Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion - Three Futons ❯ Game Like You Want to Lose! ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

*** Episode Nine Side story - 5. Game Like You Want to Lose! ***


So, the plan had changed. Mission - be civil in public. Location - arcade. Conditions and standards - given enough cash to get tokens and snacks, have a good time and don't get thrown out.

Easy, right?

Should I prefer death by rapier to crowds of people having fun? Tough choice, but it was made for me. Worse things could happen. I might even enjoy myself.

I brought along my school notes, in my black briefcase. This wasn't going to take all night... was it?

Misato dropped us off, giving me advice on how to be sociable. Apparently, undershirts help fill out a button-down shirt and make you look more masculine (even if you aren't). A few other tips worked wonders. My new look and a little encouragement had me feeling better than I had all day.

Then she was gone, driving recklessly and threatening the newspaper stands with every swerve. NERV HQ needed her; there was a war going on. We were alone.

As soon as we were at the arcade, Asuka was quick to make her opinion known.

"This sucks!" Asuka made some extra angry groaning for effect.

Maybe for you. Frankly, I'd rather not play with swords. They're dangerous. Didn't waste time complaining now that Misato wasn't here enforcing her edicts with an iron hand, did you?

"I know this is all your fault, Shinji!" Whine, whine.

MY fault? I had my suspicions that Ayanami had somehow nudged events, just enough, to make this happen. I didn't know why, but I was glad she did.

I think. Still, Rei definitely did NOT fake this morning, so how could I be sure? Had everything been part of some plan?

Asuka was dragging me into the arcade. I followed along, unsure whether I should be trying to figure this out, or leave it be.

An optimist believes we live in the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist fears it's true. I let it go.

So, a standard all-night arcade. Dimly lit, big black and white tiles on the floor in some places so it was easy to clean. Dark, crazily patterned carpet in others where it wouldn't show stains.

Crazy crap on all the walls, and a lot of little alcoves and booths where people could take a break from playing and have a soda. But no escaping from the noise; it was everywhere. Only from the flashing lights.

Barely, I saw some couples making out in a few corners. Didn't they know this place was public? Guess not. People didn't even pay attention to them. Invisible.

What the hell was I doing here?

Playing games would be safest. I managed to talk Asuka into ski ball. It appealed to her sense of competition.

Toasted her. 30,20,10,20,0,30,40,10,0 and my shots were up. 50,0,0,10,50,0,10,0,20 and she lost. We played again. I won again. A third match - close, but same. I got a really high score, surprisingly.

Mostly, surprising because Asuka was wearing tight denim jeans and V-cut, tight red shirt. She leaned over quite a bit when she threw each ski ball up the ramp. Then, she jumped up and down or swung her arms around when she didn't get any points. This was often.

It was beautiful.

She was wearing a thick belt with her cell phone, a camera pack like a purse, and an MP3 player on it. I'd be watching it move with her hips for most of the night.

And dodging her fists. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Asuka went for the two really small goals in the corners and kept barely, barely missing. I gave her some tips on how to play, swing your arm like so, be gentle. And STOP going for those goals if you can't hit them; it guarantees a miss.

I was sorely tempted - show her. Put your arms around her, guide her.

Perhaps I could teach hungry bears that way, too. I would have better luck training a forest fire. No man under the age of twenty-eight would keep all their limbs. Damn you, Kaji.

Asuka didn't really seem to be listening, but her score was going up. Distracted. She kept looking at the UFO catcher; a "grabber crane game."

They always devour money. But, they're always popular. I think I caught her looking at it at least seven times while we were playing, after someone won a prize.

I could hear the shrill whistle of it as the claw went down again... Another swing and a miss.

"Umm, Asuka. Would you like a drink?"

"What? Yes, get me one. As long as I'm not paying."

Well, with that attitude, why should I? You don't make it worthwhile to be nice to you. Someone else played the crane game, and lost again.

I got the drink anyway. As I walked back, the guy who was playing took another shot at the game. Whatever. I was about to give the drink to Asuka.

The UFO Catcher went off with victory fanfare. Someone won. It would never be me. Asuka jumped at the sound of it when I walked behind her from the snack bar.

"Let's go, Shinji!"

"What?!" Asuka dragged me, with force. Drink mostly spilled. We went in the direction of the Crane Game, it seemed.

Wrong. Air hockey. Well, here's where I lost. Comforting.

It'd seemed like Asuka wanted to BEAT me when she didn't beat me at ski ball. It would be good to play something I could lose at honestly - if Asuka thought I lost on purpose, it would NOT go well for me.

