Part III - The Remainders of Spring

Minako had left the hospital humming cheerily at her sudden encounter with Akihiko. Smiling to herself and thanking Hidetoshi silently for the early student council meeting, she had skipped the whole way to the station. The sun seemed to be brighter without a trace of clouds, and a light, spring breeze carried the scent of blossoms. The train station was almost completely empty, a few people reading newspapers and drinking coffee. As Minako waited for the train, she pinched her cheeks, a slight pain settling from her inability to stop smiling.

It was when a gloved hand firmly clamped itself against her mouth that her smile dropped. Fear ran down her spine, and her body froze. She tried to scream, stomped her feet and kicked, all the while trying to bite the stranger's hand. The hand twitched at the pain, and her eyes looked around frantically for someone to notice. She continued to struggle, more annoyed than afraid at this point. Many ignored her, but a few people looked up in confusion. A somewhat familiar voice (though she could not pin it) sighed and used his other arm, effectively immobilizing Minako.

"Please stop struggling, Master Minako. Just cooperate with me."

Master?

The hand dropped from her mouth, and she was pulled back. Before Minako even turned around, anger was rising, knowing there was only one kind of idiot who thought this would be okay. An apologetic Theodore was grimacing from the bite, and he let go of Minako's hand when he saw her expression.

"Theo, what the hell?!" she yelled, her anger already receding. Minako sighed in frustration, and punched herself on the forehead. She didn't have it in her to be upset with Theo, not when he was such a lost puppy in the real world. Especially not when his strikingly golden eyes looked as sad as they now did.

"I apologize, I thought it might have been amusing to play a 'joke' on you. It appears I have failed... and it also appears I may have to request a Dia from you," Theo said lightly. Suddenly, Theo pulled her in closely, their noses almost touching and his expression growing dark. "You must come to the Velvet Room at once. I recognize you are no longer in need of it, and have fulfilled your contract, but Master..." Theo shook his head sadly, and closed his eyes. Minako pushed him away lightly, slightly shocked at Theo's last words.

"I-Igor? What happened to Igor?"

"I.. I cannot say... Not here. I need you, Minako," Theo said quietly. "Now."

"I can't, Theo," Minako said gently. She hesitated before continuing, knowing that Igor and his siblings was all Theo really had. But she had a life, too, and after a year dedicating it to being their 'guest', Minako's disconnection with the real world had grown to the point it was difficult to speak to some of her old friends. "I made a promise to Hidetoshi, and I don't think he'd understand when he asked me weeks ago if I could work my schedule for this meeting and- Hey!"

Theo promptly picked up Minako, and threw her over his shoulder. Now openly screaming, Minako pounded her fists against his back. Unrelenting, Theo calmly began trekking his way to Paulownia Mall, whispers and stares following the bellboy.

Later, Paulownia Mall

The Velvet Room

Two slender figures hovered over a bed that replaced the table Igor usually sat at. As Theodore opened the door, Minako's continuous resistance filled the air. Both women turned, eyebrows raised in curiosity at the old guest's arrival in the Velvet Room. Setting Minako down, Theo quickly rejoined his sisters and placed a worried hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.

"Has Master's condition changed?"

Elizabeth shook her head sadly, and she knelt on the floor; joining her, Theo and Margaret bowed their heads upon the bed. "Please turn your head, Master. It is time to change the towel," Margaret prompted softly.

It was then that the tip of Igor's nose poked out, and drew Minako in. As Margaret gingerly changed his fever towel, Minako approached cautiously, ashamed of her previous behavior. Looking over Theo's head, Igor's usually bulging eyes were shut. Sweat dripped from his forehead, mixed with drippings from the newly applied wet towel. Though he was usually pale, Igor was whiter than death. Minako did not know how old Igor was - or if he even aged - but she did know that uneven breathing in the elderly alongside a fever was not a good sign. Reaching for his forehead to check his temperature, Igor's eyes snapped open, a deadly shade of red circling his pupils. Minako jumped at the sight, and withdrew her hand. Igor grinned at her in the same way he did every time she entered the room; but it was weak, and lacked the commanding presence that Igor usually had.

