Author note: I don't hate this chapter. That's weird in me. Anyway, reviews are a good way to encourage me to keep working on this fic and update as fast as always aside from being a good confidence boost, so don't be shy and share your thoughts!

And remember that those who follow me on deviantart (SandraMJ) get to see scenes of the fic and several related pictures every so often. Just sayin'.

Anata no

Terebi ni

Jika-net Tanakaaaaaaa

Minna no

Yoku no tomo!

"Yoku no tomo!" Hamuko shouted the last phrase and sat down next to Minato, who was less than amused because the stupid jingle would be stuck in his head forever.

"Wow. You're a great singer."

"Really?"

"No." She slapped Minato's arm and then they went back to watching the TV. A black haired man who, for some reason, seemed a tad sketchy appeared on the screen.

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the home shopping show, "Tanaka's Amazing Commodities"! Granter of your desires! I'm your host, Tanaka, with a live presentation of my Amazing Commodities! We'll show you great items at unbeatable prices! Ooh, you won't be able to touch that dial!"

"Are you sure they could sell something useful? Or was it just an excuse to get in my room?"

"Let's bring out our item of the day! It iiiiis… Yawn-B-Gone! Protects your health! Oh my goodness! I can't believe its wonderfulness!" Tanaka was quite a hammy actor. "But wait, there's more! We'll throw in two Muscle Drinks for only 1980 yen!" Minato and Hamuko gaped.

"Have I ever told you that I love you?" Minato began clicking the numbers in his mobile phone at an incredible speed.

"I know you do." Minato purchased the Yawn-B-Gone, being told that it would arrive in about two days. The shopping program went on, offering another product called "Slash Ward". "What kind of people buys those things?"

"You don't want to know." Hamuko could swear she saw Minato shudder as he said this. The program was coming to an end.

"Next time, we'll bring you a set of two rare cards that your kids will be dying to own! See you next Sunday, same time, same channel!"

Anata no

terebi ni

Jika-net Tanakaaaaa

Kawu no wa

Imasi-ka nait!

Minato stood up and reached for the off button. "Wait, don't turn off the TV!" Minato looked at Hamuko questioningly. "I… Uh…" Before Hamuko could explain herself, the opening tune of Phoenix Ranger Featherman R began playing.

"Oh I see." He sat down again, surprising the brunette. "You're such a kid sometimes."

"Well, you-!"

"I think it's cute." Hamuko remained silent during the whole episode –save for one or two exclamations along the lines of "GO BLACK CONDOR!" The program ended and Minato turned off the TV. "Well, I'm going to play some Ghost Town… I mean, Innocent Sin Online."

"If it's so dead, why do you play?" The girl eyed Minato suspiciously.

"Because I'm a loner till the end." Hamuko shook her head laughing.

"I don't think you're so aloof." She put an arm around his neck and smirked. "You totally love my company, don't you?" Having a hunch of where that was going, Minato pushed Hamuko out of his room. "Have fun by yourself, LOSER boy!" She kicked his door and walked to the lounge. "Bonding with Junpei, go!"

The bluenette sat in front of the laptop. Maya was walking around the Lunarvele Hospital and she hopped gladly as she saw Minato's character appear.

"Wb, tatsuya *^_^* Good to see u again. U remember me rite? =/"

"I wouldn't forget you, Maya."

"U really DO remember!1 n_n" Oh, reading was a pain. "This is exactly liek when maya and tatsuya remember. ^_^-b" There was some silence as they walked out of the hospital. "Hmm...what kinda people r we, playing inside on such a beautiful day? yeah, games r cool, but like...(gawd this sounds pathetic-) there isn't much else that interests me, ya know? ._."

Minato totally agreed with that, but he was there voluntarily. "Well, I'm having fun talking to you."

"Ya lol… we're s'posed to be levelling, but we jus keep on chatting =3 but hey, grinding gets old rite? yar rite its more fun talking to u, tatsuya." And then the Hermit Social Link reached level 2. Maya proceeded to log off, leaving Minato wondering what to do –or more like, where to go, as he didn't want to accidentally run into Hamuko and Junpei again- so maybe he'd just sleep for the rest of the day.

Meanwhile in Paulownia, Hamuko was trying to make up with Junpei the best way she knew: arcade day paid by her. Apparently it worked, because Junpei's mood became considerably better. Maybe he thought he was whacking something other than moles? After that, they went to Café Chagall where they chatted about the places in which they usually hanged out and the greatness of the coffee.

"So you were serious when you said you loved me like a dog?" Hamuko looked up from her coffee cup. That question came out of nowhere. "We're just friends?" She suddenly became interested in her feet. The situation had become incredibly awkward in half a second. She knew that trying to change the topic wouldn't help, and if she lied, he'd notice.

"I…" she was choosing her words carefully, as Minato usually did. "I can't really…" Junpei's furrowed his eyebrows with impatience "I don't know, I can't tell friendship and love apart…"

"What?" The boy was completely lost.

