider something like this, but Asuka's energy was infectious.
After almost two hours of awkward movements and jerky motions, a knock on the door interrupted the dance lessons. Removing the earphone, Asuka instructed him to keep dancing, "I'll get the door, you still need to practice."
Shinji shrugged, cranking the music up, closing his eyes and trying to feel the beat as his instructor had suggested.
"Hey Asuka, Shinji, I just wanted to check in and drop off your d-oh my goodness what is going on here?"
Hearing his best friend's voice, Shinji immediately stopped dancing and turned white, yanking the earphone out, "Nothing Hikari!"
"This looks like a whole lot more than 'nothing', Shinji! In all my years, I've never seen you dance before!" the brunette exclaimed, entering the room and setting the food on the desks.
Embarrassed, Shinji plopped down on the bed.
"Your boy's actually not entirely helpless, he's gotten better. But he still needs some work," Asuka explained the situation.
"Shinji, I can not believe you're dancing, but I am here to help!"
"No, please, Hikari..." he pleaded.
"I think I've done all that I can for you. I'm going to let Hikari take over and go eat in my room," Asuka said, grabbing her things and heading towards the door. "Pick me up at my room at 8:45. Room 1205."
Shinji's eyes begged the girl to stay and ease some of the awkwardness, but the redhead either missed it or ignored it and left.
"Shinji, I mean it, I want to help you. I can tell how much you like her, and I think it's sweet," Hikari smiled. "Do you want to show me what you've worked on?"
"Hikari, I really appreciate it, but I feel ok now. I'm not a professional, but I think it's good enough to get through tonight," Shinji explained, walking towards the door to shoo the girl off. But instead she dropped a bomb on him that left him frozen in his tracks.
"Yeah, sure. But can you slow dance?"
By 9:10, Shinji was nervously pacing back and forth in front of room 1205, worried he'd had the wrong room, or the wrong floor, or even that Asuka was going to stand him up for one reason or another. Contemplating knocking for a fourth time, Shinji almost jumped for joy when the door finally opened at 9:20.
Like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon, Asuka slowly exited the room wearing a flared blue skirt and long-sleeved white top. Her hair, usually pulled half-up, was left down, flowing to the middle of her back.
"I'm assuming you know nothing about dating a teenage girl, but making boys wait is half the fun," Asuka smiled, sticking her tongue out at the slack-jawed boy.
"Asuka, you, you look beautiful," was all Shinji could get out. "Just... wow."
"Danke, Shinji. The skirt is Keita's and I think I might keep it!" she giggled. "Now, enough waiting, let's get down to the dance."
Still taking in the sight, Shinji was frozen in place as the girl walked towards the elevators.
"Come on, we're already running late!"
The comment snapped Shinji back to reality, where he quickly walked up beside her, "You know, that's not my fault."
The redhead chuckled, "You'll learn this, one day, but being late is never a lady's fault."
As they stopped at the elevator banks, Shinji slipped his hand into Asuka's, waiting for the lift to take them down to the last dance of the year, "Yes, Asuka..."
The elevator arrived at the bottom floor with a soft Ding!, signaling the beginning of the evening. While only the beginning of the dance for most of the attendees, it represented much more for Shinji: it was his last chance to make things right with Asuka, to show her how he felt about her.
Entering the cafeteria, the two could barely recognize the room. The lights were dimmed significantly, the Christmas lights they'd hung earlier in the day helped create an enchanting atmosphere, bringing a soft illumination to the entire room. With the windows wide open, bright moonlight spilled, completing the ambiance and giving a clear view of the Tokyo night sky.
The makeshift DJ booth, a table with tablecloth where a student had a laptop plugged into the PA system, was fully lit with a spotlight. Blinking and rotating colored lights adorned the rest of the dance floor, bringing much needed energy, as most of it remained empty for the better part of the early evening.
Shinji and Asuka, still joined at the hand, found Hikari and Toji standing and talking near the dance floor. They walked up to the other couple, speaking loudly over the music.
"Hikari, you look incredible this evening! That is just the cutest blouse!" Asuka gushed, turning it up to eleven.
"Why thank you, Asuka! It is just the cutest" answered Hikari, equally vibrant.
"Yeah, I gotta say, it's pretty nice! Her whole outfit looks great," Toji complimented.
Asuka's mood flattened slightly as she stood on her toes and pulled Toji's ear down slightly, "Listen, monkey-boy, that white blouse is one of my absolute favorites. Spill anything on it, and I'll make a new one out of your skin."
Eyes wide in shock, Toji remained motionless until his date broke the silence, "She's kidding, Toji. I mean, it is her blouse, but you'll be fine. Why don't you and Shinji go and get us some punch?"
"I think I'll settle for water..." was all he could squeak out as he turned away, walking with Shinji to the drink table. "That Asuka: you sure you can handle her?"
Shinji chuckled and answered as honestly as he could, "Not a clue."