"Ah, you have returned. I'm afraid I am not in too good of a condition, valued guest," Igor croaked. Minako shuddered at his voice, worry beginning to line her face. "Though I may or may not be truly alive, I fear it is Death that approaches me." Elizabeth choked down a sob at his words, and Theo's fists clenched. Unreadable Margaret stared ahead blankly, as though she had not heard anything.

"I-Igor... Wha - ... I'm sorry, Igor, I'm here to help. Theo, could you please check his temperature?" Minako asked quietly.

"105.2 Fahrenheit, or 40.66 Celsius. I have already checked," Theo answered immediately. "Though I do not quite understand what to do with this information." Minako breathed out a little in slight relief, and placed her weight on Margaret and Theo.

"It's bad, but not too bad. Igor's temperature absolutely cannot raise any higher, or he'll be dancing with Erebus. Just continue with this, it works." Waving her hand dismissively, she closed her eyes, already tired. The four watched Igor in silence for a long time, Minako breaking the silence. "How did this happen? Igor can't even leave the Velvet Room to catch something."

Three pairs of wide golden eyes looked at Minako curiously. The siblings exchanged glances, and as Elizabeth opened her mouth to explain, a chuckle emanated from Igor.

"This.. place... do you remember how this place... exists?"

"Do not strain yourself, Master!" Elizabeth cried out, clamping a gloved hand against Igor's mouth. Minako suppressed a grin as she tried to remember, a blurred memory about the mind slowly returning. Theo stood up, wiped his pants, and turned to Minako.

"The Velvet Room exists between mind.. and matter. Our 'lives' and 'existences' are not quite like yours," Theo said softly, regret and sadness framing each of his words. "You are - or will be, one of our last guests for awhile. You have completed your contract; we are no longer needed. This area within your mind will soon disappear, and Master's existence relies upon the Velvet's Room."

Minako stared at Theo, and she looked at Margaret and Elizabeth. Both women would not look her in the eye, and Igor had already nodded off. "B-But... what about you three?! You three are fine! And.. and... I don't understand!" Minako said defeated. "That doesn't answer what happened to Igor!"

"Master cannot exist without the Velvet Room. He cannot leave its premises, but we three can. We may exist without purpose." Placing both hands on Minako's shoulders, he looked at her with hard, yet pleading eyes. "Your contract completion marks the end of Master's purpose, as you have not retained the Wild Card power. In short, Minako, we need you to create another contract."

A heavy silence filled the air, and Minako found the three siblings staring at her, waiting for an answer. "W-What? What kind of contract?"

Elizabeth pulled an old piece of paper from her compendium, and showed it to Minako. She recognized it immediately; it was her old contract that she had signed for Pharos when she first arrived at the Iwatodai Dorm. Her signature had disappeared, only lines of fading black revealing that something had changed. "Simply renew the contract, Minako," Elizabeth said, a tight smile on her face.

"T-That's it?"

"With a catch, of course," Margaret added, still not looking at Minako. "While we love our Master, we cannot lie to a guest, Elizabeth," she reprimanded. Elizabeth winced, and hesitated before answering Minako.

"Y-Yes.. but not quite. You no longer have the wildcard potential... but you can enable yourself to become the wildcard once more," Elizabeth said hastily. Seeing Minako's blank expression, she plowed on. "This won't do much other than bind you to accept full responsibility for your actions. However, a certain amount of time must be dedicated to this. Your time will not be your own; a crack is opening in time itself, and this contract will bind you to try and slow its progress. It is not your destiny to stop the growing abyss, and we cannot hold you liable for this. It is however, in your best interests to sign this. It will ease the burden upon those whose destiny it is to seal the crack."

"You lost me, Elizabeth. I get that signing that will mean I have to stop a crack, but what will I be doing?!" Minako asked, slightly bewildered. "And why do I care about whose job it is to actually seal the damn crack? I've already saved the world!"

