For the second time in his life, Junpei had been deeply hurt. This time around had been different than the sting of his father's bottle, and to be fair these two times were not comparable. The first time Junpei had been deeply wounded, it had been due to his father's rejection of Junpei's desire to be a whole family and not a broken home. Junpei had dealt with it by accepting it and making a point to disappear on those really bad nights, because when he didn't disappear his father would acknowledge his presence with 'tough love,' something Junpei never did understand but somehow gravitated to.
The second time was different, and Junpei had coped even better than he could imagine.
Losing her was . . . could he even put words to it? Did he even deserve to summarize how he felt about her death? Nevertheless, when he managed to overcome over his grief he realized that the resilience that kept him alive during that first hurdle had grown, thanks to her, and he was now able to handle any blow.
Of course, Junpei didn't give thought to any of this. In fact, Junpei still felt like a slug from time to time. The kind of slug he was before he met Chidori. No extra special persona abilities, no all-encompassing attack moves, not even an extra-curricular group. It was important to remember that none of that mattered to Chidori, but Junpei could not shake the feeling that he had somehow let her down due to his ordinary nature.
"Junpei-san."
Junpei looked up and met two piercing blue eyes which were locked on to Junpei with full attention. He jumped slightly at her penetrating gaze but managed to laugh it off smoothly enough.
"Hey, Ai-chan." He said, giving her a genuine Junpei grin.
Aigis did not smile at his tone, but merely shifted her eyebrows into a serious expression.
"I have carefully been analyzing you for the last few weeks. You seem to have made a full emotional recovery after your loss, or have made enough progress to grant you a tranquil state of mind. You are in excellent physical form-"
"Aigis, you have no idea what that means to me coming from a cute girl-" Junpei's grin widened.
Aigis plowed on.
"However, there are days when my analysis returns abnormal. These are the days when you seem to be in a neutral state of mind which neither dictates despair nor joy. I am. . . confused by this behavior."
Junpei felt confused too. He looked at Aigis' grave expression for a moment before the epiphany hurdled at him. Junpei impatiently snort and folded his arms as he fell back against his seat.
"Yeah, I'll bet you are. So who told you to keep an eye on me, huh? Akihiko-senpai? Minato?"
Aigis' serious demenour intensified.
"I do not understand." she murmured sounding hurt, "I have been monitoring you independently of the others and of my own volition."
Junpei looked up at her befuddled, suddenly feeling like a jerk but too confused to apologize for it.
"Huh? Why, Ai-chan?"
Aigis paused as she briefly looked to the floor and then returned to Junpei.
"I am. . . concerned."
Junpei was silent so Aigis continued.
"I know you have recovered, but. . . there are times it seems you are. . . hesitant."
Junpei mulled that word over for a bit.
Hesitant. Yes. Junpei had accepted Chidori's untimely and most unfair death with a resolution to live for both her and himself, but it never occurred to him how or in which mindset to accomplish this resolution. How was he supposed get back to living. . .?
"Heh. . . you got me there, Ai-chan." Junpei said softly with a humble smile. He took his hat off and rubbed his head thoughtfully. Aigis' dire expression softened a bit, the seriousness ebbing into a sharp concern.
"I guess I kinda got stuck, eh?" Junpei offered, fiddling with his hat in his hands but not meeting those dominating blue eyes.
Aigis paused, unsure of what she should or even could do next.
Aigis decided to sit next to Junpei. He remained lost in thought as she softly placed herself next to him and spoke.
"You and Minato-san go to a place called 'Escapade,' when one of you is sad. When you return, you both seem happier. Perhaps this is what you should do to rid your hesitation for 'life'"
Junpei chuckled softly at his hat.
"Uh. . . going to Escapade stopped being fun a while ago. Minato's not a very good wingman. All the girls kinda bob around him and think I'm just his doofy friend. . . which I am, I guess."
Aigis frowned.
"Wingman." She repeated dully. "What is a wingman, Junpei-san?"
Junpei twisted his lip and furrowed his eyebrow.
"Um. . . hrmph. . . a wingman is. . . well, someone who helps you check out other girls. You know what I mean?"
Aigis replied with a sharp and empty stare.