The two eventually returned with drinks, now joined by Mana, Keita, and Musashi. The four girls were busy taking pictures of each on their cell phones, posing and smiling brightly. Unable to give either girl their drinks, Shinji and Toji set the spares down on a nearby table and walked over to Musashi. However, before they were able to laugh about the silly display, the three were invited to participate in the pictures.
"Boys, get over here! You can't hide from us all night!" Keita called.
The group awkwardly squished together for a large group photo, Mana's long outstretched arm trying to manipulate the camera as best as possible while still including everyone in the shot. Luckily, after a few blurry attempts, one of the Myojo staff offered to take the picture for them.
"Okay, everyone: smile!" the short-haired brunette Shinji recognized as Maya called out as everyone struck a pose.
After a few flashes, the phone was returned to Mana. Hikari immediately requested a couples' picture with Toji, to which Mana obliged. Next came Keita and Musashi, leaving just Shinji and Asuka standing together. But before the last couple could pose for the photographer, the bespectacled boy from a few days prior backed into her.
"Ow!" Mana cried, falling forward and dropping her phone. "Ah, my phone!"
He also stumbled a bit, turning and lowering a video camera from his eye, "I'm sorry! I didn't see you there!"
Mana picked her phone up and pocketed it, smiling at the boy, "It's okay, accidents happen! By the way, what are you recording?"
Turning the camera back on, Kensuke introduced himself and explained that he'd been documenting the entire week, part of a video explaining the difference between country and big city education, as well as the rigors of applying to an elite school such as Myojo Academy.
"I'm a big film buff, so I want to submit it to some amateur festivals!" he cheerily answered.
"That sounds really cool, man," Toji replied with a big thumbs up. "Let me know when it's done, I definitely want to see it!"
"Will do! Welp, back to the dance! I'll see you around!" And the journeyman filmmaker turned and left, pointing his camera all over the room.
"Alright then, I think it's time to hit the dance floor! Who's with me?" Mana turned and surveyed the group. The three remaining girls excitedly agreed, leaving the three boys to slowly back away, shying away from the chance.
Ignoring their pleas, however, the three were slowly dragged to the empty dance floor in the middle of the cafeteria.
"Someone needs to get this party started!" Mana shouted loudly, beginning to dance with Hikari and Keita.
Asuka headed towards the girls, turning her head back, "Just remember the moves, Shinji. Full power, maximum performance."
"I know that. We'll be finished in sixty-two seconds," he quipped back.
"What? I spent almost two hours teaching you to dance, I'd better get more than a minute out of you."
She'd thrown the gauntlet down, challenging not only the boy's will and determination, but also his feelings for her. And he was going to give it everything he had: Shinji knew he'd blown every shot before now, and he wasn't about to let Asuka get away. Not tonight.
Slowly, Shinji found the confidence in himself to comfortably dance with the group. Letting himself go and just feeling the rhythms in him, he moved enough to have an enjoyable time not only with his date, but also with his best friend and the new friends he'd made over the strange week they'd been trapped there.
Later, Shinji and Asuka found themselves sitting at a table near the dance floor when the first slow song came on, taking a short pause to get a drink and catch their breath. As the colored lights turned a dark shade of red, Shinji stood up, watching the dance floor.
He turned to Asuka before she stood, his eyes soft, "Hey, I want to dance with you. But..." he glanced at Hikari who stood alone on the dance floor, "she's my best friend, and we've been through a lot this year."
Asuka nodded in understanding, "It's ok. I have to go to the ladies' room."
She grabbed Keita and left for the restrooms, while Shinji headed to the dance floor to meet Hikari.
The brunette was incredibly surprised when Shinji softly asked for a dance with her, quietly asking as they swayed slowly, "Shouldn't you be dancing with Asuka?"
"She had to go to the restroom, and, especially after this year, I felt like I owed you the first dance."
Hikari's expression softened, and she rested her head against Shinji's chest, "Now you're going to make me cry."
2015 was incredibly trying for the Ikari family, which unfortunately spilled over onto the Horaki family more than anyone had wished. They'd often helped with cooking, cleaning, or sometimes just being a shoulder to cry on as things seemingly spiraled out of control. Shinji's father's sudden disappearance after the funeral only made things harder for them all, as they were all left with a huge hole in their hearts as well as a confused anger towards the man.
"She'd be proud of you, Shinji. And I think she would like Asuka."
There was a sudden rumbling between them as Shinji chuckled quietly, shaking Hikari's head against his chest, "Hahaha, no, I don't think she would quite approve."
"Maybe. Either way, you deserve to be happy, Shinji. And if Asuka makes you happy, then I'm behind you all the way."
"Thanks, Hikari. You're the best."
They continued to dance together, chatting about their lives and futures, focusing on how strange returning to Otsuki after almost an entire week trapped in Tokyo will be. They'd even discussed their plans for Myojo, never even considering that they wouldn't both be accepted to the Academy. They felt it was simply destined that they be together, as near twin siblings should.
