Minerva walked quietly through the hallways of her house. It was two o'clock in the morning and she should have been asleep but it was too hot and she was suffering from severe thirst. She wanted to fetch herself a glass of icy water.

When she neared the living room, she heard hushed voices. No one was stupid enough to break into her house so that meant the lacrima was on. Apparently, Yukino was awake and was watching something. The celestial mage had moved in with her shortly after she had rejoined Sabertooth. Yukino had been overjoyed when Minerva had suggested it. She suspected that her guildmate wanted to keep an eye on her as she and the rest of Sabertooth were still concerned for her.

The brunette smiled and continued towards the kitchen but a loud whimper drew her attention. She headed back to check what was going on.

She found Yukino crouched on the couch, hands covering her eyes but she was peeking through her fingers. She looked terrified.

"Are you alright?" Minerva realized it was a mistake but it was too late.

She winced when Yukino almost overturned the couch in her panic. The brunette was quickly at her side and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Did you hurt yourself?" She looked over the younger girl for any sign of injury.

"I'm f-fine," the celestial mage managed, still a bit shaken.

"You don't look fine. What are you watching?" Minerva turned towards the lacrima. The image was so dark that she could barely make out two figures that were running. The enormous shadow that was chasing them and the creepy background music led her to the conclusion that it was some horror movie. "Why are you watching horror movies? You know you can't sleep after that."

Yukino looked at her like a scolded child. "Sting and I made a bet. He said that I am a scaredy-cat and I wouldn't be able to watch a whole horror movie. I'm trying to prove him wrong."

"What did you bet on?" Pride was enough of a motive to make every member of Sabertooth do the impossible but something still seemed off. The trembling, the sleepless nights that would surely follow and the… blushing? Minerva could see the color in Yukino's cheeks despite the darkness in the room. With the hot wave that had hit them in the past few days Yukino might have had a heat stroke.

Minerva almost missed her guildmate's words, whispered as they were. "If I win, Sting will have to kiss me."

That explained the flush. "And what will happen if Sting wins?"

Yukino blushed even more. Her eyes were fixed on a spot on the floor. "I'll have to kiss him."

"It's basically the same thing." Minerva was curious who had suggested it though. For months Yukino and Sting had been denying their attraction towards each other when it was obvious to all of Sabertooth. None of them wanted to make the first move.

Yukino's eyes snapped to her, her stare was almost scary. "It's not the same!"

Minerva fought off the urge to roll her eyes. "I'll leave you to your horror movie then."

"No, wait!" Yukino lunged at her and grabbed her wrist before she could even turn around. "Will you watch it with me? Please."

Combined with puppy-dog eyes, Yukino's plea was impossible to resist even for Minerva. So much for her rest. Not that she could sleep anyway.

Minerva gave in and let Yukino drag her to the couch. Hopefully, the movie would be interesting. Yukino filled her in on what she had missed. Apparently, the story was about a demon which wanted to kill a bunch of teenagers. Her mouth felt completely dry all of a sudden but it wasn't a surprise given the fact that she had forgotten to get herself some water. She couldn't leave Yukino now, half an hour into the movie. The celestial mage would be scared to death to be left alone even for a second. She would have to endure the thirst too, along with the banal movie. She chose to ignore the uneasiness that settled in her stomach as she had no plausible explanation for it.

Minerva didn't know how long it had been when her eyes snapped shut. With that boring movie and the exhausting heat everyone would have fallen asleep. She must have been asleep because she was hearing voices. One voice actually. The person was laughing. Cold and cruel laughter that sent chills through her body when she recognized it. It belonged to her, to the demon she had become – Neo Minerva.

"You're shivering. Are you afraid?"

Yukino's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She wasn't dreaming. She was having a nightmare but she was awake.

"Of course not!" She said indignantly. The mere idea was absolutely ludicrous. "I'm just cold, that's it." She couldn't remember when she had pressed herself into Yukino but she forced herself to move away from the soothing warmth of the other girl.

"It's forty degrees Celsius." Yukino looked at her incredulously.

