Minako sighed as she leaned back in her arm chair and removed her glasses. She glanced at the bottom of her laptop screen to see the time.

"2:22 AM…"

She reached as far up as she could, feeling her shoulders and back pop back into place. Whether this actually helped her, she never knew, but what she knew was that it made her feel better, most of the time. This time though, she could feel her much abused body screaming at her to get away from that chair and get moving. That's what she got for slaving over a computer screen in a dark unventilated room for ten hours straight.

Using her arm rests for leverage, she pushed herself up, grunting all the while at the effort. Her body was right. It was in dire need of some form of exercise. She glanced at the dimly lit street outside then back at the computer screen displaying multiple programs from a long list of names and addresses to video clips and online blogs.

She made a fair amount of progress. It wouldn't hurt to take a short break to keep her body from failing her on the spot. She closed her laptop and quickly slipped it under her bed, away from prying eyes.

A few seconds later, and she was wearing her Atlus sweatshirt, black colored contact lenses, and black-rimmed glasses. As she looked out into the empty street again, she tied her hair in a loose side braid, making her look very different from her usual high pony tail. Why get all dolled up for an evening jog?

Why, in a new town with new people to play with, she couldn't have her perfectly perky persona tarnished by her sweaty, ungraceful self. If anything, she was consistent in keeping up appearances, especially since this was her eighteenth school. You'd be surprised what a different hairstyle and some glasses could do for someone's identity.

As soon as she pushed the window open, the cold night air rushed into her stuffy room, somehow finding openings in her well-insulated clothes and running down her slightly sweaty body. Whatever little droplet she had on her felt like ice against her skin.

Note to self: turn on the fan next time you go on ten-hour hacking spree to avoid ruining body further with drastic temperature changes.

Having done this many times before, she smoothly climbed out her window onto the 3 inch ledge. Finding any crevice she could, she clung to the wall as she made her way to the pipe a few feet away. Once she reached the square pipe, she slid down about ten feet, making sure to avoid any of the loose bolts sticking out.

Once on the ground, she looked at the roof of the hotel, thankfully finding no security cameras. Oh, the trouble she got in with the hotel staff that one time they thought someone had sneaked in and killed someone. The policeman that tackled her that time was awfully heavy, and she'd rather not have a repeat of it. Several warm ups later and she was jogging down the street, making sure to familiarize herself with the surrounding area which would be her "home" for the next school year or maybe month, who knows?

Maybe you're wondering why she was sneaking out of her hotel room. Why not walk out the front door like every other sane person in the world? Well, the relatives babysitting her weren't inclined to be held accountable for having her mugged in the middle of the street on their watch. They already had enough to deal with regarding the legal claim as her guardian.

As a child, she had been passed from relative to relative, attending new schools and new towns, never really keeping any worthwhile relationships. Well, maybe one, but he got arrested for cyber theft. When she tried to visit him one time, he just told her to stay away and do whatever she wanted, obviously bitter that he had actually been caught before he could leave his "mark" as he called it.

She'd say he left a "mark", not on the world like he always wanted but on her. She'd learned the powers of the computer and the knowledge she could gather on just about any person with a name. Not really inclined to commit cyber theft or mess with her legal documents, she kept the skill simply for enjoyment. No gain or loss, just for good fun. On a whim she decided to pry into the personal lives of her schoolmates, finding some very interesting facts. By the time she left each school, she knew every schoolmate's situation and every sin they'd committed and that included the teachers. Oh the fun she had with that. It was admittedly fun pushing students into paranoia or manipulating teachers into giving everyone A's (not that she needed it) for fear of their dark secret getting revealed. With all this happening, she still managed to maintain an innocent, lovable persona willing to listen to anyone who wanted to talk to her about their problems, maybe fill in the little holes in the stories the internet just couldn't completely fill.

People were sometimes just too fun.

Now in Iwatodai, about to enter some big name school under the Kirijo Group, she had to be ready to run the usual tricks or maybe new ones. With her computer filled with ever schoolmate's info that wasn't guarded by the government or large conglomerates, she was ready to begin her game when school started. Her body simply couldn't be aching on the first day.

After a minute of jogging lightly, she was already out of breath and struggling just to keep her walking at a snail's pace. Remember when she said appearances were everything? Yeah, part of her appearance was this athletic girl with boundless energy, ready to take on any trial. The problem was that no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't improve her athletics. Curse her body! She already gave it two hours of sleep a day and all the instant ramen it needed to be filled, but it wouldn't let her run more than a minute even at the lightest jog she could give it. At least it stayed slim enough to give the appearance of athleticism.

She took a deep ragged breath, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart, threatening to break her chest open and run free.

