Raindrops bounced off the windows of Akihiko's dorm room, and occasionally thunder rattled the panes and lightning lit up the sky. Akihiko lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He couldn't get to sleep.
After closing his eyes for what seemed to be the thousandth time, he heard a gentle tapping on his door. A clap of thunder sounded shortly after, and Akihiko heard a high pitched shriek.
Quite confused, Akihiko rolled out of his bed and went to answer his door.
"H-hi, senpai."
Minako stood in front of him, pajama clad and pillow in hand.
"What are you doing awake?" Akihiko questioned. "It's probably three in the morning."
"The storm was keeping me awake..." Minako confessed. There was another clap of thunder, which lead to another scream from Minako. She covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. "S-sorry about that."
Akihiko couldn't believe it. The leader of S.E.E.S., the seemingly fearless young woman who lead everyone into battle, was afraid of thunderstorms. He almost laughed, but when he saw the terrified expression on her face, he held his tongue.
His own expression must have given him away, for Minako frowned and crossed her arms. "It's not funny! Everyone's afraid of something, and I guess with me it's thunderstorms. I'm sure you're afraid of something!"
"Hey, hey! You're right. I'm not laughing." Akihiko held up his hands in defense.
"Anyway... everyone else is asleep, and I don't really want to stay in my room alone." Minako glanced to the side. "Would you be willing to sit in the lounge with me? Just for a while... until I get tired again."
She seemed pretty desperate for some sleep, and it showed. She looked exhausted, and the only thing keeping her awake was fear.
Akihiko held his door open for her. "Why don't you just try to sleep in here?" he suggested.
Minako's face flushed and her cheeks burned red. "Oh no! That's alright, really. I don't want to intrude or anything-"
Akihiko chuckled. "Relax. It's no problem, really. I can just tell you're beat. You really need to get some rest soon."
Reluctantly, Minako walked past him and into his room. Now that Akihiko thought about it... this was the first time he had let a girl inside his room. He suddenly became aware of all the stuff he had stashed in his room that could be considered weird.
Minako scanned the room a little bit and smiled. "Wow, you've got a nice room, senpai. It really fits you!" she kept her smile until she approached his bed. "Uh, are you sure it's alright?"
"Just make yourself comfortable!" Akihiko said, a bit louder than he really intended. "Um, I probably have more blankets if you want some, and-"
"Senpai, calm down!" Minako smiled. "You're starting to sound a little nervous yourself! Are you afraid of girls or something?" she giggled as she crawled into his bed.
"N-no! That's crazy." Akihiko turned away from her. "Just try to rest up now, alright?"
"Alright, senpai. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Minako."
All was well for a few minutes. There hadn't been any more thunder since Akihiko had let Minako in, and he thought she had fallen asleep. Once again, however, lightning filled the sky and thunder echoed around the room, and Minako shot up in bed, ears covered.
He wasn't quite sure what had possessed him when he lunged for the bed and wrapped his arms around her. Minako seemed startled at first, but when more thunder sounded she buried her face against his chest.
Akihiko rested his chin on top of her head and pulled her closer. "Hey... it's alright. It'll stop soon."
He could feel Minako nod.
The two of them remained in that position for quite some time. Eventually, Minako's responses to the thunder had come few and far between until she had stopped completely. Akihiko shifted his position and saw that Minako had fallen asleep at long last. He smiled and yawned.
Due to the nature of their embrace, Akihiko wasn't sure how to move her without waking her again. He decided that there wasn't really a good way to move her, so he leaned back against his headboard and let Minako's head rest on his chest.
He lay there, remaining perfectly still, for what seemed like ages. The only movement for the longest time was the gentle rising of their chests as they breathed.
His hand drifted up to her head, and he gently ran his fingers through her hair. It was so soft...
The sound of the rain had softened significantly since Minako arrived. Outside, the clouds had started to part and the first rays of sunlight had started peeking up over the horizon. Akihiko didn't realize how late – well, early – he had stayed up. He yawned once more and stretched a bit before he tried to find a comfortable position to sleep. He planted a gentle kiss on Minako's forehead and closed his eyes.
-.-.-
"HEY! AKIHIKO-SAN, ARE YOU GONNA WAKE UP OR WHAT?"
A harsh pounding at the door roused Akihiko from his sleep. He had forgotten Minako was on top of him, and he had awakened her rather rudely when he shot up in bed, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Oh geez, I'm so sorry..." he tried to help her up, but she nudged his hands away.
"Good morning to you too, senpai," she grumbled.
"Come ON, open UP!" The pounding on the door seemed to increase tenfold. Akihiko could make out Junpei's voice from the other side. "Are you even in there?"
"Uh oh... um, coming! I'll be out in a minute. I gotta get dressed and all that, haha..."
"Whatever, man. Just make sure you're not late." Junpei called. His footsteps faded away as he hurried down the hall.
Akihiko sighed in relief. Minako tried to muffle her laughter.
"Wonderful save, senpai!" she shook her head.
"W-what? It got him away, didn't it?"
"Calm down! I'm just teasing." Minako stood up and brushed off her pajamas. "Well, thank you for last night. I really needed that." she flashed him a warm smile.
"Heh, well, it's no problem. Feel free to come over whenever you need to."
Minako laughed. "I'll be sure to keep it in mind!"
She grabbed her pillow off the bed, and Akihiko followed her to the door. Minako turned to face Akihiko, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek. "Have a nice day!"
And with that, she opened the door and left.
Akihiko gently touched his cheek and stared at the door, dumbfounded.
"Busted!"
Akihiko snapped back to reality, and to his horror he saw Junpei in front of him, a smug smile on his face.
"I knew you had a chick in there! And wow, Minako-tan!" Junpei elbowed Akihiko's shoulder, but the white haired boy promptly slapped him away.
"Damn it Junpei, spying?" Akihiko sighed. He knew he had quite a bit of explaining to do.
-.-.-
AN
wooohooo so I recently delved into the wonderful world of Persona and
gosh I am in love with this game and every character and asjdfawe :'D I'm pretty close to beating it, I just don't know if I can bring myself to end it ;o;
Anyway, first time writing for p3p. Any criticism welcome! Read and review, I hope you enjoy -u-
~Icee Suicune