Author's note: Double Chapter! I have to admit that I had 1-6 done before hand. Once I have done 7 and 8 only then me and Gin will edit and put up 3 and 4. If you are hooked, then check out the poll on my page and predict the ending! I have it planned already but I want to know your predictions! Thank Gin again for her beta reading and such! Now do us a favor and read and review every chapter! Tell us your favorite parts or hints you might spot! Enjoy!

Sunday, May 10, 2009

It was the day after the sudden late night operation and I felt exhausted.

After all, it's not every day (or night in this case) that I get stuck in a high-speed train and forced to fight an onslaught of Shadows along with a powerful boss all in an effort to avoid a train wreck and simply survive.

I was hoping that I could just sleep in all day but that wasn't the case as Junpei knocked on my door impatiently, to which I grumbled, "What?"

"Dude! There's a girl waiting for you outside. How did you score someone like her? I wouldn't keep her waiting, y'know?" Junpei told me with a cheeky grin.

Surprised, I looked outside of my window and saw Minako standing on the sidewalk, waiting on me in the middle of the day.

She would be pretty upset if I just left her there.

Not to mention that I knew that I needed to develop my bonds with other people in order to fully realize the power of the Wild Card.

"Whatever, I'll go." I finally said.

Hanging out with Minako would be better than staying in my room all day; I could use the fresh air anyway.

After being nagged at by Junpei, I briefly explained to him how I came to know Minako as she was the one who found my MP3 player and returned it to me.

"Hey. If she's single, you'll hook me up, right?" Junpei asked eagerly.

"I'll see what I can do," I replied after a pause.

"Sweet!" Junpei exclaimed cheerfully and left my room without any further incident.

Quickly, I changed out of my sleepwear and walked out of the dorm.

"Hey. I thought you were going to leave me in the dark again... I guess I thought wrong. Say, can we go to Wild Duck Burger?" Minako asked hopefully.

I nodded in agreement and so we headed over to the Iwatodai Strip Mall.

Just before entering the popular Wild Duck Burger, Minako must have noticed my current disposition as she looked at me with concern.

"You look tired. Maybe we shouldn't have come after all," she murmured with furrowed brows.

"It's alright," I replied with a shrug.

"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly.

I nodded and she brightened up.

"Thank you! Oh, we should hurry or we might miss out!" Minako exclaimed.

She grabbed my hand with a firm but gentle grip and we went inside.

Minako insisted that I sit down and rest as she would take care of the orders.

I gave her some yen that I had earned from my previous explorations of Tartarus to pay for the food.

Slouching into my seat, I watched her speak animatedly with the worker and, a few moments later, Minako came back with the famous Peta Wac set for us to share.

The Peta Wac set was famous, or perhaps infamous, to the local populace: it consisted of a towering pile of burgers accompanied by a very large bucket of fries and an equally large drink.

Anyone who was able to finish this notorious feast in a single sitting would then be immortalized, by name and picture, with everyone else who had conquered the challenge.

Just then, a child began crying at the top of his lungs and was heard by everyone in the restaurant, no doubt.

As it appeared, the young boy had accidentally dropped his tray, and consequently his entire meal, onto the floor.

"And this is why you should've let me carry your food," the mother complained with clear exasperation.

"But I wanted to show you that I could do it!" the boy shouted, upset by the incident.

Frowning thoughtfully, Minako carefully placed the Peta Wac set on the table in front of me before grabbing a burger and walking over to the boy with purpose.

She knelt down in front of him and offered the burger to the sniffling boy.

"Here you go! You can have this one," Minako offered with a smile.

The boy visibly brightened up and gave her a wide smile.

"Thank you very much," the boy said with a bow before scampering off towards his mother, chattering about "the nice lady".

They sat a far distance away from us but I could swear that the mother looked both grateful and relieved.

Humming happily, Minako sat across from me and grabbed a burger from the mountain; I took one as well.

"Let's eat!" Minako chirped, "Thank you for the food!"

It was a comfortable silence as the two of us tackled the delicious challenge and, fortunately, we managed to finish the Peta Wac set together though it didn't count towards the actual prize.

"That was really nice of you," I finally said, leaning back and slouching a bit.

"Oh? Hm... I just didn't want to see him cry. Everyone deserves to be happy once in a while after all," Minako smiled though there was a hint of pain in her next words, "But with happiness there is also sadness."

I didn't know what to do at that moment so I remained silent.

"I expected you to comfort me, but listening to me was nice enough. Thanks," Minako replied with a soft, warm smile.

I shared a quiet moment with her before we returned to the dorm and parted ways.

Rank 2 – Complete!