"This crack will have time repeating itself, over and over again," Margaret supplied quietly. "If left unaddressed, those who were aware of the Dark Hour will be forced into the crack, even those who have not awaken to their Persona. The burden will fall upon you and your friends again, regardless. The only difference between this and the Dark Hour is that you will have innocents that you will find you cannot protect. We only ask you slow the arrival of this rewind to save Master. It is only the truth."

Heat rose in Minako's cheeks, from shock and anger at Margaret's comment. Taking a deep breath, she glared at her, then closed her eyes. She turned her head away, and gave an outstretched palm to Elizabeth, ignoring Margaret's slight smug expression.

"Fine. Hand it here."

"Thank you."

A few moments later, the contract was signed and Igor was still fast asleep. Theo put a hand to his forehead, and smiled. "102 Fahrenheit. 38 Celsius. It worked."

All three siblings bowed in thanks to Minako, and Minako laughed sheepishly, embarrassed and relieved. "Sorry about earlier Theo.. and I'm glad I could help." As they raised their heads, Minako's crimson eyes met theirs, seemingly omniscient and bright.

"Time marches on in your world, Minako," Elizabeth said with a now genuine smile. "I'm afraid more time than usual will have passed due to the previous state of Master."

"We must let you go now. Please return here sometime next week. Alone," Theo added, somewhat grimly. Minako nodded solemnly, and turned. She opened the blue door, wondering how much time had gone by, and how she would be asking a certain redhead for her evoker.

?, Paulownia Mall

Minako stepped out of the alley, and looked around. The mall was fairly empty, indicating it was either still sometime during the day and everyone was still at work or school, or it was late evening and even Escape had closed. Praying, she opened up her cellphone, she glanced at the time. She sighed in relief. Only 11PM. Minako had time. Looking at her notifications, she had several missed calls and texts in the hundreds.

Opening her list of missed calls, she squinted in confusion. Each member of S.E.E.S had called her at least once, and Akihiko had called her nearly every few hours, with random calls in between. Hoping the texts would give her clarification, she was shocked to see the messages that were under everyone's names. Minako opened Akihiko's messages, and scrolled down, her speed quickening each time she read a new message. Eyes widening as her eyes ran over every word, she ran out the doors of the mall to the station, hoping she wouldn't miss the last train back to Iwatodai.

?, Late Evening, Iwatodai Dorm

Minako had her hand poised to open the door until she heard voices coming through. All familiar, and yet not all seemingly belonged.

"Where could she have gone?" Fuuka's timid voice hit Minako's ears first, followed by Koromaru whining. Straining to hear everyone else, she leaned in a little closer.

"It's okay, Koro-chan. We have to believe in her. She can't be gone...!"

"I have failed again..."

"Oh, Aigis, don't..."

"Senpai, it's alright! I'm tellin' you, she's gonna be fine! She's just gonna walk in here and laugh -"

"How would you know?! It's not like her!" The sound of silverware shaking upon a table followed a loud thud.

"Calm down, Aki. It hasn't been too long, but shit. She's really gone and done it this time..."

"This is very unlike Arisato. Perhaps something occurred that was out of her hands..."

At that, Minako took a step back and stared at the door in wonder. Scrunching her face in thought, she tried to piece together everything she had just heard. Was she... missing? Had a whole 24 hours passed while she was in the Velvet Room? Maybe even longer?! It had felt like she was only in the Velvet Room for about an hour, two hours tops.

Time marches on in your world, Minako.I'm afraid more time than usual will have passed due to the previous state of Master.

Ah, crap...

Minako hesitated, afraid to open the door. If she was to believe everything she just heard, she had no right to waltz in like nothing happening. The existence of the Velvet Room sounded like a straight out lie if she tried to explain, and how could she face them if they thought she was gone?

"Mitsuru, please. Let me look for her."

"Akihiko, we've been over this. Leave this to the police and the Kirijo group. It is one of our top priorities, I assure you -"

"To hell with that! I'm training to be an officer! I was supposed to protect her, but look what happened!"

