It´s February the 13th, and just like Fuuka requested, all the girls staying at the SEES dorm has gathered in the kitchen to make chocolate for valentine's day. Fuuka, who´s terrible at cooking, wanted to make candy for the residents at the dorm, but especilly for her friend Natsuki, so the girls all agreed to help her out and take part in the event themselves as well. Some have more experience with chocolate making than others and they all share the wish to make tomorrow a grand success as well as strengthen their social links with others. The female students at school have been talking about the 14th for ages, and everyone knows that home-made chocolate is the best when you want your crush´s attention.
Fuuka is standing in the kitchen with an apron around her waist and a very serious expression on her face. The green haired girl has been taking cooking lessons with both Minako and Shinjiro, and wants to prove her skills to them and her friends. Minako can´t help but smile at her from her seat by the table. In her eyes, Fuuka is so sincere and cute in this moment. Anyone getting chocolate from her, no matter the taste, should feel pride. Yukari helps Fuuka with the ingredients since she´s still clearly doubting the other girl´s abilities in the kitchen. Mitsuru laughs as she joins Minako by the table, crossing one leg over the other.
"Why is it important to give away chocolate?" Aigis wonders in her monotone voice. Blue eyes intense, but a bit empty.
The human-looking robot is standing against the wall near the table. Her blue emotionless eyes stare at the ingredients Yukari is holding while Minako almost can hear how her man-made brain is working to figure things out. How the data she has clearly suggests against eating sweets since it´s bad for the body. Fuuka turns to Aigis to explain.
"It´s tradition to give the one you like chocolate on valentine's day." Fuuka answers sweetly. "It´s like a confession, but I think giving it to close friends is ok too. It´s a way to show them how much they mean to you. If your feelings are returned they give you a gift at White Day, a month later."
"I don´t understand." Aigis continues.
Yukari makes a bothered expression as the robot keeps on staring at the ingredients in an eerie way. "Just watch us and you might get it, okay, Aigis?"
"Understood." The android answers.
Yukari starts to read how to make the chocolate while Fuuka tries to follow the instructions as good as she can. Yukari has to keep an eye on her so she won´t make major mistakes like using too much heat so the chocolate will melt faster. No one wants to smell burnt chocolate, and that will also ruin the surprise for the guys. Shinjiro will probably guess what happened and the girls will all be ruined. Minako chuckle to herself and that makes Mitsuru glance at her from her seat next to hers. Minako tends to laugh to herself from times to times and that might seem strange to others but her red-haired senpai only smiles. Minako doesn´t know her that well yet because sometimes it seems like she´s speaking another tongue that she is. Mitsuru is so intelligent and mature so she can´t help but feel slightly uncomfortable around her. Minako´s grades isn´t the best, and since it seems that all Mitsuru does on her free time is to study she feel a little out of place. Minako need to get along with all the persona users since Mitsuru and Akihiko appointed her as the new leader.
With that heavy responsibility on her shoulders Minako was kind of forced to get along with all the people living in the dorm. The SEES leader has gained a lot of nice friends during her stay here and she can't say she regrets moving in even though it was her transferring here that awakened her power. Minako´s crimson eyes regard the chocolate as she´s thinking to herself. She never felt needed like she does now, so she has decided to stay and can´t really say that she doesn´t enjoy being a member of SEES. They have become like a small family to her.
"Mitsuru-senpai, Minako-chan, you´re not going to make chocolate?" Fuuka asks Mitsuru and Minako.
Fuuka and Yukari looks at the two of them with curiosity in their eyes. Valentine is all about love, and that means girls talking about crushes and the person they´re interested in. Minako shrugs as a shiver runs down her spine. Valentine isn´t really her thing. Minako´s parents never celebrated nor talked about it when they were still alive so she has grown up without celebrating the day completely. Her mother didn´t teach her how to make chocolate like ordinary mothers do, and since she never learned she felt that she shouldn´t learn at all. That it is too late. Minako still thinks it´s cute how girls try to give chocolate to the one they care for. It just feels unnatural for her to do it herself.
"No." Mitsuru answers in a stern way. Her voice makes Yukari and Fuuka aware of that they won´t get any more info even if they would ask her about it.
