Persona 3 – Second First Kiss

A/N: Holy crap, something that isn't P4 YuxRise XD so yeah, originally this was a Valentine's Day thing, but I wrote the words and none of them sounded right. Went through loads of revisions :/ Still, is good now :D I think XD Some people done asked for it so I done wrote it :) Biggest fear of this was is just to have Yu and Rise with different names XD However, I think I've got around it? Yukari and Rise are pretty different when one gets right down to it. Regardless, Enjoy :)

xxx

19 Days, 8 Hours and 38 Minutes.

That's how long Minato Arisato had left in the world.

He knew what was destined to happen to him. The moment he struck the final blow against Nyx, he knew he was living on borrowed time. The only thing carrying him through was his promise to his friends.

"Let's all meet up at Graduation!"

He would fulfil that promise.

Life, however, continued to chug on, even in his final days. Ever since his final battle, everyone had forgotten about their power, their bonds to their friends and everything. Everyone went back to not talking to one another. Ken sat around the dorm, by himself. Akihiko and Mitsuru mainly kept to each other's company and Fuuka went back to her old ways of avoiding everyone.

Minato, however, had several bonds survive. One of those, was his close romantic bond to his dorm mate and comrade, Yukari Takeba.

He loved her. She didn't know it right now, but she loved him too. He couldn't really explain it. He reacted to most people with an almost cold indifference, or so he'd been told. It wasn't intentional, perhaps it was just a defence mechanism due to the loss of his parents. Not Yukari though. She was special. He opened up a little to her. Maybe it was because they shared the loss of a father? Perhaps it had something to do with the fact she was the first person he met since moving to Iwatodai? Hell, maybe he just had a type. Even so, they connected over the course of the year, building a strong friendship. After the trip to Yakushima, however, the dynamic changed somewhat. She was warmer with him, more open. He often caught her staring at him at lunch or something. He, in turn, cheered up whenever she was around.

Eventually, they started dating. At first, it wasn't too serious. They just grabbed a bit to eat together on the way home or something. As January drew closer and closer though, a genuine love started to blossom between them and burrow its way deep into their hearts.

So the fact that she didn't remember saying that she loved him hurt somewhat. However, given the state that most of his friends were in, Minato was genuinely amazed that Yukari remembered any of it at all. At best, it seemed that she still assumed they were in that virgining stage of the relationship. He was OK with that. It gave him a chance to fall in love with Yukari all over again before the inevitable.

Today, however, was Valentine's Day. Traditionally, Yukari would give him chocolate and they'd spend time together. Since he wouldn't get a chance to reciprocate on White Day, he would just have to do something with Yukari today to remind her how much they loved one another. Minato was never one to beat around the proverbial bush so in the end, he just texted her.

"Hey. You want to do something today?" was what he went with.

"Good morning! Yeah, sure. I'll meet you after school. I hope you have some sort of plan. Today is a special day after all…"

He did have a plan… sort of. It was hardly an amazing one or anything, but he was pretty sure she'd like it. Nothing completely ostentatious or anything, but grand enough that it'd shown he'd put thought into it. In other words: Right up her street…

xxx

After the day sped by listening to various lectures from teachers, Yukari finally met up with her boyfriend. She really wished she'd at least had time to get changed or something before their date but if she did, it'd be an hour round trip. It wasn't like she hated her school uniform though, it was more of a comfort thing. That, and she wanted to look nice.

Minato had seemed so down lately. His expression was often listless. Yukari usually caught him staring off into space not really focusing on anything. That or he looked incredibly tired. She wanted to cheer him up on this, one of the most special days for any young couple. That's why, when he walked up to her after class, she put on her biggest smile.

"Hey, Minato-kun" she enthused, a light blush on her face.

She had to try and stop doing that whenever he walked by. It was still somewhat raw for her, having a boyfriend that is, so her emotions tended to bubble to the surface like that.

"So, what do you have planned for us?" She asked, barely able to contain her excitement.

"It's nothing huge" he chuckled lightly.

God she loved it when he did that. He so rarely did it, it was always a pleasant surprise to hear him laugh.

"I don't really mind… So long as I get to spend time with you" Yukari said, acutely aware of how red her face was.

He simply smiled and took her hand.

"Shall we get going then?"

"You haven't said where we're going yet"

"Surprise" Minato smiled.

xxx

The young couple walked, hand-in-hand from the school and down towards the station. The whole way, several people were looking at them and whispering but neither Minato nor Yukari cared. After a short train journey, they ended up at the Iwatodai Strip Mall and went to the candy store.

"Minato-kun, is this a subtle hint?" Yukari asked, confused, punctuating her words with air quotes.

"No" he said, deadpan. "I just thought we could get some candy to share or something, which one do you want to get?" He asked as they walked through the doors and were greeted by the clerk.

Yukari simply shrugged as they walked around the store. Yukari used this lull in conversation to get a good look at her boyfriend's face. Even now, he looked so tired. His face was gaunt and pallid, like he'd been awake for hours studying.

"Hey…" Yukari asked, squeezing his hand. "You OK? You don't look so good".

