NOTE: If you follow this fic on AO3, I include some commentary on each chapter about my inspiration and small asides about this AU that weren't relevant enough to include in the actual story. Thank you for reading!
"An alias?"
Minako said the word as if it tasted bad, prompting Shinjiro to roll his eyes. It was a small miracle he'd even thought ahead to this point, in his opinion. She didn't have to make a fuss whenever he drew attention to their predicament instead of ignoring it flat-out.
"Unless you'd rather be Minato's long lost twin sister, I don't think a fake name would hurt," he argued, feeling pretty comfortable in his justification. "You guys look nothing alike, anyway. Just pick something, it'll save us a big headache later."
He knew he won because she made a face at him instead of replying. It was nice to have a say in things again.
Not that anything was really normal anymore, but the next few days were pretty uneventful. Shinjiro was able to more or less get on with his life, the daily flow only ever being interrupted by his constantly vibrating phone. Texting was apparently Minako's preferred form of communication now, and it was taking some getting used to on his part. She typed so damn fast sometimes that he couldn't keep up. He figured her brain probably went a mile a minute and that was why she always had so much to say.
They met up again before the next week ended, working on a game plan and not doing much else with their time together. Shinjiro never thought he would miss hanging out at the dorm, but at least they could occasionally get away from other people there. There was no time to discuss what their relationship was shaping up to be, and he understood why. Hell, it made sense to focus on everything else that had come up instead.
But, still. The timing being bad didn't keep him from wondering. Often.
Minako was eager to get back into the fray, of course. She admitted to patrolling her college dormitory during the Dark Hour every day that week, and didn't falter in the slightest when he scolded her for it. If shadows attacked any of her classmates, she'd argued, who else would be able to intervene?
He didn't like admitting it, but she was right. Truth be told, he got into the habit of watching the kids at Escapade during the Dark Hour for the same reason. He was a born a hypocrite, and she knew that about him. He valued her safety over his own. He valued nearly everybody's safety over his own, to be fair.
The two of them were relieved, at the very least, that nothing seemed to change much since last time.
Most of the shadows roaming around were puny, or bothersome at worst. Castor could make short work of any runts, and he was easier to handle without the suppressants clouding everything.
They made a point to dig up a calendar and keep track of the moon, figuring that maybe old habits die hard where monsters are concerned too. It didn't hurt to be prepared for something big and bad to show its ugly mug somewhere around the city, and the full moon was fast approaching. He definitely wasn't ready to be an optimist yet, but things were going smoothly for once. It was a good change of pace, and that's all he was willing to say on the subject.
Something about finally meeting up with Aki made him feel a bit uneasy, though.
If their dozens of vaguely herculean goals troubled Minako at all, however, it was anyone's guess. They spent most of their face-to-face time getting their story straight and going over what might be better omitted entirely.
For instance, he didn't think explaining their meeting with those two blue assholes was worth the effort. Minako curtly reminded him that they were her friends. He gave a reluctant apology, but insisted that he was right.
They eventually agreed that the conversation with Elizabeth and Theo would be best kept between the two of them.
"Are we missing anything?" Minako's eyes scanned the small notebook in front of her, double checking the notes she'd taken during the past few days while loitering around Paulownia Mall with him. Her thumb and forefinger absentmindedly tugged at her charm necklace, pulling the slim silver chain taut against the back of her neck. It was nice to see how warm and alive her skin looked. "The list of things I'm not supposed to know is pretty big…"
This had been one of the tasks that left Shinjiro feeling sort of useless. He spent so little time with SEES in any official capacity that he ended up learning a decent amount of new facts himself.
Most of it was bad news, but there was one particular part he disliked the most. There was a boy named Ryoji, another not-so-human asshole that Minako spent some time with. She couldn't (or wouldn't) offer many details, but he was supposedly the one that warned them about Nyx. He spent ten years siphoning off some of her humanity so that he could make believe he was a regular teenager for a while, and then piled the consequences onto Minako to deal with by herself.
Shinjiro wondered if this Ryoji had been listening when he and Minako spent their evenings together. He didn't like thinking that someone else knew the things he told her or saw what happened between them the night she came to his room.
He didn't like the sound of any of it, and there would only be more to look forward to in the coming days. At least that part of her was gone now.
"Don't worry so much. There's not gonna be a pop quiz." He rolled his shoulder as he spoke, not quite used to the uncomfortable wooden benches they'd spent so many hours lounging on. "Aki's too stupid to notice if you slip up, and if he does, I'll just say it was something I told you."
"You really think he won't be suspicious?" She set her eyes on him carefully, the corner of her lips curling in a way that he recognized. This girl was about to pounce. "I'm not saying you're completely standoffish, but… Shinjiro Aragaki, confiding in someone like me? I can't think of anything less believable than that!"