I took a few sips of soda and handed over what was left. She swallowed it down, and I ignored her when she railed at me for spilling it.

Wow. She drank after me, without saying anything. Did she notice...? Asuka was still glaring at me, having beaten her at ski ball. Couldn't tell.

I think I just got away with a capital offense. Normally, she would never-

Asuka told me which side I was going to have, and I took it. We played.

Well, I wasn't doing that badly. The UFO catcher game was behind me, and Asuka looked at anyone playing it. She could have creamed me in a normal game. I was just losing, instead.

Pretty easy to tell when someone was considering playing; Asuka started watching them. It showed, when she wasn't with the game. Two people played.

I could see right down that shirt. Was she wearing a bra? I don't know why my hands weren't shaking. Asuka was bent low over the table; she looked like she got a little extra focus. I could see a cold glint in her ice-blue eyes. Planning and calculation.

It was kinda scary, kinda sexy.

All me. Serving the shot, 4-6. Someone pinched my side and made me jump. Whiff, and I grazed it. The puck slid slowly across the table, and Asuka sent it back like a comet. Shit! I almost said it out loud.

"Ikari. What are you doing here?" Feminine voice. I recognized it.

"Hikari!" Asuka perked up. I think that was a setup. Those two always went together. Like gale winds and lightning; thick as thieves.

I leaned back easily against the edge of the hockey table and hooked one thumb in my pocket. Or, I tried to make it look easy.

"Class rep," I said. "Same thing I've been doing for the past few days. On a mission, very important."

Hot damn. I'd never seen the always-serious Horaki Hikari out of school clothes, really. Maybe there was that one time on the battleship, but had she even been there? I couldn't remember. Were pigtails supposed to look that good?

She had on a yellow long-sleeved shirt with thin black horizontal bands and black canvas overalls as a dress. Very innocent, very cute. Ribbons in her hair. They complemented her freckles. Hell, I was about to compliment her freckles.

Hikari nodded. "Really."

I nodded back seriously. "Really, really," I said, "Top secret. Don't tell anyone. You?"

How could I say this kind of crap with a straight face? I couldn't, actually. I was smirking. It must be the clothes or something.

"It's a ~sec~ret," she said. She sang every syllable, to maximize the cuteness. Ha. Well, guess everyone has to drop the stone face somewhere.

Asuka piped in and threw her arms around Hikari. "Come on, come on! We're getting pictures in the photo booth. Shinji, money."

My hand went reflexively to my pocket. Must...! Fight...!

"You spent yours already? Hell, no. If I'm paying for it, I want in on one."

Asuka stuck her tongue out at me and pulled down on her lower eyelid. "I'm not getting in a picture with you!"

"Okay; fine, then," I said. "Hikari?"

Her brow furrowed in thought. What the...? She was actually considering it?

"Sure, I guess." Wow. Well, it was only a picture.

I forked over some cash to Asuka. I'd split my tokens and cash in a couple of pockets, partly to avoid having a large bulge in any given part of my jeans (as advised). Partly, to look near-broke whenever Asuka asked for money.

She took the cash and ran off to the photo booth. They fussed around and posed. I heard a shot, flash. Someone started playing the UFO catcher. Flash. Flash. He started another game. Flash.

Four pictures, and they came out.

They came up with a strip of pictures and divided it between each other with a fast fold-and-tear. I got a quick look.

It was easy to see where Asuka had flinched a little during the UFO-catcher games. Was the whistle it made when the crane dropped that annoying? Maybe it was just loud to her.

"Not bad," I said. "It might look better without that smear, there." That would be Asuka's hair in the second picture; it was blurred when she moved. It actually looked kinda artsy, but I wasn't going to say that.

Before she fired off her retort, I put my arm around Hikari's waist. "Let's go." Was I possessed by something? I can't believe I just did that!

I looked over my shoulder to see Asuka fuming about my hand on Hikari's hip. Pulling the curtain around the photo booth back, I waved Hikari through with a slight bow. That felt good.

I'd pay for it, later.

Stepping in the booth, I stood near Hikari. Had to be sure we'd both be in the picture.

These little booths could take a decent group photo, but they were pretty private. Even though only a thin piece of cloth separated you from the world outside, a lot of people stole kisses and something more in these little kiosks.

The cloth only came down to most people's waists, though, which precluded certain sorts of fun. Was I thinking about that? Dream on, sleeper.