Minerva knew that, she was sweating, but the freezing terror had snaked around her spine like a python and it was squeezing all warmth out of her. She tucked her legs underneath herself, trying to shake off the feeling of dread and concentrate on the movie.

For a while it looked like she had succeeded but then the camera cut to the demon and its hellish eyes staring into her elicited a stirring in her stomach. The demon in her awakened and all the hatred and anger she had felt back then washed over her again.

Minerva cried out and clutched Yukino's arm. She couldn't fall into that pit of madness again. But she was surrounded by cold and darkness and maybe it was already too late.

"Minerva! What's wrong?" Yukino's panicked voice reached her and the fear loosened its grip on her throat. A hand on her shoulder sent a wave of warmth through her. Her vision cleared and she was met by her friend's worried gaze. "Are you alright?"

Tears of relief spilled from Minerva's eyes. "I'm fine," she whispered as she hugged Yukino. She would no longer be afraid of that part of herself that was still a demon. It would never take over. Not with friends by her side.

Minerva opened her eyes and a ray of sunlight blinded her. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyes and overcome her disorientation. She was on the couch in the living room and her head was on Yukino's shoulder. The celestial mage was still asleep if the steady rise and fall of her chest was any indication.

The brunette tried to get up without waking the other girl but her efforts proved to be unsuccessful when Yukino stirred and opened her eyes.

"Good morning," the celestial mage greeted her with a small smile.

"Good morning. Get ready and let's go to the guild. You have a prize to claim." Minerva smirked when she remembered the reason why they had ended up in the living room in the first place.

"What?" Yukino looked at her with confusion.

"You won the bet. Sting owes you a kiss."

Her friend beamed at that although a slight blush crept up her neck. "Right. I'll be ready in a while." She scurried to the door, nearly colliding with a cupboard in the process.

It took them more than an hour to get to the guild though and by then Yukino was a nervous wreck. She had even considered backing out of the bet she had already won but Minerva had threatened to slap her if she did.

They had barely entered the guild when Sting approached them.

"Good morning, my lady." He greeted Minerva before his attention was drawn to the celestial mage. "Good morning, Yukino. Can I talk to you?"

"Um…" Yukino hesitated and Minerva gave her a push which almost sent her falling in Sting's arms. "Sure." She followed him, turning her head to glare angrily at the brunette, who only gave her a smug smile.

Minerva waited for a few seconds before following them. She wanted to make sure that everything would go smoothly.

"Did you watch the movie?" She heard Sting ask. They were just behind the corner. She stopped so that she wouldn't give her presence away.

"I did." Yukino said with as much confidence as she could muster.

"How did it end?" A question which neither female had expected.

"What?"

"I need some proof that you watched the whole movie. You don't expect me to take your word for it, do you?"

Minerva had to admit that he had a point.

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Don't change the topic. Answer my question. That is if you can, of course."

"I can't." Yukino sounded as if she would burst in tears every second. "I didn't watch that part."

Because of her, Minerva realized. Yukino had been trying to comfort her and had missed the end of the movie. She had to do something.

"She watched the movie, Sting." She said and they both jumped, startled by her appearance. "I can guarantee for it. She won fair and square."

Sting tried to protest. "But– "

Minerva raised her eyebrow. "Don't you believe me?"

The dragon slayer sighed in defeat. "I do."

"Then hold your end of the deal and kiss the girl!" Minerva commanded and Yukino gave her a grateful look.

Despite the brunette's authoritative tone and menacing look, Sting still hesitated.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Yukino rolled her eyes. She grabbed him by the shoulders and crashed their lips together.

Minerva almost laughed at the action. "Looks like your girl is braver than you, Sting." She teased when they parted. "Maybe we should make her master of the guild."

"What?" Sting gave her a fierce look. She had hit a nerve. "That's not true." He pulled Yukino towards him and kissed her.

"Have fun." Minerva said as she turned around to leave. "Meanwhile, I'm going to announce to the rest of the guild that Stingyu is now official."