"That's a low blow, coming from you." He looked away, intent on busying himself with something on his phone. Too bad no one else ever texted him. "Do you wanna hear me call you an exception? Tough luck, I'm-... Shit, we're late."
Before she could accuse him of changing the subject, Shinjiro grabbed her arm and stood up to head out of the mall. He really hated doing this is public, but they were late and it was the perfect excuse to lace their fingers together. This seemed to quell her desire to tease him, or maybe she gave it a rest solely to prep for their first big test since she got her memories back.
Either way, he was happy to hold onto her until they made it all the way to Iwatodai Station.
The strip mall wasn't too far away, though Akihiko was already waiting when they got there. If they were going to get food, Aki was always early. It was the best way to make plans and be certain he would show up. Shinjiro reluctantly shook Minako's hand off of his own, using a quick sideways glance as an apology. They already had enough to deal with today. Getting caught holding hands would add about five hundred more questions that didn't need answering.
"Quit staring at the restaurant, Aki," he called out, tucking both hands into his coat pockets. It was defensive body language. He was feeling defensive, so it fit. "The food's not gonna walk out if you blink, I swear."
Akihiko turned toward the voice, frowning as though he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. Like Minako, he mostly looked the same as he did in high school. A little bulkier thanks to his new fitness routine, and only slightly less lanky. He still wore a fussy-looking white coat that didn't quite fit the person wrapped inside of it, in his opinion.
"I wasn't worried the food would leave," he replied defensively. Shinjiro privately decided that he was lying. "I was trying to remember if we did beef bowls last time or not, since…"
His calm defense was cut short, eyes moving slowly from his friend to the girl standing next to him. There were several seconds of silence, and Minako fidgeted under the scrutiny. While she rubbed her gloved hands together for warmth, Akihiko seemed to find his voice again.
"Uh. Are you… lost, miss?"
Their reactions instantly launched them in opposite directions. Shinjiro reflexively arched his back, lifting his face to the sky and taking hold of his forehead with one hand in frustration. Minako bent forward slightly, desperately attempting to stifle her giggling with both hands.
"Does she look like a kid to you?" Shinjiro spoke through grit teeth, absolutely floored by how inelegantly this introduction had already become. "She's a persona-user, Aki. I wanted you to meet her."
"R-Really? You could have told me on the phone!" His face quickly turned an embarrassed shade of pink, and Shinjiro couldn't blame him. Minako was still fighting off a fit of laughter, and he had no doubt that she relished being called 'miss' by her former classmate. "Ugh, sorry. I'm Akihiko Sanada. Nice to meet you."
Lip quivering, she wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye. Leave it to Aki to spectacularly break the ice without meaning to.
"Sorry for showing up out of the blue," she offered, clearly doing her best to take some blame for the confusion. "It's… nice to meet you too. I'm Minako Shiomi."
There was only the smallest hint of discomfort in her introduction, and Shinjiro considered that in itself to be a success. Despite her occasional complaints, he and Minako Shiomi might be able to pull this off.
The notebook page in front of her was covered in loopy scribbles, all forming small variations on Minako's name that were either furiously crossed out or, at best, accompanied by a hopeful question mark. She wouldn't let him read it yet.
"Our names are nearly identical, but we're not alike at all?" He noticed that she was looking disdainfully in his direction now, lips distinctly pursed from a long stretch of brainstorming. He didn't take it personally. "I didn't even know about this boy until now. Maybe I amhis long lost twin."
"Trust me, you're not," Shinjiro replied flatly. He reached out to slide the notebook over to his side of the table while Minako was wrestling with this conundrum, which proved to be a smart move. She tried to snatch it away from him, but he was too quick.
"And you're taking too long, so I'm picking."
There was a short argument regarding whether they really did got to Hagakure last or not, but the trio eventually found themselves crowded around a table in the steamy ramen shop. Minako and Akihiko gleefully chatted about the food, while Shinjiro did his best to ignore the familiar ache sinking into his chest like a knife. His vision blurred, and another old memory stubbornly burned itself into his eyes.
This kept happening when he was with her.
The last time the three of them were here together, Akihiko managed to convince him to rejoin SEES by dangling Ken Amada's name in front of him. The two of them did most of the talking, but Minako didn't appear to wonder why she was being given a window into that negotiation. She was the leader. He felt like that gave him license to stupidly ask what her reason for fighting was.
He didn't even remember what she said. That was how little he actually cared at the time, he supposed.
"-each other during the Dark Hour. Right, Shinji?"
He looked up to see two expectant faces staring right back at him, and cleared his throat. Spacing out was starting to be another bad habit of his.
"He said it was lucky you found me at Escapade that first night." Minako wore a somewhat forced smile, as if she didn't particularly enjoy having to lie. She wasn't allowed to enjoy a proper reunion with her old teammate, and it couldn't have been easy to push through that. "I'm glad you guys have dealt with that kind of stuff before. It makes me feel like I can actually make a difference if I fight with you."