The night continued late into the evening, full of dancing and laughter, revelry and memories. The second slow dance came close to midnight, and Shinji nervously placed his hands on Asuka's waist, looking into her eyes.
The instantly recognized song started slowly, and he knew this was his time to shine. The familiarity allowed him to take a deep, confident breath and dip the redhead at the right moment after the second verse.
Pulling her back up to him, Shinji's moves became more deliberate, as he rocked and swayed the girl, softly singing along with the song.
"How do you know Sinatra?"
He smiled, recalling happier memories, "It was my mom's favorite song. We used to listen and dance to it all the time. It's on my SDAT- well, it was on there."
"I'm sorry it's not on there, Shinji," Asuka offered softly.
"It's ok. It's actually pretty bittersweet; I haven't been able to listen to it for a while..." he trailed off, watching the slowly rotating blue lights shine on the floor.
The two continued to dance slowly, both softly singing the words, not to each other, not yet, but out loud, in case the other wanted to hear them.
"This is a bit old school for this dance, don't you think? I mean, it's a classic, but, still," Asuka commented.
Shinji nodded his head towards the back corner, where Director Fuyutsuki was proudly twirling and dancing Dr. Akagi, both of them laughing with the rest of the teachers, "I'm guessing this was his pick."
Asuka caught a glimpse of the adults and smiled as the song came to an end, changing the subject, "Hey, it's almost midnight..."
"It is. I've been looking forward to it all day," Shinji responded.
Asuka blushed, pulling back and turning away slightly before mumbling, "Idiot..."
The music had ended for the final time that year, hundreds of teenagers and adults all stood in the cafeteria, watching as the Deputy Director picked up the microphone.
"Everyone, I want to thank you all for your patience and understanding during this week. I know it's been strange and difficult, so I'm glad we at Myojo Academy were able to put something special together: not just as a way to end the year and celebrate the new, but also as a thank you for putting up with all of this," the woman explained.
"As we count down the end of 2015, please know that, on behalf of myself, Director Fuyutsuki, and all of Myojo Academy, we thank you for everything and wish you the best New Year. The cafeteria will be closing at 12:30 and all students are expected to be in their dorms no later than 1:00 am. We will be doing room checks, too, to make sure everyone is in their appropriate rooms!"
There was much sniggering and laughter at the last comment, until Misato loudly interrupted it, "Well, here we go everyone! Ten!"
As the crowd counted down, Shinji looked around at his friends and smiled.
"Nine!"
What a wonderful way to end the year.
"Eight!"
He then looked over at the beautiful red-headed German girl standing next to him.
"Seven!"
What a perfect way to start anew.
"Six!"
Surrounded by his friends, Shinji briefly considered this would likely be the last time all of them were together.
"Five!"
But he banished the thought, believing they'd all be accepted and returning in March.
"Four!"
He and the rest of the cafeteria loudly finished out the rest of the count, excited to end 2015 and move towards the future.
"THREE. TWO. ONE!"
He took a deep breath.
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
The room erupted and Shinji felt two hands grab his face, pulling him in for a kiss. Expecting to make the first move, it took him by surprise, leaving him unable to close his eyes and enjoy the moment. Which was a good thing considering his eyes had locked onto a pair of blue eyes during the kiss.
Because those eyes were still standing on Shinji's right, and the lips currently connected to his belonged to someone else entirely.
Shinji quickly stepped back, breaking the kiss and wiping his mouth, entirely surprised to see Mana beaming in front of him.
"Oh my gosh, I've always wanted to do that!"
Unable to say a word, Shinji could only stare at the girl, unsure of what level of fury was appropriate for the moment. But the fury had to be put aside as Asuka stormed off, forcing her way through the crowd, leaving the cafeteria.
"Mana, what the hell?!" Keita demanded, the first to scold the girl. "Shinji was obviously here with Asuka!"
"That's so not cool," Toji chimed in.
Mana, usually so full of life and laughter, was taken aback, entirely unaware of how her kiss was perceived, "I- I didn't know they were together! I was just messing around!"
This time it was Musashi that joined in, "How could you not tell? They've basically been married for the last few days!"
"I thought the arguing and fighting was, you know, like, arguing and fighting!" Mana defended.
It was true, without fully understanding the relationship between Shinji and Asuka, it would appear as if they could barely tolerate each other. It seemed most of the friend group saw through the façade, though.
While the group continued to chastise the girl, Shinji found himself unable to add anything meaningful. I blew it again...
However, Hikari had no qualms about it: the night wasn't over yet. "Ugh! Shinji go!"
"Huh?"
"Go apologize! You made her cry, you jerk! Go find her and tell her you're sorry!"
Determined to salvage the evening, Shinji sprinted out of the room, straight towards the bank of elevators. I'm coming, Asuka!
Song: "Haven't Had Enough" by Marianas Trench
