A/N: My first P3P fanfic. This story's been in my head for the past few weeks. I'm not sure if I should continue this (sine there IS a second part of this story), but I think it's so lame...:|
"Even if I won't be able to stand by your side like this, I just want you to know I'll always be there for you." Akihiko said.
Minako looked at him with a tired smile and a confused look. Akihiko saw this and quickly added, "Well, what I'm just trying to say is that...my feelings for you won't change."
At this, Minako gave him her trademark sunny smile that somehow tugged at Akihiko's heart and, without really thinking about it, hugged her.
"I'll miss you..." she whispered to him as they hugged each other. Akihiko reddened when he heard her say that but still did not let her go.
"Are you tired?" Aigis said. "Maybe you should close your eyes for a while. I'm here for you."
The two of them were at the rooftop, wonderin if the promise SEES made to each other before confronting Nyx will be remembered. Minako stared at the moving clouds, her eyelids heavy, with Akihiko's words from the other day came back to her...
"Hey!" they heard Junpei yelling. Minako smiled tiredly. At least they remembered, however late it may be.
"Aigis...tell them...I'm..happy to have met them..." Minako whispered as she closed her eyes. "And that...I'm just...going to have a nap..."
"Do not worry." Aigis said, looking down at her. "I'll always be with you."
...
...
Junpei bursted through the rooftop door, grinning.
"Knew you'd be here! Excited as always...huh?" Junpei said cheerfully but he stopped dead short when he saw their leader resting her head on Aigis's lap.
"Well, she became such a slacker after all what had happened." Yukari said. "But to see her like this...is so surprising." Yukari led them to where the two girls are. Aigis looked up at them.
"She is just resting." Aigis said. She noticed Akihiko looking at Minako with such tenderness she felt jealous of him, for Minako loved him dearly while Minako will only look at Aigis as a fellow team mate.
"Aw, look at her...she's sleeping like a baby." Junpei said.
"Junpei..." Akihiko warned.
"Woah...sorry, sorry...I didn't mean to make fun of her."
"But she looks like as if a heavy burden had been lifted off her." Fuuka said.
"True." Mitsuru said. "I've never seen her face this peaceful and carefree. Most of the times, she's a worry-wart."
"But isn't she even more cheerful despite being a worry-wart?" Yukari giggled. Mitsuru only chuckled.
"Yes. She's like a bright sun who does not falter. A gentle breeze-"
"Aw come on." Junpei said, cutting Mitsuru off. "Let's wake her up already. There's no fun at all if she's just going to sleep there all day. We still have celebrations to do!"
"You're right." Akihiko said, though deep inside he wanted to watch her sleep with no worries at all.
"Minako-san gave strict orders not to wake her up." Aigis said.
"Come off it, it's the last day we'll be together like this with the Senpais." Junpei said. He squatted down and started poking Minako's face; it took all of Akihiko's willpower not to strangle Junpei. While Junpei is making fun of their sleeping leader, Fuuka sat down near Minako's right arm. Not really sure what made her do it, but Fuuka suddenly held her hand and gasped, "Why...is her hand...cold?"
This question brought worry to their mind. It was Akihiko who first turned to Aigis.
"What is going on here Aigis? Didn't you say she was just taking a nap?" he demanded. Aigis looked down at the other girl, who's sleeping with a smile on her lips.
"She had forbidden me to tell you all for she wants to remember all of you who have smiles on your faces..."
"Wait...what do you mean 'remember all of you'?" Yukari said. "Don't tell me she's...?"
Yukari doesn't have to finish her words when Akihiko pushed Junpei to the side and gathered Minako into his arms, pestering her to open her eyes.
"She...didn't have much courage to tell you all..." Aigis said. "After confronting Nyx...she's been living a borrowed life. It is more appropriate to say that she'd been living on just pure willpower. She never sleep at night, in fear of...'slipping off to the other side' without fulfilling the promise."
Aigis looked at the girl in Akihiko's arms. "But then again, it is my fault that she'd been living a borrowed life ever since I..." The pained expression on Aigis's face that reminded them the story she and Ryoji had told them at the Moonlight Bridge.
"But if she's still this warm...then maybe there's a way to save her." Akihiko said fiercely. He almost lost her last January 31st...he doesn't want to feel that helplessness again, when they had finally sorted things out...
"I hear you Akihiko." Mitsuru said. "Let's bring her to the hospital."
"There is nothing wrong with her, like the last time she was here." the doctor said. "It's just plain exhaustion. Though this is the first I've heard of a comatose state induced by exhaustion."
"But she will awake soon, right?" Akihiko said, trying hard to hide the desperation out of his voice.
"As for that, I have no idea. I'm sorry."
"No..." Akihiko muttered, scared for several reasons. He looked at the bed where she lays asleep, and remembered the last words she had said to him. He walked over to her bed and sat down next to it, his expression indicatin he's ready to cry.
"Come on, let's leave him be..." Yukari said in a low voice. The rest of the SEES left Akihiko alone with his girlfriend.
"There are so much things I've planned for the two of us..." Akihiko whispered, stroking her cheek. "Why did you hide such a thing from me...? You know that I don't want to lose anything important to me..."