A heavy, heartbreaking silence befell the dorm and Minako, who dropped to her knees. She had forgotten.

She had forgotten that while everyone else was worried sick, Akihiko would be killing himself over her.

Forgotten that Akihiko had already lost nearly everything, and if everyone thought she was gone, he would have thought he no longer had anything.

And Minako burst into the dorm, unable to take it any longer.

Iwatodai Dorm, 1F Lounge

"Guys, I-I'm here!"

All eyes turned to the sudden intruder, and everyone froze in place. It was a peculiar sight to behold. Mitsuru and Akihiko were standing, facing each other, Ken was hugging Koromaru, Fuuka had her arm around Aigis, Yukari had her head in her hands with Junpei beside her, and most surprising was the last man who was halfway between sitting and standing, a hand out ready to stop Akihiko. It was only his gaze that matched the intensity of Akihiko's, and Minako felt her face go red.

"I'm... I'm here..." she repeated lamely.

In a heartbeat, a roar of motion and noise attacked Minako. Everyone squeezed her tightly, yelling, except for one.

"We missed you, Minatan!"

"Where have you been?!"

"I was - "

Akihiko's lips crashed against hers, cutting her off mid sentence. It was an urgent kiss, mixed with fear and delight. He held her face, his silver eyes rimmed with red. "I thought.. I thought I lost you forever," he murmured before kissing her more gently. Snickers from the rest of S.E.E.S, Ken turned his away in embarrassment and Junpei whistled. Akihiko embraced her tightly, and he left Minako gasping for air. She laughed, the dark mood in the dorm lifting. When Akihiko let her go, he wrapped himself around Minako from behind, his head on her shoulders, smiling. Minako met everyone's relieved smile for smile, and waved at the man who had sat himself down as though nothing had changed.

"Hey, Shinji."

Shinjiro grunted in reply, and picked up a newspaper. Turning a page and feigning great interest in the articles, he spoke up. "Where the hell have you been for the past two days, Minako?"

Dammit, Shinji, you couldn't leave it at the happy welcoming, could you? Everyone looked at Minako expectantly, and Akihiko raised his head, looking at her concerned. "I was helping a friend of mine. See, his grandfather was sick and he really needed -"

"Bullshit."

Shinji looked at her coldly, and everyone turned to him in shock, and Akihiko separated himself from Minako, taking steps towards Shinjiro. His next words stopped him, however. "Complete bullshit, Minako. Two days, and you don't bother to pick up your cell or reply to texts. Don't give me any of that no signal shit, either. Don't tell me your friend doesn't have a working phone? All of us were worried as hell and you have the audacity to walk in like -"

"G-God, Shinji! Was I supposed to pretend to be missing and wait to be found?!" Minako yelled exasperated. Everyone dispersed from around Minako, and sat down somwhere in the lounge. No one could look at her but Mitsuru, Akihiko and Shinjiro himself. "I must have forgotten about my cell..." she mumbled. "Besides, I'm telling the truth! His grandfather had a fever and he didn't know what to do, and - "

"Where, huh? Where in all of Japan does this guy live that it takes you two days to get there and come back?"

"I.. I can't tell you," she said quietly. "You wouldn't believe me."

An uneasy aura settled, and Minako could feel the tension choking her. Tears blanketed her eyes, and she quickly swiped her hands at them. "Fine. Whatever, I'm going to sleep," she announced angrily, her voice breaking. She sprinted upstairs, hiding her face. Minako didn't have to turn around to know the footsteps following her belonged to Akihiko, but she didn't want to see him. Not now.

Minako turned sharply onto the steps that led to the third floor, and heard Akihiko slide. "Minako, wait!"

Ignoring him, she sprinted down the hall and fumbled with her hand in her pocket, searching for her room key. Minako slammed it into the keyhole, and struggled to turn it in a hurry. Akihiko was approaching too fast - she couldn't face him, not right now, maybe not ever. He wouldn't believe her about the Velvet Room. No one would. And the last thing she wanted to do was lie to Akihiko's face.