Minako glances Mitsuru´s way and realize that she have no clue if the student council president likes someone or not. When Minako first arrived here she thought the older woman and Akihiko was a couple- she swallow hard- but after some months Minako understood that they´re just close friends. Mitsuru, Akihiko and Shinjiro were the first persona users to join SEES and the three of them have a special bond that Minako can´t really understand even though she hangs out with Akihiko from time to time. He doesn´t like to talk about the past and she has no right to force him to. Minako´s thoughts lingers at the older man who put his trust in her a lot lately.
"Ehm, okay..." Yukari shrugs. "And you Minako?"
Since Minako once again was lost in thought, her answer with what comes to her in that moment.
"No, I´m thinking of giving him something else. So I would like to borrow the kitchen after you´re done." Minako says without thinking it through first with a daydream-y smile on her lips.
Yukari and Fuuka looks at each other while a small smile appears on Mitsuru´s lips. Aigis looks as lost as ever as she leans against the wall.
"Him you say...who?" Yukari urges her friend to spill more. Even if the girls at SEES, and some at school, has seen hints of Minako liking a certain someone the leader hasn´t said it out loud. The guy she likes seems confident, but when it comes to love he is a blushing mess.
Minako flinches as the realization hits her in the face and a faint blush appears even if she tries to calm down to prevent just that. Minako was thinking about him the moment she answered, so it came out naturally, but she didn´t really want them to know about it. Not yet. Not when she isn´t sure what he feels about her. Yukari´s eyes widen at Minako´s reaction and Minako can see how she wants to ask her more about it. Minako curses herself. Valentine will be different for her this year because there is a guy that she thinks she likes more than just a friend. Minako won´t make chocolate to him, so it won´t really be a confession, but the idea itself scares her now when she knows she has to give her planned gift to him tomorrow. Minako looks down at the floor as she avoids Yukari´s eyes. Just as she opens her mouth to say some sort of excuse Mitsuru interrupts her.
"It´s Akihiko, am I correct?" Mitsuru asks Minako with that small smile still on her lips painted in a perfect shade of red.
The blush on Minako´s face grows even redder as the older teen guesses right. Yukari looks at Minako with wide eyes due to surprise, it seems that she hadn´t noticed how the girl´s feelings for Akihiko grew even though they hangs out pretty often. That, or she hadn´t thought it to be true. Minako can be an enigma at times after all. Fuuka stays silent just as Aigis but she looks less confused than the robot girl. Smiling cutely to herself.
Mitsuru is right; Minako is interested in Akihiko. Minako doesn´t know when it started but it all happened naturally as they slowly got to know each other. Minako finds him very attractive- like many do- he is handsome and all the girls at school know that- but she has been feeling something different than attraction to him lately and the emotion confused her for some time. Minako likes how he is so passionate about his training, how he´s completely unaware of that all the girls hanging around him wants to date him, and the way he blushes when she somehow manage to get under his skin. He´s dense but smart at the same time just as he is very popular with the girls but still so innocent when love is concerned.
Minako looks at Mitsuru while being slightly afraid of her being against her feelings for him but she doesn't look discontented or angry with her, she looks slightly happy. The older girl acts like she won on the lottery when she, and the three other girls there, understands that she was right. Yukari shakes her head as if she can´t believe that Minako is liking someone like Akihiko.
"H-how?" Minako stutters while looking at Mitsuru. "How did you find out?"
"You´ve been spending more time with him lately and I know Akihiko is picky with who he hangs with, so I guess that you have to get along quite well." Minako´s senpai tells her with a gentle smile."And you get a certain expression around him, when you talk about him or when he is mentioned."
"I do? Well—" The blush fades as Minako tries to come up with some sort of excuse. "—I just want to show him my appreciation but It´ll be a challenge... I mean, his fans will surely swarm around him with their fancy gifts."
"Do I hear some jealousy?" Yukari giggles."Yeah senpai sure is famous with the girls but he doesn´t seem to understand the motives beneath their approaches..."