Minato looked down for a second or two before replying. "Yeah, I'm fine"

"It's just you look so tired all the time… I'm worried about you"

"Just not getting enough sleep I guess" He said, smiling slightly.

"You'd tell me if something was wrong right?"

"Of course"

The young couple walked around the store for a little longer and picked out a few bags of candy to share. As Minato paid for the treats and chatted with the clerk idly, Yukari looked around the immediate area, more out of boredom than anything. As she was surveying the area, her eyes were caught by a smallish red box. As soon as she realised what it was she grabbed it and put it down with the rest of their stuff. Minato just stared at her, expressionless.

He knew exactly what she wanted these for, and he couldn't help but love her expression as he looked at her. It was like he'd just caught her taking the last cookie from the jar. It was kind of adorable. He never really got to see her with her guard down like this. He just started laughing, not even quietly.

"What?!" Yukari yelped, staring daggers at him.

"Nothing" He said, coming down from his high. "Yeah, we can get these"

"What's so funny?" Yukari asked, still slightly annoyed.

"Nothing" Minato smiled. "Nothing at all"

"You OK? You're being weird" Yukari chuckled, apparently feigning her earlier anger. As she did this, the clerk had finished bagging up their items.

"I'm fine" Minato smiled. "Come on, we should get going"

Yukari was somewhat confused by his blasé attitude, but it wasn't like she wasn't used to it. Minato always was somewhat distant.

The two left the store, again hand-in-hand, and started making their way back to the dorm.

xxx

The challenge that the two now faced was getting one into the other's room. They decided on the way over that they should try to get into Minato's room, since it was less ground to cover. Mitsuru was pretty stern about letting boys and girls mix in one another's rooms (Minato found that somewhat bittersweet, what with her having lost her memories of their time together).

They managed to somehow avoid all pitfalls by being the first home, for a change. Usually Minato was last back. Maybe they were all busy? In any event, they managed to get up to Minato's room hassle free.

"So, what was the actual plan?" Yukari asked him as they sat down on his bed. A flicker of discontent skirted across her face as she thought of a few worst case scenarios. "Wait a second… You didn't do this just so we could..."

"What? No, don't be stupid" Minato sighed, bringing his palm to his face.

"Then why are we here?"

"I just thought we could watch TV and hang out… You know, simple?"

Yukari smiled. She expected this from him. Minato wasn't really a romantic after all. He showed his affection in other, subtler, ways. She knew, for him, letting her hang out in his room was enough.

What followed was a pretty easy-going couple of hours. Minato flipped on the TV and they tucked in to the candy that they'd brought, all save Yukari's little red box. The simply lay down on the bed, holding hands and watched some crappy TV. They didn't care. It was just nice for the two of them to spend a few hours together. Eventually, they'd made their way through what they'd brought and Yukari fished the red box out of the bag, with a little bit of trepidation.

She held it in one hand and stared at it. She wasn't looking at anything in particular, she was lost in thought more than anything. It wasn't long before Minato noticed this.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hmm?!" Yukari gasped, shocked. "Um…" she said, avoiding her boyfriend's gaze. "I need to tell you something…"

"What?"

"I…" She began before stopping, trying to find just the right words. "I want to thank you, Minato-kun… You're a really great person and you've helped me out so much these last few months and I just… I want to be with you for a really long time. I guess what I'm trying to say is… I love you" She blushed as she said the words. She said it. She was so proud of herself in that moment.

This took Minato by surprise. He'd heard Yukari say those words hundreds of times in the past. She just didn't remember it. So to hear her say it now like it was her first time was a little bit jarring. However, at the same time, it made him feel alive. For the first time since the final battle, he could feel his heart pounding against his chest. He was overjoyed that he could experience confessing his love for the first time all over again, just one last time.

"I love you too, Yukari" Was all he said before wrapping the brunette archer into a tight hug.

Yukari squealed softly as he did so. He never did this kind of thing normally, so it was quite the surprise. Not unwelcome, however. He smelled great… But he was so cold.

"You want to open that last box?" Minato asked, releasing her from his grip but leaving his hands to rest on her shoulders.

"Huh?" Yukari exclaimed, blinking several times back into reality. "Um… sure"

Yukari tore away the seal and pulled out one of the sticks of Pocky from the box, placing the uncovered end in her mouth, leaving the chocolate side exposed.

"Are you gonna play, or do I need to eat all of these by myself?" Yukari laughed, trying not to drop the sweet treat in between her lips.

As she laughed, Minato looked at her, properly. She truly was beautiful, especially when she was happy like this. Soon however, he would be gone. He knew that. It wasn't fair to her that he, the man she loved, was going to blip out of existence any day now. He knew she'd be upset, immeasurably so. All he could do then, was make her as happy as possible in this moment. Future be damned.

He reached out towards the stick of candy, not with his mouth but with his hand, and simply snapped it off.

"What are you-"Yukari started. She was interrupted however, by the feeling of Minato's lips on hers. After the initial shock had passed, she leaned into it tentatively as the Fool and his Lover fell backwards onto his bed.

Neither of them would ever forget their second first kiss…