"Um, I have had boyfriends before but… They got jealous. I act the same way with everyone, so they got angry at me thinking that I was cheating on them. They couldn't understand I just wanna have fun with everyone… So I don't want you to be like that." It was pretty much the truth. Hamuko looked sad after confessing this, so Junpei embraced her in a comforting way.

"It's okay, I'm happy bein' your friend. But if you get a guy, you should be less… Y'know those things you do with everyone? Uuuuuuuh…" Junpei had problems defining Hamuko, and she found that funny. "…Hey, I'm here for you, alright? And don't doubt to call me if you want a friend with… Privileges!" Hamuko looked at him with interest, but Junpei swore her was kidding. The atmosphere wasn't awkward anymore.

"So Persona bros?" Hamuko broke the hug and raised her hand in the air, which was quickly met by Junpei's.

"PERSONABROS!" He was lying. It was easy to tell that, but Hamuko didn't notice. The girl believed that Junpei really wanted to spend time with her, even if it had to be stuck forever in the "just friends" zone, and that made her appreciate him even more; the Magician Social Link grew consequently, reaching level 3. "Anyway, you probably deserve someone more like… Akihiko-senpai! Imagine it: a transfer student arrives to Gekkoukan and steals the Boxing Club's captain's heart! Seems a story from a manga."

"Senpai, huh?" Hamuko could picture her senpai hanging out with her, talking about training, training and, if there was some time left, training. "Uh…"

"Huh? Not a sports guy girl? You prefer someone like Kenji?" The brunette smiled awkwardly as she shook her head. "I guess not. Um…" He kept saying a lot of names, most of which Hamuko had never heard. She noticed he mentioned every guy in the class except Minato and she couldn't help but to wonder if he was somehow still mad at the bluenette.

As the afternoon came to an end, Junpei said bye and left Paulownia whereas Hamuko decided to stay a bit more. Alone and with nothing to do, she decided to visit the Velvet Room.

"Theo!" Igor's assistant bowed "I got some of the things you asked me for!" She handed him the few Pine Resin she got from Yukari, the shards of beetle shell –there was no other way of transporting it- and promised him to give him the Juzumaru the following day before taking him on a date.

"You planned taking me to your world tomorrow?"

"Yup. It's Greenery Day, so I don't have classes. Is there any problem?" The man in blue seemed to hesitate a moment before shaking his head. "Awesome! Then I'll come pick you up at-"

"It isn't necessary for you to establish a specific time; remember that time does not go by in the Velvet Room, hence I won't be aware of the time remaining until your arrival and it would only make my wait all the more painful."

"…Oookay?" Hamuko hadn't understood half of Theo's speech. "So like, see you tomorrow at eleven!" And then she left.

Minato was in the café, but that wasn't a surprise for her any longer; the shock of the night was that Minato only ordered a cup of chocolate.

"I've been sleeping all day so drinking coffee would be quite pointless."

"Sleeping? How can you be so boring?"

"…I didn't want to take any chances at running into you and Junpei."

"Oh…" She suddenly felt bad for Minato. "…Do you want to do something together tomorrow? Just me and you." She smiled. "Junpei doesn't need to know." Minato had a weird expression, which Hamuko needed some seconds to understand. "…Oh man, c'mon I didn't mean it like that." He shook his head and carried on drinking his chocolate. "…Unless you want to." Hamuko giggled as the boy choked on his cup.

"Yeah, okay, I guess hanging out would be nice. I have an appointment in the morning, though."

"Ditto." Hamuko grinned mischievously at Minato as she rested her chin on the back of her hands. "Could it be my Minato-kun got a date?" The boy nodded with an awkward smile. "Woo! Do I know her?"

"I'm afraid you don't. She… Isn't from school." He didn't seem keen on talking about that. "So who are you meeting?"

"Se-cret! You probably don't know him, either." Saying that it was Igor's assistant would have been kind of pathetic. "So how's the chocolate?"

"Chocolate-ish? It tends to be better when you don't drop innuendos while I'm enjoying it."

"I'm secretly trying to kill you with advances…"

"I guess you want me to die happy, then." The conversation got more and more derailed as the night went on.

"What is that over there?"

"This must be "a fountain"!"

Both speakers looked at each other. Both had platinum blond hair, golden eyes and bizarre blue suits. The first one, Theo, seemed horrified to see Elisabeth, the second.

"Theodore!" Elisabeth ran towards the man and hugged him, must to his annoyance. "What is my little Theo doing in the human world?"

"Sister, please…" Theo was mumbling something.

It was then when Minato and Hamuko saw each other. They could only interchange awkward smiles as the siblings attracted everyone's attentions. Once Elisabeth calmed down, everyone continued the tour around Paulownia Mall together.

"So what is an aqueous duct doing in a place like this?" The male assistant fell silent "The dwellers of this world must get thirsty easily." Elisabeth chuckled.

"It's a fountain, Theo! Don't you know what's it for?"

"Eh… O-of course! It's meant to wash one's hands!"

