Disclaimer: I don't own Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 or anything associated to the game. This is a work of fiction.

Author's Notes:
Hello! Well, this is my first Persona 3 fic, so it's a given that it wouldn't be mindblowing or anything like that. I got the idea when I was training for the last battle, and was like "OMG I HAVEN'T LEVELED ENOUGH" so this fic came to be. I still haven't beat the game, heh. Yaoi comes first, come on now. Lulz. But yeah, do leave a review and give me your thoughts on it, I love getting feedback.

Perpetual

Everything was moving by so quickly.

Minato still remembered the first day he came to the dorm; meeting Pharos, Yukari, and the others. The first time he called upon Orpheus, the feeling was still alive and fresh in his mind. None of the confusion from before managed to taint that memory, no matter how long he dwelled.

And to think that almost a year had passed.

It had been so short. Too short, even. If he had known that the world would be ending, he would've stopped to truly treasure the things that he had been through. If it would've been possible to remember everything, he would. It was unbelievable, that in less than a year, he managed to get so attached to his life. He had friends, lots of them. Aside from the people he knew in the outside world, he had his dormmates, the SEES members. Only God knows what would happen to him if all of them were taken away. Tartarus had its difficult moments, the daunting moments where they almost died, but that was completely irrelevant when compared to how much the bond between them had strengthened during those times.

But now, things have changed. The world was going to end, for God's sake. How was he supposed to cope with that? Even after a few weeks of taking it in, he was still in shock. It was all going to end.

'I'll be waiting.'

They had let Ryoji live. None of them had really considered offing him, anyways. They didn't want the world to end either, but forgetting everything was never a better option.

He sighed inwardly as he rose from his bed. January 31st was fast approaching, and they had been frequenting Tartarus more and more lately. It was as if they had an unspoken agreement, to prepare themselves the best that they can. It was the sensible thing to do, after all. However, that was not to say that Minato wasn't fatigued from all the training that they had been doing. He was exhausted. That, coupled with the fact that he had school most of the time, wasn't exactly his idea of tranquility.

Pale fingertips pressed against the mirror. He gazed at his reflection, grey eyes tired and cheeks sunken. He made a mental note to take a nap as soon as he got home from school. Yawning, he began to shuffle through his closet when a knock came at his door.

Puzzled, Minato glanced at the clock. Shouldn't the rest of them be getting ready for school too? "Who is it?"

"It's me," a low voice behind the door answered.

This perplexed Minato even further. He recognized the voice very well.

"Senpai?" He called out, just to make sure. "Is that you?"

This earned a chuckle from Akihiko. "Who else would this be? Now, let me in."

"Uh…" Minato swallowed. He didn't quite know how to respond to that, and so he neared the door and inquired, "Is something wrong?"

"No, but there will be if you don't open this door. I'm waiting."

"Oh, sorry! Just a minute now," he informed, feeling a tad idiotic. He was always a bit slow in the morning, but perhaps the lack of sleep had caught up a little too much with him.

Twisting the doorknob, Minato was greeted with the sight of his Senpai, dressed in a white shirt and pajama pants.

"Akihiko-senpai?" Minato awkwardly backed away as Akihiko offhandedly walked inside and sat on his bed. "Why aren't you dressed yet? School's starting in less than thirty minutes."

The silver-haired boy shrugged at the question. "I wanted to talk to you."

"I-It couldn't wait until after school?" Of course, Minato couldn't help himself from saying that. He was, after all, a terrific student. His grades were constantly satisfactory, which explained his hesitation now. He almost found it funny, how the world was possibly going to end soon and he was still clutching to his Classic Lit books.

"Heh, well, if you say so. I guess it could wait."

Just as Akihiko was about to get up, however, Minato's mind immediately went to revisit his thoughts earlier. About valuing what he had before the end came. He supposed this was a good time to start. "Wait."

Akihiko sat himself down again, his eyes doing the questioning for him.

"Well… I've got time."

"Good." The older boy smiled, seemingly relaxing. After an awkwardly quiet moment, he conversed, "You know, Nyx is coming in less than a week."

Just like that, the mood changed.

"I know."

Minato's eyes darkened, and he had to lower his gaze from Akihiko's. He was the leader after all, he wasn't supposed to be scared. He was supposed to give them confidence, to make them realize that this was a battle that they could win.

But to be honest though, he still hadn't convinced himself.

As if reading his mind, Akihiko smiled softly. "It's okay, we're all scared."

"It's just…" The dark-haired boy sighed. "Sometimes, I'm just too terrified to even think about it."

Silence followed.

"Is that all, Senpai?"

"I've been thinking." Minato's eyebrow twitched as his question was being ignored yet again, but he decided to listen anyway. "You know, about what would happen if we… If we fail to save the world and all."

"What do you mean?" He asked with a tilt of his head.

Leaning back, Akihiko explained. "I don't want to die knowing it's too late. There's just so many things I want to do, so many things I want to say."

"Things you… want to say?"

"Yes." He nodded, deep in thought. "Not nearly enough people know that I love them."

They locked eyes right after that, and for a few seconds Minato had to remind himself to breathe. 'Is he talking about... me?'
"Senpai, I-"

"Don't," he interrupted, standing up. "I… I want to remember this as it is. No rejections, no bad memories. This is good enough for me." Walking to the door, he spoke quietly, "Sorry to have taken up your time."

"Senpai." Minato's firm hand on the door prevented the boxer from leaving.

Blinking, Akihiko waited for Minato to continue.

"I don't want bad memories either," he delicately murmured. "That's why the good ones have to last."

A pause followed, before Akihiko nodded understandingly and licked his lips.
Needless to say, neither of them went to school that morning.

-end.-