Full Definition of triangle
1: a polygon having three sides — compare [spherical triangle]
2: a) a percussion instrument consisting of a rod of steel bent into the form of a triangle open at one angle and sounded by striking with a small metal rod
b) a drafting instrument consisting of a thin flat right-angled triangle of wood or plastic with acute angles of 45 degrees or of 30 degrees and 60 degrees
3: a situation in which one member of a couple is involved in a love affair with a third person*
-Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Chapter 7: Triangle Spread
"Arisato. Have you finished those forms yet?"
"Hey Minato! Do you want to go get a bite to eat?"
"I'm really counting on you to lead the team, Arisato. Make sure everyone is getting enough training. We should go to Tartarus tonight."
"Could you help me with the math homework Minato? I couldn't pay attention today even though I was sitting in the front. Whoops."
"I believe my fencing skills have deteriorated recently. Could I ask you to spar with me tonight?"
"Ughhh Minato my head is killing me. Could you do me a favor and run down to the pharmacy?"
"Please join me in the shower Arisato."
"Let's make love all night, Minato!"
Minato felt like he had heard all of these and then some within the last week. Excluding the last two of course.
As crazy as he was about Yukari, he couldn't help but feel like it was his duty to help Mitsuru-senpai. She worked very hard for S.E.E.S. and the student council, and he wanted to do the same. Not to mention he still felt guilty about "the incident". But doing everything he could do for both of them was really starting to take a toll on him.
"He promised we were going to go to karaoke tonight!"
"My apologies Takeba, but I clearly remember Arisato promising to assist me in fixing the computer in the command room tonight."
"Minato told me that we were going to hang out tonight yesterday."
"I believe he said that he would help me this evening two days ago. So there you have it. And he also promised to help me polish my fencing skills tomorrow night."
"He said that he could tutor me in English tomorrow night!"
The two girls, one on each side of a very tired Minato, turned their rage onto him. He sank into the couch, unsure of what to say.
"Well? What's it going to be?"
"Arisato. Tell her that you have obligations to fulfill for the team."
"Please, come on! Let's go!"
"I would greatly appreciate your help."
Minato was being bombarded by pleading stares from both sides. Sweat was starting to run down his neck and under his shirt. He gulped.
His voice came out as little more than a whisper. "I…"
Mitsuru and Yukari leaned in closer.
"I…"
*leaning intensifies*
"Igottago!" he shouted as he sprang up and ran out the front door.
"Well now," said the white-haired woman seated at the lone table in the room. "I don't really see the problem."
Minato had retreated to the Velvet Room, a secret area that only he could access. The Velvet Room was said to exist "between mind and matter," and was where Minato came to manage his wide variety of personas. It took the appearance of the inside of an elevator, with an out-of-control clock occupying the spot the floor indicator would normally be. Elizabeth, the white-haired attendant of the Velvet Room, was seated with her legs crossed in one of the two chairs in the room. Her dark blue uniform matched the surrounding carpet and walls.
Elizabeth said, "To my understanding, males in your world strive to have as many mates as possible. Is this not correct?"
Minato sighed. He wasn't sure why he had come to Elizabeth for advice. She hardly knew anything about the outside world, let alone relationships in it. "Not exactly," he responded. "Usually each person has one other person that they want to have a relationship with. Where did you hear that anyway, Elizabeth?"
"I read about it in this research book." She held up a magazine with a scantily dressed woman on the cover.
"That's Sports Illustrated, Elizabeth. Probably not the best source of information."
"Oh, I see. Here, I'll give it to you to keep then," she said as she place it in his hand.
"Err, thanks, I guess." He put the magazine in his backpack and zipped it up. Hopefully no one went looking through his stuff in the near future…
"So you must make a choice?" inquired Elizabeth.
"I guess. I don't really want to though. I like Yukari and want to be with her, but I don't want to abandon Mitsuru-senpai either."
Elizabeth wagged a finger in Minato's face. "Tsk, tsk. When you first came to Iwatodai, you signed a contract with my master," she said in a mock-motherly tone. "Do you remember what it said?"
"Take responsibility for my choices or something, right?"