Minako blinks and look down in shame. It´s true, she´s mad at the girls because they can show their feelings that openly. Minako isn´t like that. Saying stuff like "I think you´re great!" would only label her as one of his many fangirls and that´s not what she wants. Minako has had the opportunity to get to know a different side of him since she joined SEES and she knows a lot of them think that that´s unfair. Like anyone in love Minako is scared of being rejected. Minako is interested in a very popular guy who happens to not be interested in anything other than working out and gain power. Minako bets he would think that a girlfriend would only be in his way, and that it wouldn´t be worth spending time with her since he could use that time to train. Still, Akihiko would never hurt someone´s feelings like that. A sigh leaves her lips. No, she decided to do this so there´s no backing out now!
"I´ve understood that Akihiko-senpai dislikes sweets so I thought that I should make him something special, you know ...so he´ll be happy." Minako takes a deep breath with a smile growing on her lips. "When we were at a café some days ago he told me he likes pancakes..."
Mitsuru´s eyes widen a fraction and it makes Fuuka look at her. Minako also wonder what´s wrong so she stops talking.
"Senpai?" Fuuka questions her.
"He took you to a café?" Mitsuru asks Minako in a surprised voice.
Minako nods while wondering why that is such a strange thing to do.
"That´s something new. Akihiko rarely visit those kinds of places." Mitsuru loses herself in her thoughts for a moment before she continues to explain. When she had wanted to visit a new place, it was always Shinji who tagged along. "Cafés are always crowded with girls so he tries to avoid it as much as possible."
"Oh, yeah." Minako nods as she recalls how some girls approached them when they ate cake.
They weren´t happy about that Minako was with Akihiko all by herself, and they even accused her of stealing him after saying that she was Junpei´s girlfriend. Minako has never been accussed of cheating before, especially since she don´t have a boyfriend. Minako´s stomach turns ice-cold at the memory and it makes her regret her decision once again. That probably made Minako look really bad in Akihiko´s eyes since he asked Minako about her relationship with Junpei after that. It had made her chest tighten up in ways she didn´t know it could. Minako has enough confidence to stand up to those girls, but they sure know how to make her feel terrible. Minako can still remember the glares they gave her the first time Akihiko asked her to go out and eat with him. Minako almost declined because she was so frightened of them. The thing that makes her smile at the memory is the way he took her hand and pulled her away from them. His hand felt so big and warm and Minako almost wanted to hold on to it longer when he apologized, asking if he had crushed her hand, when they reached the dorm.
"Isn´t that a little risky? Making pancakes for him…" Yukari asks sincerely. "You´re supposed to give chocolate at valentine's day so you might not get the message through to him. I mean he is a bit dense when it comes to girls and love already..."
"I know but… I´m not sure if I should… ehm, confess or just say that it´s a present." Minako ponders out loud.
"Giving it to him tomorrow will mean you like him. It´s valentine´s for God´s sake!" Yukari exclaims loudly, thinking her friend is hesitating too much, even if she knows that if she was in Minako´s shoes she would probably hesitate all the same.
"I think that sounds like a good idea." Mitsuru tells Minako with a grin. "After what I´ve heard tonight it seems that you two are closer than I thought."
Minako looks at upper-classman with confusion because she have no idea why she is grinning, it´s like she´s picturing the outcome of Minako giving Akihiko pancakes in her head. It´s scary but Minako truly appreciates what she said. Mitsuru has known Akihiko for the longest among them all. It gives her comfort.
"You think so? I want to give him something that´ll show him my feelings and I know they won´t reach him if I give him something he dislikes... so I think it´s worth the risk. I´ll break the tradition and give him pancakes tomorrow!" Minako says with a bit more enthusiasm.
"I still think it´s risky but if you give it your all, it might work." Yukari smiles. "Fuuka, what do you think?"
"I think he would be happy to get a present from you." She smiles at Minako, excitment in her big eyes.
Minako smiles at the girls and nods. At first she thought Akihiko was a guy who thought too much about power and gaining strength but as they spent more time together she learned that he has a reason to be like that. He lost someone precious to him due to the lack of strength and it´s bugging him greatly since then. However, he´s as lost as them too, not knowing why he´s fighting and if it´s worth it. Minako was so happy when he told her about Miki, not because of what happened, but that he started to open up to her. Gaining his friendship and trust was hard and Minako still wonder if they are as close as she think they are. He is precious to her in a way no one except her parents have been and she doesn´t want to lose him.