Hearing the click, she turned the doorknob and swung it open. Quickly stepping inside, she slammed the door and heard a wince of pain as the door remained open by a crack. Insistently pulling, she looked down to see Akihiko's foot lodged in the doorway.

"Minako please! What's going on?! Please, let me in!"

"You won't believe me!" she yelled, tears openly flowing. She kicked at Akihiko's foot, only to have his arm reach in and grab her hand. She stopped pulling the door and began to sob.

"H-Hey..." Akihiko pushed the door to the side, and stepped in her room. He hugged her tightly, and rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. "How can I not believe you, Minako? I trust you, give me a try."

This prompted her to cry harder, and Akihiko sighed in frustration. He didn't know what to do in this situation, and so he simply stood there and held Minako. His eyes scanned the room, and he realized it was the first time he had ever actually been in her room.

Every other time they met, it was in his room, and he only ever saw her off outside of her door. It wasn't spectacular, nothing in it that jumped out at him that screamed it was hers. A pink theme, it was supplied simply with all the necessities of a bedroom. In that simplicity, he smiled a bit. It was the simplicity that made it hers. Minako was simply Minako, nothing more, nothing less.

"Aki... thank you," she whispered. He almost didn't hear her, and he didn't reply. He simply nodded, and pulled away to see her face.

The brightness of her eyes were returning, and if it was possible, her already crimson eyes began to grow red from the tears. She sniffled, and Akihiko wiped the remainder of her tears from her cheeks. He smiled.

"That's more like the Minako I know."

Drawing a smile and a small laugh from her, she buried her face in his chest. "I.. I seriously can't tell you, Aki. Maybe not now, but my friend... doesn't want people to know." She looked up, and saw a pained expression on his face. "Aki?"

"He doesn't want people to know, huh... Is it..." Akihiko hesitated, and looked away. He dropped his arms, and his voice cracked. "Are you hiding something else, Minako? Or do you just... not trust me?"

"Aki, you know that's not true -"

"I don't, Minako," he interrupted. "If you trust me, why can't you tell me?"

Minako looked at her feet, and Akihiko looked at her searchingly. He sighed in defeat, and scratched his head.

"I'll see you in the morning, Minako. I'll be staying in my old room. It's too late to head back." He leaned in to kiss her forehead, and paused. Instead, he mussed her hair, and walked away with his hands in his pockets. Confusion lingered in his mind as he headed out, and Minako looked up, hoping he would turn around.

Akihiko never did. He continued, and Minako watched him retreat. She waited until the sound of his footsteps disappeared, and stepped back into her room, shutting the door quietly.

Minako sat down in front of the door. She stared ahead blankly, Akihiko's last words ringing in her head.

I don't. If you trust me...

Do you not trust me?

"I do," Minako whispered to herself, burying her head in her knees. "I do, Aki, but you wouldn't believe me. Then you wouldn't trust me."

For the rest of the night, Minako did not move. At some point, she fell asleep, and dreamed of empty darkness. And at some point, Minako woke up. It didn't matter anymore. She couldn't ever tell him, Minako knew that much.

And she knew that it would come with a price. Time would go on, and their paths would no longer diverge. The distance between the couple was growing, and she didn't know how to close it.

authorsnote:

ohmygoodness I accidentally published without my a/n. thank you to my sole reviewer Namine23 haha actually really drove me to deliver this long, last chapter for Spring. I feel like I should have split it into acts (or the respective seasons) but I'll see as I write summer out (YUKATAAAAS!). I wrote this in like three nights, and I've had work so if it's a bit messy, sorry friends! fair thing to note is that the abyss of time reference will not be a focus, so it'll just be time skips each time I have Minako do the thing for her contract. Until it becomes relevant. Ha.

Stay tuned, friends! :D Three seasons to go, and I've two endings and several middles swirling in my mind. Spring break is ending, but I'm prone to procrastinate heh. See you soon!