Shinji was upset at her. Not that that was anything new, the grumps were pretty much his best friend. Other than Akihiko, of course. But he seemed particularly upset at her today.

It all started early that morning. He'd been sitting in the lounge, reading a magazine, when he glanced up to what sounded like a small horse stampeding through the dorm. He'd seen her flinging herself down the stairs and through the lounge, still rearranging her headphones and mp3 player as she went. Minako slept in pretty frequently, so this in and of itself wasn't unusual. She was, however, about a half hour later than normal this time. So, instead of actually pouring herself some cereal or making a fruit salad, she just grabbed a leftover biscuit from last night and tore through the lounge, scarfing it down as she went. Halfway through the room, she slipped on the rug, barely managing not to kill herself via head injury or choking on her biscuit. When she recovered, she waved distractedly at him, only half-registering his look of extreme disapproval, before crashing through the doors and taking off down the road to school.

Naturally all of that was forgotten by the time she got home from school. Also naturally, she managed to make his bad mood worse by nearly running him over on her way up to her room. She'd been chattering away with Yukari and hadn't paid a single bit of attention to where she was going until she collided with a burgundy and black wall of muscle and discontent. Yukari had giggled but when she'd caught his look she'd cowered like a slapped puppy. She fled up the stairs (that lousy traitor), and Minako blinked up at Shinji.

She tried a clueless smile, "What'd I do this time?"

He grunted. "What you always do. You keep slamming lousy food down and banging around the dorm like that, you're going to end up with either a cracked head or malnutrition. Or both."

An embarrassed giggle slipped out. She knew better, she really did, but..

Than she got a bit mad.

She harrumphed, "Hey, if I had time to do all that, I would! But I'm doing a lot! You know that!"

Shinji crossed his arms, not budging an inch. "You aren't gonna be any good to anyone if you pass out in the middle of a battle, and you know it. Stop being so damn stubborn."

All of a sudden, Minako broke out in a big smile.

"Well," she said. "If you're so worried about how and what I eat, you know you could just cook meals and snacks for me."

Shinji shot her a suspicious look, but she continued to smile innocently. "How do I know you'd actually eat any of it? The last time I made something for you, you somehow managed to lose it under the couch. Wasted the food and stunk up the lobby for a week!"

Minako looked down at her feet. "Uhhh.. well, me and Junpei were playing Super Magical Ninja Girls 4 and... well, I'd left the bag beside my feet on the floor.. and I must have accidentally kicked it under there..."

She scratched the base of her ponytail and tried to up the wattage of her smile.

As predicted, it had no effect. "I'll make you something for lunch tomorrow, but so help me, if you manage to punt it down the stairs or drop it out a window or something equally stupid, then dammit, I'm never making anything for you again."

Minako swore that none of the above would happen, then she frantically sent up a quick, and silent, prayer to whatever deity existed that she'd actually remember to take it to school with her in the morning. She had a feeling he was serious this time.