"No," Junpei answered for her, laughing. "Guess not. . . well, when a guy is scopin' out the ladies, sometimes he needs a-a little help." Junpei blushed. "N-not that I need 'help' but you know, sometimes it's nice to have a guy whose got your back and who isn't gonna scam the same girl you've got your eye on. Like- uh- someone who will help you out when he sees you're in sticky spot, or is there just in case. . ."
Junpei decided to cut his diatribe short lest he pour forth more nonsense.
Aigis was silent, and Junpei could almost see the gears and switches flaring behind those beautiful blue eyes before she punctually acknowledged him.
"I think I am beginning to understand the concept of a 'wingman', Junpei-san."
"Yeah?"
"Affirmative. This strategy has also been implemented by biological entities in the environments which selected them."
Junpei felt like he was in math class, he looked that way too.
"You lost me."
"Wild turkeys have evolved so that the male turkeys, brothers specifically, will escort each other in searching for a mate. There is a dominant brother and a subordinate brother, and the subordinate brother accompanies the dominant turkey in selecting a mate, even though the subordinate does not breed. This ecological example demonstrates that the subordinate turkey has as much to gain as the dominant turkey through cooperation and practice."
Junpei was mystified.
"Turkeys, huh?"
Aigis gave a patient nod.
"Hmm." Junpei thought that was kind of interesting, but knowing the mating habits of turkeys didn't really help much with the situation. Besides, it wasn't like he was looking for anything in particular.
Junpei's thoughts were abruptly interrupted when Aigis shot up out of her seat.
"Junpei-san, I will be your wingman." she proclaimed.
Junpei gaped back at her dumbly, and Aigis interpreted this hollow expression as a polite 'no'.
"I would require only the most basic form of training, after this trial period I would only need correction-"
"Hey- slow down! I didn't say no!" Junpei got up off of the couch energetically as he put his hat back on. Aigis rewarded him with a dazzling smile.
"Thank-you, Junpei-san! I will not fail you!"
"Heh. . . yeah. . . it'll be fun, right?"
Junpei enlisted Minato's help in training Aigis in the ways of 'seduction'. While Minato was not thrilled at the idea of being replaced by a robot, he was still eager to help. To their frustration, Aigis' awesome intelligence served as a rather hefty barrier in teaching her the ways of man-to-man support. After about 2 hours of going through different strategies, hypothetical problems which could occur, and how not to make Junpei look like a creep, Aigis had finally latched on to the notion of what she needed to do and was almost ready.
Junpei waited downstairs with the rest of S.E.E.S, excluding the girls who were upstairs helping Aigis dress inconspicuously (to hide her true form and to help her blend in more so that her appearance wouldn't give the wrong idea to other girls). He was actually excited about going out tonight and the idea of getting back to his old self was beginning to look a lot more fun.
"Please remember what we discussed earlier, Aigis." Mitsuru's voice wafted into the room. Junpei and the others looked up and over to the doorway where the girls had suddenly appeared.
Junpei stood up slowly, unsure if what he was seeing was really Aigis.
The girls had selected a soft dark green silk dress (Junpei guessed the dress belonged to Fuuka) that tightly hugged her shoulders and then flowed down to her hands. The dress was breathtaking and efficiently hid her metallic frame. Junpei grinned.
"All right, Ai-chan! You look smokin' hot!"
Aigis gave a wide grin.
Yukari gave an exasperated sigh.
"Now here we are, trying to look Aigis look classy and you go and drool all over her!"
"We decided to go with a conservative yet sweet appeal. Do you like it?" Fuuka offered.
Minato nodded appreciatively.
"You guys do good work." he added, looking Aigis over.
Mitsuru turned to Junpei seriously while the former conversation unfolded.
"Iori. A word please?" she motioned to the adjoining dining room. Junpei gave her a befuddled look but shrugged and followed her into the dining room and looked at her questioningly.
"Everything all right, senpai?"
Mitsuru sighed and crossed her arms.
"I can't say I'm particularly fond of your plans tonight, but they seem harmless enough. However," Mitsuru intoned sharply. "I want you to keep an eye on Aigis. She hasn't been in an informal social situation like this before and well. . . I'm concerned about the volatile nature of this scenario. Could you just look after her tonight?"