Maybe it was me, but she seemed to snug in very close. No way. Unbelievable. I looked at our image on the booth's display screen in front of us.

This was wild. We looked like boyfriend and girlfriend. Hikari put her arms around me. I could hear her breathe in, and sigh.

"Are you wearing cologne?" Her voice was low and near my ear. She said it so certainly; I-know-you-did-this-for-me.

What? Hell, no. Made my nose run. "Maybe. Do I smell good?"

"Maybe," she said. "And it looks like you got a haircut."

Wrong again. This was strange. I figured Hikari had a crush on Touji. Touji was oblivious, but I didn't really want to step on his toes.

I mean, I didn't know if he would have wanted the class rep for a girlfriend. If he didn't want Hikari, he was an idiot. But Suzuhara Touji wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. He was my friend, but I could admit this, even to him. Had he finally ticked her off for the last time?

I heard about how he'd annoyed Hikari today. It may be. I smacked a button to put the booth on a timer and take the last picture.

"Get lower," Hikari whispered. "You're too tall."

Hikari might have been just a hair shorter than me. I'm not that tall. But, whatever.

I bent my knees a bit; the timer was just about out. We both looked at the screen and smiled. I looked dumb - it never looked good when I smiled.

"Stop. Right there." I would have even if you hadn't told me to. That was about as low as I could go.

Our faces filled the display. At the last second, I saw Hikari move her lips to the open collar of my shirt. Her breath felt hot on my neck. My legs nearly buckled under me, and everything faded away.

POP!

The flash brought me back. Blinded. Couldn't see a thing; stared right into it. Pinpoints flared and danced as I blinked. Damn. Hikari grabbed the pictures and tore them.

"One for you, one for me." She skipped out to see Asuka.

Wow. This was a good photo. I looked relaxed, confident. Nothing like I was about to pass out. And Hikari was right there. Oh, yes. She was right there. There was a bulge in my pants that wasn't my wallet, and my cell phone was clipped to my belt.

I strode from the photo booth like a colossus.

Lack of blood to my brain and staring directly into a flash of light made the arcade seem surreal. I was floating on weightless legs.

"Hey, Asuka," I asked her, "I still have coins. I guess, you wanna play the crane game?"

Of course she did. She'd been looking at it since she got here. I mean, it couldn't be more obvious.

"Maybe in a bit. I'll just watch you play."

Confusing, but fine. We walked over to the game.

A little girl was trying to play. She was too short, though. Hikari noticed a folding step-stool by the side of the game; it would level the playing field.

"Oh, here you go," Hikari said. "Do you want me to lift you up, a bit?"

The girl nodded. "Thanks, big sis!"

Hikari wasn't really this girl's sister. It was just an expression. Still, she did have kind of a big-sister vibe. I'd noticed it in class.

Hikari had two sisters, actually. One younger, one elder. She was basically a mother to them both. It could be why Hikari was class rep. She had that way about her... Someone who could take care of others.

She shouldn't have to do that. I'd heard her own mother was dead; it made me feel as though we had something in common. I never brought it up, but I felt that weight inside.

They failed to win a prize. Hikari asked which stuffed toy the child wanted and went after it; also failure.

"Let me try," I said. Three games, three losses. Ouch.

"You loser."

Asuka elbowed me away from the machine and dropped some coins. The claw moved to attack a plush, cute doll. With deadly accuracy, it swooped in for the kill.

Fatality. Asuka wins. That's... so not right.

The crane picked up the doll like a mother realizing her baby is reaching for a favorite toy. Oh, so THAT'S what you want. Lights, sounds, colors. Stake your claim.

Asuka's red hair fell down in her face as she bent over to get the prize through the little prize-door. I couldn't see her expression, but right then, Asuka seemed older. Tired.

Or, she did until she stood up defiantly, brandishing the doll as a voodoo man might wave a severed, shrunken head.

"Ah, ~haah... Sweet victory." Yes, you got it, we get it.

Asuka mockingly smiled at the doll, her lips on one side raised crookedly. The doll, seemingly, also looked at Asuka. In this brief staring contest, I think the doll won.

I watched Asuka shake her head. "Hey, squirt. Next time, get it yourself!" She tossed the doll flippantly. The little girl bobbled it, but didn't quite drop it.

The girl thanked us and ran off. Before she turned a corner, she stopped for a moment. Undoing the relatively thick French braid her hair was in, she gathered it up like Asuka's. Her hair was blonde and wavy, but it was a good approximation.

It made me smile. I guess Asuka has a soft spot, after all.