Sometimes she regretted picking this personality, but at the time, it seemed to be the most convenient to get people to talk to her and to talk to other people. It still was, but the effort she went through just to maintain it… Times like these made her wonder whether she should just switch off to the lazy girl that rarely talks but always listens. She could even leave her hands in her pockets all the time as a personal trait to exude calm, collected, and talkable. Sadly, she'd miss out on the fun of seeing people desperately trying to keep up a friendship with her, going so far as to agree with everything she says and bend their standards for her.

Finally, feeling calmer, she sighed, getting ready to push her body to the limit and run another twenty seconds, maybe thirty if she really tried. She stopped when she suddenly heard a loud crash. Not really thinking logically, she turned around and saw a man surrounded by trashcans groaning and another man holding a glowing taser yet still somehow panting hard.

"H-Ha! That's what you get for messing with me! You like my new toy? I got it from a girl I messed with," Minako narrowed her eyes. "Put up a pretty good fight too, but man, did she lose!"

He tossed the taser up in the air repeatedly, smiling insanely. "Too bad you weren't around to save her like usual." Suddenly, a group of guys that she didn't notice before started laughing from their safe spot several feet away. Somehow, that just made Minako's blood boil.

"Poor little Shinji ca-"

Without even thinking about it, she punched the guy in the face, somehow sending him sprawled on the ground. Normally, she wouldn't even be able to make a guy flinch with her punch, but with the adrenaline pumping and her anger pushing her, she could do some pretty amazing things. Still, that one punch took a lot out of her. Even though she had calmed her breathing just now, she was panting again.

Noticing someone from the corner of her eye, she immediately jumped back, preparing to punch another goon, hoping it would still hurt him at least enough to push him back, but upon seeing the man who had been with the trashcans, she immediately blanched. It wasn't the fact that he was well-above her height or the fact that he looked like a goon. It wasn't even about the stance he was taking as if he was about to punch someone before she jumped in. It was the fact that she knew his name as soon as she saw his face. He may have been a bit different from the picture, but she never forgot a face.

Normally, in her hacking escapades, she started with the truants, the ones with the normally most interesting stories which drove them into an antisocial life, and Aragaki Shinjiro's had certainly been interesting. When reading about this man, she had found him to be connected with Kirijo Mitsuru, Sanada Akihiko, the crime syndicate Strega, and an orphan named Ken Amada. The holes had been plenty, many covered up by the Kirijo Group themselves, just waiting to be hacked by yours truly. Why had she put that off? He had been the worst person to meet in her less than glamorous form. Judging by his personality, her upbeat persona would have been perfect to use to worm her way into his life and get the info, but that chance was gone along with her other side. Shoot! Why did she ever get involved?!

Before she could think of anything to fix the situation, she was interrupted.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Mr. Jerkface got up and started barking threats he probably could back up with that taser in his hand and the group of burly looking men on his side. Thankfully, she apparently had a burly looking man on her side too.

Shinjiro grabbed her wrist. "Run!"

And run she did, sadly her sprint wasn't quite up to speed with Shinjiro's. Okay, she was terrible. He practically dragged her through the elaborate streets, yelling at her every time she tripped on her own feet. After maybe the fifth time of yelling, he just pulled her harder every time she tripped. He just didn't understand her struggles to keep her face off the ground. Several narrow streets, sharp turns, and a hiding spot later, they had finally got away from the relentless goons.

As soon as she heard him sigh in relief, she just fell on the ground, not all cutesy like she usually would. She just fell flat on her butt, no grace and no poise. Like she needed it with this guy. Oh yeah, maybe she did; he was after all Aragaki Shinjiro. She internally sighed. It was too late anyway.

She leaned back, letting her arms support her as she faced the sky, eyes closed, still breathing hard.

Oh, why did she have to get involved? Even if she didn't punch him, the guy would still have gotten what was coming to him in the form of a much stronger man. Even if it did feel good to sock him in the face herself, the trouble she'd have to go through now just to have her fun was obviously increased. Grrr! Why couldn't she just throw out her morals like that idiot in jail did?

"Why the hell did ya get involved?!" he yelled at her when he got his breath back.

Unlike strong-lunged Shinjiro though, she was still struggling to breathe for more than one second. She almost made a snarky comment but after just the first syllable, she needed to breathe again. Then she remembered. Her plan B, of course! And if she remembered correctly… " Th-That's… what I… wanna know… Stupid."

She saw him make a comically confused expression.

Yea, straight D's in English according to his report card. Thank goodness she spent some time actually looking through the numbers and learning English for her relatives in America.

"Ya don't speak Japanese?" he asked confused.

Minako probably would have responded snarkily while making sure to keep the tone confused, but she was too tired to do that. Instead, she just kept trying to control her breathing.