"Don´t worry, Akihiko wouldn´t turn his back on you." Mitsuru tells Minako, giving her yet another push in the right direction.
Minako smiles and nods even though she isn´t certain the older woman is correct just yet. The girl sighs nervously, but ends up smiling. Minako is always confident when fighting shadows but she can´t say she´s that positive when love is concerned. Minako knows that Akihiko can fight them off easily but she isn´t sure he can love her or if he would want to. Yukari and Fuuka bake some wonderful looking chocolates and Minako can´t help but want to taste them. Yukari is strict though and tells her it´s for the guys and not for her. Minako laughs. The two of them are planning to give everyone a piece of chocolate in the morning before school since it´ll probably be hard to give them their gift at school or after. They are all still going to Tartarus after all; Minako´s orders. They still need to clear some more floors before they can relax for some days.
"Don´t stay up too late." Mitsuru tells Minako as it´s her turn to use the kitchen.
"Good night, you guys!" Minako tells them as Yukari, Mitsuru and Fuuka goes to bed.
"You´re staying Aigis?"
"Yes, my mission is to protect you." She answers.
"O-okaaaay."
Aigis watches over Minako in silence as she starts to prepare the pancakes. Minako makes sure to not use as much sugar as she normally would because she know Akihiko wouldn´t like that. Minako smiles to herself as she cracks the eggs open and let the interior fall into the bowl. Minako isn´t a great cook but she does know how to make pancakes. Her lessons with Fuuka and Shinji has payed off. Minako has been living on her own since her parents died so she had to learn how to prepare food to herself because cup-ramen isn´t the beat meal out there. Minako lets the dough fall down into the frying pan and she enjoys the scent of it. When they´re all done Minako puts some cream and jam between and cut it to the proper size. Minako put the cake in a small red box and tie a white ribbon around it.
"It´s done!"
"We´re back!" Junpei shouts from the entrance.
Minako´s body trembles at the sudden sound and she almost drop the box. Minako is able to hide her gift before they appear in the room and she sighs with relief. That was a close call!
"Welcome back." Aigis tells them in her indifferent voice.
"You have been making something?" Shinjiro asks Minako with a frown. The kitchen is his territory, and even if everyone uses it from time to time now it´s too late to eat a snack.
"Yeah, I got hungry." Minako says while trying to sound honest.
"You know it´s not good for girls to eat this late." Junpei smirks at her. "You´re not afraid of becoming fat?"
"Hey...!" Minako warns him. "You jerk. I´m not, because I´m exercising unlike you!"
"Ouch! Minako-chan, you sure know how to hurt my feelings." Junpei laughs while gesturing with his hands. "Well I´m off to bed.´Night."
"Good night." Minako mutters. "Eh, why go to bed this early?"
Junpei is the kind of person who stays up all night to play video games so it´s unusual for him to go to bed this early.
"It´s valentine´s day tomorrow!" He smiles broadly. "It´ll go faster if I go to bed earlier."
"Hn." Shinjiro snorts before he turns to Minako. "Make sure to clean up."
"Yes sir!"
"I´m expecting some chocolate from you tomorrow Minako-chan." Junpei shouts from the stairs before he disappears.
Minako is busy glaring at Junpei so she doesn´t notice how Ken and Akihiko approaches her. Ken seems to be curious about what she ate while she can´t read the older guy´s expression at all. His eyes seem a bit more attentive than usual. As if he too, is curious about what Minako is up to. Minako´s cheeks turn a little red as the silver haired young man looks at her and she tries to act as normal as possible.
"Did you have a nice time?" Minako asks him.
"Yeah." Akihiko smirks softly, eyes looking at her. "It was a good movie."
"I agree." Ken nods as he takes a glass of water. "The heroine was really cool when she took that, did that and—" He explains.
"Ooh sounds fun, maybe I should check it out? Hey Ken, it´s time for you to go to bed." Minako smiles at him gently.
"Aww man." Ken complains loudly.