Junpei wondered what the hell a machine (a friggin machine that could kick the Terminator's ass) like Aigis would need with someone like him watching ove her, but nodded casually anyway.
"All right- uh, sure, Mitsuru-senpai."
Mitsuru smiled courteously.
"I knew I could count on you, Iori."
Junpei flashed her a cheesy grin before swaggering over to Aigis and offering her his arm.
"Let Operation-Ai-chan-score-me-a-babe commence!"
It was a Friday night and Escapade was experiencing an evening around full capacity. Aigis' senses were overloaded by the flashing lights, screaming music, yelling teenagers and young people, and the muggy feeling of sweat and restlessness. She looked over to Junpei and saw the expression of a lost young man. It quickly passed, however, and before long Junpei was giving her a nudge on the shoulder.
"Let's get this party started, baby!" he yelled to Aigis over the roar of the music. Junpei motioned to a lovely brown-haired girl who was sitting at the bar; alone.
"What about her?"
"Acknowledged. I will assume my post and commence the operation."
Aigis discreetly made her way to the small bar. Though she had no intent of ordering a drink, Aigis gave one last acknowledging nod to Junpei, and sat down quickly and dramatically next to the girl. The girl looked over at mild surprise and then annoyance before returning to her drink.
"I'm sorry." Aigis said earnestly to the girl. "I just. . ." she began, sounding close to tears.
"Oh. . . it's all right." The girl said awkwardly, unsure of what to do with this emotional girl next to her.
Aigis gave a heavy sigh.
"It's just . . . my ex-boyfriend just arrived and I don't want him to see how upset I still am over him." Aigis warily pointed Junpei out to the girl. Junpei was putting on quite the scene of looking bored stiff at the attractive girls dancing around him.
"Oh. . . that's so sad. Guys are such jerks. You'll be okay!" she smiled encouragingly.
Aigis put a hand on her cheek and looked down at the bar table in despair.
"No. . . he is-" dramatic choke "was! The most amazing thing to have ever happened to me! He used to-to-to take me out every night, and he would write stupid little poems- and he'd pretend to like my awful music just because he loved me so-so much! And I just threw it all away for one night with some track team star!" Aigis sobbed out.
"Wow, you're really torn up. . ." the girl said softly, looking back at Junpei. "Oh no! He's coming over here! Just- act like you're having a great time! Here laugh with me! Hahahahah!"
Aigis looked at her, unprepared for this turn of events.
"Uhm- HAHAHAHAHAHAHA-"
"Not so loud! You don't want to sound fake, do you?"
Aigis' large eyes focused on Junpei who was now sitting on the opposite end of the bar. Junpei sulkily looked at Aigis, and then moved to leave his seat, but changed his mind and instead gloomily stared down at his hands.
"Wow . . . he looked pretty cute from far away, but up close he's really handsome." the girl observed.
Aigis made a small squeak before covering her eyes and making a few awful, albeit muffled, shrieks.
Junpei looked over darkly and then painfully looked away from Aigis.
"Oh, sweetie, look you're doing an awful job of keeping it together! You can't let a guy ruin you like this! No matter how wonderful he is!"
Aigis let loose yet another dramatic sigh and hit her fist lightly on the countertop. Junpei took leave of his seat and began to make his way through the crowd over to Aigis' seat.
"It's no use, I-It's just too soon. I'm sorry-I've got to get out of here-"
Aigis launched up and out of her chair and fled into the nearest dark corner before her newfound acquaintance could even speak. Shortly after, Junpei arrived at the scene with a forlorn look wrought upon his face.
"Damn, I missed her, didn't I?"
The girl nodded.
Junpei gave an aggrieved sigh before filling Aigis' vacant seat.
"S'probably good. I probably wouldn't have been very gentlmanly." Junpei muttered absently.
The girl was silent as she sized up Junpei methodically.
"Um, I guess so."
Junpei was motionless.
"Man. . . I've never had a girl tear me up so much before."
The girl looked sympathetically at her hands, and Junpei continued.
"I gave her everything I had, you know? And she just. . . threw it all away for some guy." Junpei gave an agonized moan before leaning heavily on his hand.
The girl sighed.
"I'm Kiki." She said politely.