"Exactly! So pick whoever your heart desires most."
"Whoever my heart desires most, huh?" Minato muttered. Confidence building, he stood up, a smile on his face. "Yeah, that's right! I'm going to go tell Mitsuru that I need to be with Yukari!" He shouted over his shoulder as he ran for the door and left. "Thanks for the advice, Elizabeth!" She smiled and waved back happily.
As he boarded the monorail back to the dorm, his chest was brimming was excitement and confidence. "I'm going to decide what I want to do for once," he thought to himself. "I'm going to be with Yukari, and no one is going to stop me!"
"Is that so, Arisato?"
Minato gulped. "Y-yeah. I promised Yukari that I would tutor her tomorrow night, and I don't want to leave her hanging," he said shakily. He suddenly wondered if he had dropped his confidence somewhere on the train. "After all, you said that I should be helping the team right?"
Mitsuru, whose door he had knocked on and entered, was sitting down by her desk, idly brushing her long red hair. While Minato had expected her to be upset, she instead simply looked…sad.
"Yes…I suppose I did say that," she said as she brought up her gaze to meet Minato's. He averted his, heart beating abnormally fast. The senior let out a soft sigh. "Very well. You are the team leader after all, Arisato, so your judgement is final."
Relief flooded through Minato: he hadn't been executed. "Thank you, senpai," he said with an appreciative nod of his head. As he turned and grabbed the door handle, however, he heard a much louder sigh.
"I guess I'll get by practicing my fencing by myself again, as I usually do…"
Minato froze. He glanced behind him, back at Mitsuru, but she had returned her attention to her mirror and brushing her hair. "She's so beautiful," he thought to himself as he saw her gently straightening the red locks that ran down her shoulder and back. Yukari was also very attractive, but Mitsuru had an elegance and refinement that the younger girl lacked. Minato was about to open his mouth to say something, but held back. No. He had made his choice. He pulled on the door handle and took one step out of the room.
"After all, I just want to be able to protect you all. Akihiko, Iori, Takeba. And you, Minato."
The blue-haired junior sighed. His one weakness. He stepped back into the room and closed the door behind him.
"Aw, are you sure Minato?"
Yukari was assaulting Minato with the saddest puppy-dog look she could muster, and his defenses were starting to break. He silently wondered if he could have a heart attack in his teens. Probably, he thought, with the amount of stress he was going through today. Minato got off his stool and turned his eyes away.
"I'm really sorry Yukari. But Mitsuru-senpai really needs help with her fencing so she'll be better in battle," he responded wearily. "We can work on English some other time, right?"
The girl in the pink sweatshirt crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. Minato thought his own chest was about to explode. God, she was cute when she did that.
"Fine. I guess I'll get my friend from the archery team to help me," she said with a huff as she turned and started to walk towards the stairs. Minato returned to his seat and put his head down on the counter, exhausted. Sigh. Girls.
Yukari, who was now halfway up the stairs, shouted down, "He's really smart! He has all A's!"
"Good for him," Minato responded half-heartedly, still face down on the marble.
"And he's pretty cute too! I might go out on a date with him next Sunday!" yelled Yukari, now from the second floor staircase.
Minato peeked his head up. "I'm sorry, okay? Cut me some slack!" He heard loud steps followed by a door slamming. And then it was silent.
Finally, he thought. Some peace and quiet. Hopefully she was kidding about that guy. He put his head down and returned to his attempt to fall asleep on the counter.
…
"And he has really nice blue hair! Probably better than yours!" That sounded like it came all the way from her room.
…Minato was up faster than Junpei could fail a test.
"Hey!" he shouted as he stormed up the stairs. "Yukari!"
"Oh my. It sounds like you've had quite the evening," Elizabeth said.
Now face down on the lone table in the Velvet Room, Minato responded, "I can't choose. I can't just pick one. I'm too easily influenced."
"Who do you love more? The Lover, or the Empress?"
The Lover. Minato thought back to the hug in the hospital room, and back to the hug in Yukari's room. He loved Yukari of course. He always had.