Akihiko and Minako smiles as Ken glares at them before he also goes to bed after taking another glass of water. It´s nice to have someone like Ken around, someone young who hasn't lost that imagination… But being a child doesn´t change that he also has a dark past. Minako´s smile fades a bit. At least they should make sure he eats well, gets sleep, and has some fun.
"You should go to bed too, you look tired." Akihiko tells her with a hint of concern in his voice. "We have school tomorrow…and Tartarus... if I am right?"
"Correct, we need to go deeper into the tower before I can allow you guys to rest."
"Count me in." He smirks with excitement and Minako can´t help but laugh. "Now, sleep tight."
"You too."
A deep breath leaves her lips as Minako is finally alone in the lounge at last. Or not alone because Koro-chan is watching her carefully; he knows something is up. She kneels down to pat him gently. Dogs understand human emotions better than we do, she presumes, as she lets him lick the jam off her fingers.
Everyone gathers around the table in the longue the next morning and a certain Junpei is thrilled about the surprise Yukari mentioned earlier. He smirks broadly as he watches how Fuuka arrives with a large box in her hands, she looks slightly nervous.
"Ehm, we girls made these for you yesterday." She tells them quietly. "For all of you."
Junpei looks disappointed, it seems he thought it was for him only but he´s quick to return to his cheerful self.
"Sweeet~!" Junpei shouts as he sees the chocolate. " A valentine´s gift this early in the morning? I must be a lucky man."
"Stupei, it´s for everyone, not just you." Yukari corrects him once more as she takes the box from his hands and gives it to Ken.
"Uhm, thanks!" The youngest in SEES nods with a smile.
"So this is why it smelled so funny when we got home." Shinjiro mutters. He accepts the chocolate but he doesn´t seem to be all that happy about receiving it.
"Oh, it did?" Yukari glances my way. "Don´t you want one, Shinjiro-senpai?"
"I´ll eat it later."
Minako notices that Akihiko is nowhere to be found.
"Ehm where is Akihiko-senpai?" She ask Shinjiro.
"He went out for a run." Shinjiro answers. "His first lesson is PE so he wanted to warm up before entering the boxing ring, that idiot."
"That sounds just like him." Minako smiles, even if she is slightly let down he isn´t here.
When is she supposed to give him her gift? Minako looks on the floor while biting her lip before she walks into the kitchen. The sound of Junpei and Yukari´s arguing fades as Minako shuts the door behind her. Why did he have to take an early run today? Minako looks at the box she was supposed to give him. The color fades from her face and she gets even paler as she heads to school.
Walking to school has never been this hard before and all the fact that all the girls talks about their crushes and chocolate doesn´t make it any easier. Minako wants to turn around and run back to the station, enter the dorm and hide in her room for the rest of the day. The box in her bag feels like a big stone that gets heavier for each step she´s taking. It seems as if the young woman is growing more and more anxious because her plan to hand her crush his gift before school failed. Now, it´s more uncertain when it will happen. If she even will be able to give it to him.
"You look pale, are you alright?" Junpei asks her.
It seems that he has been talking to Minako for a while without her noticing it.
"Huh? Yeah, just tired."
"You sure? " He seems concerned. "Maybe you should rest and re-think about going to Tartarus tonight. I mean, we don´t want ya fainting on us."
"I´m fine." She smiles at him. Even if Junpei can be a jerk, he´s also a very good friend.
"Hmm? Okay, I trust ya. " He smirks. "By the way, do you know who Yukari made chocolate to?"
"Didn´t she share it with you?"
"Not really, she gave a piece to all the guys at the dorm… " He complains.
Something changes in his expression as he notices some girls walking their way and he is quick to shove Minako away from him. Minako releases a surprised "ooh." as she regains her balance.
"Don´t take this personal but you´re ruining my chance at getting chocolate."
"Oh, so I´m a bother now. Well see you in class." Minako snorts at him playfully.
Junpei is a nice guy even though he is a pervert. Minako likes him and treasures his friendship a lot so she knows he doesn´t mean anything with what he said earlier. It would have been good to talk to him so she don´t have to think about the red box weighting her down. Minako sighs deeply as she enters the school by herself. Akihiko tends to hang out on the rooftop after boxing practice so she should go there after the first period. Minako´s stomach turns as she takes her seat close to the window. She feels sick but she knows it´s only due to her own nervousness.