"Junpei." He said distantly, looking at her with forlorn eyes.
Kiki nodded and spoke delicately. "She wasn't right for you. You deserve a girl who knows how to treat a special guy like you. Why, the way she spoke of you, you think she would have realized what she had instead of taking it for granted."
Junpei shrugged.
"Maybe. Maybe I deserve it. . . tch, who'd want a mope like me anyway? I'm nothing to look at . . ."
Kiki smiled.
"Hey don't be so hard on yourself, you're a great looking guy! In fact. . . when she pointed you out to me I thought she was crazy for letting a looker like you go so easily."
Junpei smiled at her faintly.
"You. . . you really think so?"
"Absolutely." Kiki responded almost immediately, turning her body toward him suggestively.
Junpei took his cue to relax and responded to her by turning fully to her.
"I know this is weird coming from someone who is just getting over a relationship but. . . you're- beautiful." He said flatly.
Kiki smiled.
"That's not weird at all. . . would you like to dance with me, Junpei?"
Meanwhile, Aigis had been distracting a few select, potentially competitive, males from approaching this same girl which Junpei was trying to 'seduce'. She had been successful in deterring one male in particular. It had been extremely simple, actually. Aigis had seen them heading toward the girl at the same time Junpei had sat down. Now it was merely a matter of asking him questions which applied to his ego. What sports he did, how much he could bench-press, the kind of manga he liked; the usual (according to Minato, of course). Aigis would even go as far as to say that it had worked too well, and now the young man was asking her questions; like what she was doing on Saturday night and where she lived.
Aigis' eyes flashed to the dance floor as she saw Junpei and his target dancing on the dance floor. However, her gaze had lingered a bit too long, and the young man's eyes followed Aigis'.
"Shit!" he yelled, running his hands through his hair. The boy suddenly darted away from Aigis and went to another young man nearby. Aigis' keen sense of hearing picked up their conversation.
"Hey, Mikio! Some guy is dancing with your girl!"
"What?! That son of a-"
Aigis saw a large young man with a devastatingly large body rise above all the other heads in the crowd. Her gaze narrowed in on him and she immediately identified him to be a potential threat. Aigis was not expecting him to move so fast or so fluidly through the crowd; but he did. Before she could register the events; Mikio had not only made his way to Junpei, but had all ready grabbed the latter by his hair and had dragged him out of Escapade with a testosterone-filled entourage in tow.
Aigis was immediately in pursuit.
"Oh shit- shit shit shit!" Junpei muttered as he was thrown against the damp back alley wall. In addition to the one huge monster which had him pinned between a rock and a hard place (Mikio being the rock, the wall being the hard place), there were four other guys snapping their knuckles and tightening their belts; all of them grunting in anticipation.
"Heh heh, uh hey l-look, I didn't know she was your girl- I mean, but nothing happened, right? I mean no harm, no foul, right?"
Mikio responded by punching Junpei in the mouth. Junpei doubled over, gasping gasping in pain. Mikio went to roll another punch at Junpei when a childlike voice pleadingly interrupted them.
"Please. . . let him go."
The tone in her voice resembled a sister asking her brother to return a treasured toy. The five young men looked behind them to a sad-faced, tall, doll-eyed blonde in a sweet dark green dress. Mikio glared at her and shook Junpei back up against the wall. Junpei's head lolled up dully, a trickle of blood creeping down his lip.
"Who is she? Tell her to get out of here." He snarled.
Junpei swallowed as he saw Aigis' nearly broken-hearted expression. Junpei couldn't let her see this! He'd be humiliated- besides he promised Mitsuru-senpai-
"Ai-chan. . . just get outta here. . ." he said defeated, "you don't wanna see this."
Aigis' robotic face contorted.
"I do not understand. You are in obvious peril, yet you want me to leave." Aigis reasoned.
Junpei limply shook his head, trying to focus his attention on one of the four Aigises.
"Look, Ai-chan, please. . . please go!"
Junpei had barely finished before he was granted another seizing punch, this time to his gut.
Aigis' face became set in determination before she strode up to Mikio and politely tapped him on the shoulder. He looked incredulously behind him at this unassuming and small girl.
"What the hell do you want?" Mikio said, unabashed.