"Speaking of which…" Shinjiro sat up in his chair, taking stock of Akihiko for a moment. If he recognized Minako, he certainly wasn't showing any sign of it. He was ready to get to the point. "If we're doing this SEES thing again, we need a new leader."
The other man waited, as if expecting to hear the nominee by name. When nothing more specific came, Akihiko eventually drew his own conclusions. He opened his mouth to argue, then quickly shut it again. He frowned, clearly thinking very hard.
"You're not wrong, but… that's a lot of baggage, Shinji," he finally replied, picking and choosing every word with care. He gestured with both hands as he continued, as if they would help get across the difficult point. "To just volunteer this girl after what we all… I mean, do you even want that, Minako?"
Unsurprisingly, she nodded. That same air of perseverance she wore so well sucked the air out of the room and breathed new life into it. With her, it was that effortless.
"I was in high school when this first happened, and I did my best to protect people even though I didn't know why I could fight the way I did." She looked down at her hands, smiling fondly as she spoke. He figured she had plenty of good memories of her time with SEES, too. Hopefully enough to outweigh the bad ones by a large margin. "We have the power to save the world, so that's what I want to do. I hope you'll let me try."
Akihiko gaped, and Shinjiro figured those words were melding beautifully with his friend's own unadulterated sense of justice. It would be hard to say no when she laid her feelings out so plainly for them to see.
He looked back to Shinji. There was a spark of excitement in his grey eyes that made him look like a high schooler again.
"You really think she's up to it? We'll need to check with Mitsuru, obviously, but..."
He nodded, opting to try out some of that unyielding confidence Minako always carried with her.
"'Course I think so. That's why I brought her here."
Enthusiastic approval was written all over Akihiko's face. He immediately began asking about her fighting style, receiving an in-depth crash course on the merits of a naginata by the time their food came. It felt like high school, and Shinjiro didn't hate it.
A cheerful jingle broke through their hushed chatter a while later. Minako's spine went rigid for a moment, which he recognized as the sign that she was getting an unexpected phone call. Sure enough, one glance at her phone and a hurried apology sent her running outside to get some privacy. If it wasn't her friends, it was her parents. He was getting used to competing for her attention.
"Good thing phones don't work during the Dark Hour, huh?"
When Shinjiro turned back, Akihiko looked uncomfortably tense. It was immediately obvious that he'd been holding in this anxiety for the majority of their meeting. It was rare, but always very strange to see this side of him.
"Shinji," he began nervously, eyes occasionally darting over to the glass door Minako had stepped through. He spoke softly and evenly, though he seemed determined to say his piece quickly. "This is going to sound crazy, but… do you believe in reincarnation?"
Having already done this song and dance once before, he allowed himself to let out a shallow sigh. It wasn't as easy as spilling the truth all at once. He wanted Aki fully on board, and to see how tough it would really be to jog everyone's memories. If there was an foolproof way to do this, he didn't know it yet.
"Not exactly," he countered, giving his best nonchalant shrug in the process. "I didn't think you did, either. What's on your mind?"
Akihiko sat back in his chair, taking a slow breath as his calloused fingertips tapped against the table. He bit his lip, and Shinjiro waited. He didn't have to wait long.
"It's just… don't you think she looks like Miki?" He frowned, as if that wasn't entirely satisfactory. Despite that, he continued. "That's gotta be it, right? I was thinking... if Miki grew up, is this what she'd be like?"
Shinjiro felt an oppressive chill spread from his chest into his fingertips. Of all the old emotions this stupid gambit could have possibly unearthed, he didn't expect to feel so fucking guilty. Not this soon, at least. He wished he could tell the truth and help his friend sort out the jumble of bad feelings tangled up in his head, but it was never going to be that easy.
"She's a good kid, but I don't think she's much like your sister."
And that was true. Miki was gone, so there was no telling what she would be like at their age. Akihiko didn't dwell on it as much as he used to, but Shinjiro could never imagine a world where the three of them were still together. That cynicism was one of the biggest differences between the two friends.
Akihiko didn't seem convinced.
"You're sure?" He leaned over in his chair, taking another long look at Minako through the door. If he kept frowning, he was going to hurt himself. "I definitely know her from somewhere, Shinji. Why else would I know a girl like that..?"
Shinjiro looked over his shoulder and saw what Akihiko was seeing. Minako leaned against the railing outside the door, tapping the heel of her shoe against the icy ground. Whoever she was talking to had secured her full attention, and her bright expression animated as she chattered back and laughed at whatever normal-life gossip was being relayed to her.
As he looked on, there was one person that Shinjiro knew for certain she didn't remind him of.
"Who knows," he finally offered, startled to find himself fighting a smirk that was forcing its way onto his lips. "Maybe she reminds you of that Arisato kid."