Pull yourself together, Minako! She tells herself as the lesson starts.
The lesson ended as quickly as it started and Minako finds herself walking through the corridor towards the stairs to the roof with a blood red box in her hands. Her heart is beating quickly in her chest as she notices how several other girls do the same. Minako is not the only one who thought of giving her gift at this time and it makes her freak out somewhat. Someone calls out to her just as she feared; it´s one of those girls who she met at the café the other day. The one that accused her of wanting two boyfriends.
"Minako-san." The voice is ice-cold.
"Oh, hello." Minako answers in a pretend indifferent tone.
"What are you doing?" The girl looks at the box. "You thinking of giving that to Akihiko-senpai, aren´t you?"
Minako´s body freezes and her heart stops beating for a moment. She already knows of Minako´s plan and the way she looks at her tells her she doesn´t like it one bit. Minako would have been able to keep her cool if she weren´t already nervous about her gift so she can´t help but tremble under her ominous gaze. The girl brought two of her friends, or supporters, and the two of them looks at her strangely.
"You´re stealing him from us!" One of them complains. "You already have Junpei, right? And that scary looking guy who always skip class!"
Minako´s red eyes widen at this because she´s thinking that their taking the joke too far. Now they´re even involving Shinjiro. Minako has never understood why fangirls are this mean. Aren´t they supposed to treasure the one they like? Not acting like he´s some possession no one else can be around. Minako´s surprise fades as she starts to glare back at the girls.
"I´m not stealing anyone, he´s not a thing someone can posses!" Minako tells them loudly.
Minako decides to ignore them as she passes them by in the corridor but a strong hand grabs her wrist and keeps her from going to the roof. Red eyes glare at the girl holding her but she gets no chance to react when one of the two other girls takes the box from her hand. A quiet gasp leaves Minako´s slightly opened lips as she watch how she looks at it with disgust show on her face. This is getting way out of hand!
"You know what we mean." The girl glares at Minako and shrugs her shoulder. "And now you´re thinking of giving senpai chocolate?"
The girl unties the ribbon and opens the box, probably while coming up with an insult, but her eyes widen as she sees that Minako has not made chocolate but pancakes instead.
"What-, it´s pancakes?" One girl utters in disbelief.
"Were you thinking of giving Akihiko-senpai pancakes instead of chocolate? How stupid is that!"
Minako´s red eyes widen as the girl throws the box at the floor. The box flies open and the pancakes she worked so hard on fall out to cover the corridor floor. The pancakes are all ruined and dirty but the girl doesn´t seem to think that is enough because she steps on them too. Minako can´t do anything but stare as they assault her gift as the sadness and anger build up inside of her. This is bullying!
"Why did you do that?" Minako murmurs as the girl stops.
"To show you your place!" She yells at me loudly.
"You have no right to do that!" Minako yells back at her.
Minako pushes the girl who has her wrist in an iron grip as she tries to get away from her. Minako needs to get her gift back even though it´s completely ruined by now. Minako can´t let them have it, she can´t let Akihiko see it in this state. What would he think of her if he saw the gift and her being all violent? He would think she´s just like them; a girl who is all obsessed with him. Minako doesn´t want that! The girl glares at her and she thought she would hit her for a moment but the person we are fighting over arrives. Minako wants to faint, she wants to vanish from the surface of earth.
"Oh there he is!"
"Akihiko-senpai!" The girls squeal loudly.
"Akihiko…" Minako murmurs quietly to herself as she looks away.
It doesn´t take long until the boxing loving teen is surrounded by fans who wants to give him their small colorful packages with chocolate. He looks bothered by the commotion, the eyebrow covered with a plastic moves as he frowns as a girl literally shoves her gift into his hands. Minako can feel how his eyes look her way but all she can think of is her own embarrassment. How she´s on the floor with jam all over her hands and knees. Why did she try so hard when she knew that it was impossible from the start? Why did she fall in love with a guy that already is loved by so many? Minako shouldn´t have bothered because…she has no time for romance, not now when the dark hour is still present… Tears well up but she fights them as she turns her back to Akihiko and she runs away. No, she is fleeing. Akihiko notices Minako as she runs by and he turns as he tries to face her.