"I asked you to let him go. You have not abided my request. Please, cease and desist, and I will not harm you." Aigis still sounded like the sister calmly asking for her doll back.
Mikio sneered at her and dropped Junpei to the ground. Junpei gave a startled 'umph', but went silent when he saw Mikio go for Aigis.
Without any idea of what he was going up against, Mikio stepped up nose to nose to Aigis while making himself look as big as possible.
"You wanna play with the big boys, sweetheart? Huh?" Mikio said softly, his words laced with malice. He gave her a testy poke on the shoulder, making her budge slightly in her momentum.
"Hey man, just let her go-" Junpei moaned miserably.
"No. I want you to leave Junpei-san alone." Aigis replied frankly.
"Oh, I'll leave him alone all right-" Mikio snatched a handful of Aigis' hair and began to brutally pull it. Aigis responded by grabbing Mikio's throat and throwing him a good three feet up against the wall before her. As she had him pinned and gasping for breath, one of Mikio's friends rushed her. Without delay, Aigis threw an arm artfully into his stomach and he hurtled through the air before meeting the ground with crack.
"Holy shit!" whimpered one of Mikio's unharmed friends.
"Let's get the hell outta here!" cried another.
The three unharmed teenagers made a mad dash into the night, and Aigis cordially released Mikio, who slumped to the ground, unconcious.
Aigis approached Junpei, who was still sitting on the cold ground, dumbstruck. She extended her arm out to him and he took it only to be pulled up off of his feet a few inches. After a moment of dancing on air, he landed squarely on his heels.
Junpei marvelled at her fearfully.
"Holy shit, Ai-chan-" was all he could muster.
Aigis looked at him searchingly.
"You are unhurt?"
Junpei nodded, wiping the blood from his mouth, but not taking his eyes off of Aigis.
"H-holy shit!" Junpei stammered again.
"Let us return home. I believe we have achieved what we sought out to do and that you no longer feel. . . hesitation. Am I correct?"
"I feel friggin awesome after watching you trash those punks! Makes me wanna go protect something myself-" Junpei squelched, jumping up and down with glee.
Aigis nodded as they began to walk home together, side by side.
"I must admit. . . I feel. . . accomplished in helping you, Junpei-san." Aigis added.
Junpei took off his hat in order to wipe off the sweat that had gathered under the brim.
"You had me worried for a second there, Ai-chan. I thought I was going to have to tell Mitsuru-senpai that I couldn't keep an eye on you."
Aigis stopped momentarily.
"I hope Stupei doesn't do anything to embarrass himself." Yukari muttered, smoothing out a fine wrinkle in Aigis' dress.
Mitsuru stood by observantly as Fuuka checked the back of the dress to make sure everything was in place.
"I think he'll do all right, what with Aigis there. She'll make sure Junpei-kun stays afloat, won't you Aigis?" Fuuka said, coming up behind Aigis' shoulder and meeting the aforementioned's face in the mirror.
Aigis frowned slightly.
"I do not understand, Fuuka-san. But- I will make sure that nothing bad happens to Junpei-san. I will protect him."
The three girls suddenly stopped to take another look at this machine who was becoming more and more human everyday.
"Aigis. . ." Yukari murmured softly, a tender smile creeping over her mouth.
Mitsuru nodded appreciatively.
"You've suddenly made my life a lot easier, Aigis. You are truly amazing." Mitsuru stepped up to the mirror, so that now the three human girls were pondering the fourth reflection. Mitsuru turned to Aigis after a moment of thoughtful consideration.
"Perhaps this is more covert operation, Aigis. . . Iori's ego is still frail. . . let him be in charge tonight, and you can intervene as necessity dictates."
"Understood."
"Yo, Ai-chan. . . Earth to Aigis!"
Aigis looked up with a start and saw Junpei waving his hands in front of her eyes.
"My apologies, Junpei-san." Aigis said quietly. "What were you saying?"
Junpei chuckled as he continued to walk on, this time with Aigis joining him.
"Can you teach me that sweet arm-toss? That looked kick-ASS!"
Aigis felt the tingle of a small smile forming behind her cold lips.
"Yes, but you must promise me to use it solely on shadows."
"Aw MAN! Are you serious?!"