But then there was the Empress. He remembered the picture. Remembered seeing the long red hair flowing down Mitsuru's elegant figure in her room. Remembered how it made him feel when she called him by his first name. He gulped. Did he like Mitsuru-senpai also?
Elizabeth let out a gentle laugh. "If you cannot choose one, there is always an alternative," she said. Minato looked up from his depression.
"What alternative?"
The white-haired woman brought her face uncomfortably close. Besides her hair, she was quite young-looking. Minato had no idea how old she actually was: time didn't seem to function normally in the Velvet Room. Her appearance was that of a woman in her early to mid-20s. And sometimes, her behavior made her seem even younger.
"Have you ever heard of the ritual known as the Triangle Spread?" she asked him, a dangerous glint in her striking yellow eyes.
"Uh, no."
To Minato's relief, Elizabeth pulled away from him and stood up. She closed her eyes and began stroking her chin as if she had a large and magnificent beard.
"The Triangle Spread is a very powerful ritual that involves the combination of three beings into a singular, more complete one," she exclaimed in a mysterious and swooning tone. "It has been practiced by civilizations as ancient as the Sumerians and as strong as the Romans. Virtually every culture has some variety of the Triangle Spread, including Japan."
Now it was getting interesting. Minato perked up. "So you're saying this can make me closer to both Mitsuru and Yukari?
She nodded. "Of course. The fusion of the Fool, the Lover, and the Empress would create a bond extremely difficult to break."
Minato was getting excited. Maybe this way all three of them could get along! He took a pen and a notebook out of his backpack and opened to a blank page. "How do I perform this ritual, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth continued to musingly stroke her nonexistent beard. "Well, the first step would be to find a suitable location. In past times palaces and mansions were common places to carry it out, but in modern times it can be done virtually anywhere. I would suggest either a bedroom or a hotel, for privacy." Minato wrote down every word attentively, and asked her to continue.
Hands on her hips, she assumed a very proud and imposing pose. "The next step would be to gather the participants. It is up to you to get them to to agree to the ritual, but popular offerings have been chocolates, wines, and flowers." Chocolates, wines, and flowers. Minato copied the words down, with only a small voice in the back of his mind beginning to question Elizabeth's instructions.
"Finally," Elizabeth boldly proclaimed, this time from on top of the table, "You will need to gather the materials necessary for fusion! Pay attention, as this step is very important!" Minato nodded eagerly.
"Most of the materials can be obtained from any pharmacy, such as the one in Paulownia Mall. You will need condoms, lubricant, maybe some other stimu-"
Minato dropped his pen mid-sentence, hand shaking. Trembling, he slowly asked, "Elizabeth?...Are you talking about...you know…" Even in the blue light of the room, his face was clearly colored red.
She put her hands on her cheeks and adopted an offended look. "That's step five! Before that you need to prepare the mood and-"
Bonk.
Minato smacked her on the head with his notebook. "I thought this was some magic ritual, not a threesome!" he shouted angrily. His face was burning with a mix of embarrassment and rage.
"Some say it is magical!" she said, rubbing her head to ease the pain. "I read all about it in a research book."
"What book!? No, wait, never mind. I don't even want to know." Minato sighed and sat back down, face still beet-red. So much for that. He was in disbelief that Elizabeth had just said any of that to him. It was ridiculous! He couldn't even imagine having a…three…some…with Yukari…and Mitsuru. Y-yeah, no way!
He let out a groan and leaned tiredly into his chair. "You're crazy Elizabeth. There's no way I could do that."
"Oh my," the attendant said as she suddenly appeared behind Minato and wrapped her arms around his chest. Minato froze.
Her words were a whisper that seemed to come from right next to his ears. "It's so noble of you to refuse to have two women at the same time, Minato! So gallant and romantic! Perhaps we should make it a Cross Spread instead of a Triangle Spread…"
"E-E-ELIZABETH!"
Love Triangle
When two people both love a third person, and that third often loves them both. The object of their love may be conflicted as to whom he/she wants, and generally nobody emerges from these very happy. Love Triangles, as it is widely agreed, really f***ing suck.
Movies (And the overly perverted force some call fate) tend to resolve Love Triangles by killing off the less-hot suitor.
-Urban Dictionary