"Minak-" Akihiko looks at her back as she runs down the corridor. He looks surprised.
"Akihiko-senpai! Please accept our chocolate!"
"Er—" Akihiko looks bothered as he´s forced to focus on his fangirls.
Akihiko decides to ignore their kya kya kya screams. His bothered expression vanishes as he notices the mess on the floor. A deep frown covers his pale face as he makes his way through the crowd of girls until he stands in front of the destroyed gift.
"What happened here?" Akihiko asks them in a cautious voice as he kneels down to touch the box, red jam sticks to his fingers. He put the fingers under his nose. Eyes widen.
"That klutz dropped her valentine´s gift!" One of the girls chuckles, she is clearly lying.
Akihiko looks at the girl who talked with slightly wide eyes. It takes some time before he realizes who she refers to. The frown on his face deepens as he focuses on the gift. It´s several pancakes, carefully cut into a nice shape with cream and some jam added as decorations. It´s all ruined but he can clearly see how much time it took to prepare it. It also makes him recall how Minako stayed up late yesterday in the kitchen. He doesn´t know why but his heart aches at the sight of it. A memory appears inside of his head.
"I dislike sweets, it felt like I was eating sugar cubes…but, I like pancakes."He told her, why he didn´t know.
"Pancakes?" Minako repeated while she looked at him with a gentle smile.
"You think that is strange?" He asked her in a slightly embarrassed manner. The answer was important to him.
Minako giggled. "No, pancakes are delicious… let´s eat that next time. But honestly, why did you take me to a café if you dislike sweets?"
"Ehm…" Akihiko hesitate, not daring to look her in the eye. "I heard that girls really like that place…"
The memory of his last date with Minako makes Akihiko realize what just happened. Minako was about to give him this box with pancakes. A small but noticeable blush appears on his cheeks for a moment before it fades when he also understands that these girls did this to her. His body turns tense and rigid as he gets to his feet again. The scent of her pancakes is overwhelming.
"I´m sorry but I can´t accept your gifts." He tells them in a cold voice. "I dislike sweets, It´ll ruin my training." He has always rejected them before but now he´s a bit more strict than earlier years.
"Oh..! Sorry we didn´t know—"
"It seems that you know nothing about me, huh?" He snorts as he turns to leave.
"Akihiko-senpai? Why can´t he be more friendly…" They sigh with hearts in their eyes.
The TV is the only source of light in Minako´s room but she still can´t focus on the news. It´s the same thing as always; new victims of the apathy syndrome are appearing out of nowhere. Her eyes darken as she leans against the wall behind her. It´s soon time to go to Tartarus but she is not looking forward to it at all. When Minako goes she has to fight side by side with Akihiko and she can already feel the tension growing. The girl also blames herself for acting so childishly. For running. For acting like a victim. Even if she´s strong in so many ways today she saw a new weakness in herself.
What if she is just exaggerating things? He might not even understand that it was her gift and what she meant with it, he´s really dense when love is concerned after all. Akihiko might only remember how she acted violently against that other girl. Minako sighs once again as she forces herself out of her bed to turn off the TV and head down to the others. They´re probably already waiting for her.
"Minako-chan, there she is!" Fuuka smiles at Minako as she enters the lounge. "Did you take a nap?"
"Yeah, it was a long day."
"Are you sure we should go to Tartarus?" Mitsuru asks Minako, probably wondering if she´s too tired to fight.
"Don´t worry, I drank some coffee too." Minako forces herself to smile."I´m soon in hyper-mode!"
Ken laughs at Minako since he has seen her in that mode before. It was when she tried to make him drink coffee with her but ended up being all hyped up due to it. Koromaru barks happily at Minako and Ken and Minako lean down to touch his white fur. She´s doing everything in her might to act normal but she unconsciously tries to avoid Akihiko at the same time. Fuuka talks as they all prepare to head to the school to fight the shadows and she informs them of the changes in the tower.