"Ya know what, nevermind." He quickly dismissed the subject before slipping into a personality much like the goons they were hiding from. "Just get out of here!" he pointed to the alleyway which led to the main road as she had learned during their little excursion.

For a moment, Minako just looked at him, her breath finally back. "You know… if you save my butt and give me a confused face like that, I'm not gonna take your shouting seriously."

"Go!" he shouted again, trying to be even more menacing.

"C'mon. You're talking to an English-speaking person. Give a little more effort!" she said encouragingly, trying to suppress a smirk from forming.

"How can I do this?" he muttered.

"That's a no brainer."

As if understanding her, he gave a thoughtful expression, as if trying to rack his brain about something. Then his expression just changed back to one of anger and frustration. "Sh-Shut up… and… lean!"

Suddenly, Minako laughed, not the usual giggles she let free during school. It was a full on laugh. The kind she let free when things just went according to plan and became so fun. It didn't matter that she was still out of breath and very clearly turning red from lack of oxygen. She just couldn't take it. A one-year truant so involved in gangs actually racked his brain for some school information to keep a foreign stranger safe from harm.

"Did you not hear me?! Shut up and lean!" he tried again, but even with the added venom it wasn't helping anything. She just laughed harder. This guy was too much fun.

"Y-haha-You're k-haha-killing me! You're killing me! Haha."

Through the tears forming in her eyes, she could see him rubbing his beanie frustratedly. Then he glared at her and approached her laughing self. Suddenly, she felt herself forced upward by the hood until her feet no longer touched the ground. That was when she finally stopped laughing to look at Shinjiro who was looking at her very seriously. She looked down to see the ground annoyingly only a few inches away. Even with her toes pointed, she still couldn't touch it. Just a bit out of her reach. She didn't like it.

"Let me down!" she started struggling, trying to somehow free herself from his iron grip by waving her arms up and down. "I'm not a kid you know!" How badly she wanted to scream at him with his own mother tongue, but she was smart enough to know that he would ask for an explanation and there was no way she was outrunning him.

"Lean!"

She started laughing again, forgetting her position. Sadly, she was reminded when he lowered her slightly so her toes could touch the ground but not the rest. she almost started cursing him with every English word she knew, but when she heard a very distinct ripping sound, she immediately panicked. "Ie! Stop! I love this sweatshirt! I get it! You're Macho Goon Man! Now let me down!"

She started trying to kick his shin which was somehow just a few inches away. This jerk! Was he some professional torturer or something?!

Finally, he just let her down, completely. When she finally felt the ground, she just turned to him and stuck her tongue out, something she'd normally do in a cute fashion to con a guy into becoming attracted to her, but this time, she really was trying to show she was angry at him. She crossed her arms and glared at the man. She knew a guy like him wouldn't fall for some cheap girl trick like this anyway. And she was right.

"Tch, Kid! Go home!" then he stomped off.

"You're no fun!" she yelled back before running down the main street and making her way back to the hotel. She'll make sure to mess with him plenty as the perfect "Minako".

By the time she made it back to the hotel, she was so badly tired out, she just sat in front of the pipe, waiting for her energy to return. "Let the games begin, Aragaki Shinjiro!"


Normally, I'd write a much longer chapter about 5000 words, but this is more to test the waters to see how it works out.

In this story, I've tried twisting Minako's personality a little bit. While playing the game, I found Minako to be a childish character yet a character that very much cares about her teammates and random strangers. This Minako remains childish but however, is a rather selfish character, looking for something fun to cope with her unstable life filled with bickering adults and a constantly moving home. Having found a not-so-healthy hobby, she used it to find something of interest to her but at the cost of others' privacy and peaceful lives, something she'll find will have its consequences, that is, if I decide to take up this little musing.

I was really apprehensive about having Shinjiro since I honestly don't like him. (Don't hit me!) He's so painfully easy to write, it seems like he has no dimensions at all. Everyone can write him because he has such limited amount of dialogue that would actually make it sound Shinjiro-like. If I do take up this story, I do want to add more layers besides the tough exterior and a mushy core. I mean, Shinjiro's sweet like that, but it all seems to make him a completely secondary character to me. I want him to be a primary character on an even level with Minako.

Okay, reviewers! I do appreciate the basic "Update soon!"s and "This was awesome!"s. I mean, it's more reviews to add to my number, but I honestly would prefer some constructive criticism. Nothing like "I hate this. This is why I hate it. I still hate this! I need to tell you I hate it again!" That's not constructive criticism, guys. That's destructive. Constructive criticism, in my opinion, is a good and a bad. Reviews on whether the sentence structure is awkward, whether you can actually understand Minako's character through the thoughts and comments, whether this story actually seems solid, and whether the dialogues and movements are smooth enough. Then maybe some ways I can improve. I look forward to your reviews.