"I need to talk to you." Akihiko tells Minako suddenly.
Minako glances his way before she keep on walking.
"We´ll talk later. The dark hour begins any second now." She answers in a way that makes him unable to complain.
Akihiko´s eyes widen as he watches Minako walk ahead of him and he stays back without realizing it. Mitsuru, who watched him, approaches the said teen with concern.
"Akihiko." Mitsuru utter his name.
Akihiko looks at Mitsuru and she understands that something indeed has happened. The silver haired male shrugs his shoulders as he exhales loudly.
"It´s time to crush some shadows!" He exclaims, returning to his usual self.
It´s Sunday and Minako is extremely restless. She had plans with Rio, but she called yesterday to say that something came up and that she couldn´t meet today. It´s probably something about that Kenji again. Why is love so difficult? Minako pouts as she rolls over to her back. A sudden noise breaks the silence. Minako grabs her phone and answers with a hopeful voice, maybe Rio changed her mind?
"Moshi moshi, is it you Rio?"
"Hey… eh, it´s Akihiko though."
"Oh."
" Are you free today? Or were you expecting a call from someone else?"
"Eh… Yeah." Minako answers hesitantly. "I was supposed to hang out with Rio, but she cancelled, so I´m free, I guess."
"Get ready and meet me in the lounge in ten, I want to take you somewhere."
"Sure"
And Akihiko hangs up. Crimson eyes stares at her phone for a while before she puts it down. Minako guess it´s time to get over what happened on valentine´s day. Minako doesn´t understand how she could act that immature…
Minako smiles at him as they meet downstairs and he murmurs a quiet "Hey.." and smiles back. Minako doesn´t feel uncomfortable as they head out. He starts talking about his boxing practice in a very passionate manner and it makes her relax. It seems that he doesn´t want to ask her about her strange behavior nor mention the gift. Minako is able to smile sincerely at him again and she laughs as he tells her about how he punched another senpai who tried to act though. No one beats Akihiko in the ring and no shadow has come close to do that either.
He takes Minako to the café they visited together some weeks ago and she can´t help but look at her surrounds since she feels that the girls from school could show up any time now. Minako is able to calm down after some time though and she orders a cup of coffee and a slice of a strawberry cake. The coffee makes her feel a lot better. Minako is sitting with the warm cup in her hands as she regards how Akihiko eats in silence. Something about the slow way he tastes what he ordered makes her realize that he´s really enjoying it. His eyes sparkle and a smile is there on his quite thick and soft-looking lips. Minako finds herself staring at his mouth and is quick to avert her gaze.
"Delicious." He murmurs.
"Does it taste that good?" She asks him.
"Yeah but I´m sure that your pancakes would have been even tastier." He tells her bluntly, eyes searching for hers.
Minako flinches and look at the plate in front of Akihiko. He has indeed ordered pancakes but it´s not his plate that surprises her, it´s the fact that he mentions her gift. Or Minako think he does. She looks at him while she feels how her heart beat quickens.
"W-what did you say?" Minako stutters.
"Y-you prepared some for me the other day… right?" He smiles gently, fighting his own shyness.
Minako can´t find her words as Akihiko looks down in embarrassment. He glances her way but doesn´t seem to be able to look her in the eyes. It makes Minako´s heart skip a beat before it starts beating at the speed of a train again. She can feel how blood rushes to her head but the warmth fades just as quickly when the memory of her destroyed valentine´s gift appears in her head.
"So you saw." Minako scratches her head in embarrassment. "They got ruined sadly."
"Mm…" He nods slowly and his cheeks seem to turn a bit redder. "S-so I was wondering if you…would like to make pancakes for me some other day? Like, this Tuesday."
Minako´s eyes widen even more as she understanda his request and she can´t help herself; she stares at him for a long time. He meets her eyes for a second before he averts his gaze and that´s when it hits her. If she managed to give him her gift he would have been happy, that´s why he wants to give her a second chance to give it to him.
"You want me to cook for you?" She ask him with a smile growing on her lips.
"Y-yeah…" He returns the smile with one of his own.
Minako´s face turns completely red. "Ehm…" She murmur without finding any words to use. "I think…I could do that."