"Wrong! It makes sport of water, well known to all to be the foundation of life… How wicked!" Her tune became amused "You should know these things, Theo!" Theo began coughing awkwardly, trying to hide a blush.

"…It was only my small joke." He seemed defeated. "So is it its only aim?"

"Well… It's rumoured that its enchanting nature grants wishes to those who sacrifice a few coins…" Minato was about to tell her that it was only a superstition, but Hamuko stopped him and suggested just enjoying the show.

"Ah… I did not bring any money…"

"Fortunately, I anticipated this encounter and brought a good supply of coins! 2000 of your 500-yen coins, to be exact." The teens gapped. "I shall make an opening bid to the fountain spirit of 1,000,000 yen." She took out a purse and opened it, emptying its contents in the fountain. A torrent of coins began falling on the water, much to everyone's surprise. "Want to throw some?" she suddenly closed the purse "…Oh wait. I was so caught up in the excitement of tossing coins that I didn't give my wish any thought. This won't do… I shall give it more careful consideration before I return here in the near future…"

Theo and Elisabeth strolled around Paulownia while Minato did his best to drag Hamuko away from the fountain- the girl was willing to jump in to rescue the money.

"Hm?" They stopped in front of the police station "And what, pray tell, is this facility here?"

"There are some stern faced gentlemen inside!"

"These photographs… Most Wanted… Reward? So the concept of subjugation requests is not unknown here…"

"Well yes." Minato just realised it was indeed similar.

"Except that we don't kill them." Hamuko kept looking back at the fountain.

"What do they use as proof that the target has been subjugated?"

"Well, I assume they'd need to bring back a piece of the body." He nodded to himself. "If there are hunters of such talent in this world as well, I may want to make a few requests of my own…" He looked at Hamuko with a flirtatious smile. "…But on second thought, perhaps not. I already have you, our finest guest, for that."

"Excuse me?" Elisabeth seemed a bit insulted "Minato-sama is the finest guest!"

"Hamuko-sama is!"

"A-Anyone wants to check out Escapade?" Minato took the assistants away from the police station, finally letting Hamuko free to go get the money. She came back looking pretty defeated – the fountain had already been salvaged.

"This edifice over here…"

"Could this be the "club" of rumour?"

"Yes!" Elisabeth was euphoric. "Dancers, dictated by the sway of one's inner passions… A subterranean garden of uninhibited spectacle…" Somehow, those words didn't fit very well with the night Minato spend there. Hamuko confirmed gladly Elisabeth's words, though.

"Well then, let us venture in… It's closed? This can't be… It seems, I have no choice but to turn back…"

"Oh well!" Elisabeth began dancing in front of Escapade, prompting the teens to walk away covertly, pretending not to know the woman acting out of place. "Ooh! That was quite satisfying. But I'm overwhelmed… Everything looks so new and inviting. Everywhere I look, something catches the eye. Perhaps you could recommend our next activity?"

"Let's go to the arcade!" Minato seemed to like Hamuko's suggestion.

"Ar… Cade…?" Theo seemed clueless. "…A series of arches?"

"I have heard of it before! I recall it described as a playground where one sports with electric fairies in exchange for tokens… I have also heard that they contain games where one controls a bird to win prizes… I'm eager to see it!"

"A-Alright, let us investigate…" But before they could go, Elisabeth ran off to another fountain and began tossing coins in, and then she headed towards the one next to the arcade.

"It's a trinity of fountain spirits!" Elisabeth ran from one place to another until her money stopped falling from her purse. Hamuko's jaw seemed broken, and Theo misunderstood her expression as awe, so he ran to one of the fountains and stuck his hand in the water.

"It's 8 degrees Celsius." He announced the information proudly, trying to impress his guest.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Hamuko's question made the male assistant blush furiously as he had no response.

Things got calmer after spending some time in the arcade –which Minato and Hamuko had to pay. Theo and Elisabeth seemed infatuated with Step Mania whereas the teens were happy playing the new Train Driver Simulator.

"This world has its charms. I… Would relish the chance to visit it again sometime. Thank you very much for today."

"I would like to accompany you too! Oh, let's meet all together another day!" Neither Hamuko nor Minato seemed very pleased with Elisabeth's idea.

Everyone went back together to the Velvet Room. Theodore asked Igor to install a fountain in the Velvet Room whereas Elisabeth asked him to turn it into a club; in both cases, he refused. The assistants gave their respective guests a Small Cheongsam, which would allow them to fuse "Hua Po".

"Well, that was an… Interesting morning."

"Hey, babysitting magical people is awesome! We should do it more often!" They fell in a sudden silence. "So you didn't really get a date! Hah, laaaaaame!"

"Buh? You were meeting Theo, that's just as pathetic!"

"I never said it was a date!" She stuck her tongue at him "Furthermore, I would be able to get one just by snappin' my fingers."

"It's not a date when you get paid…" Minato survived miraculously the walk to Port Island Station. They decided to go check the new films in the cinema.

"Let's see, um…" Hamuko began running a finger over the posters. "Life in the Junkyard… Bizarre Space…" she seemed to find something interesting "The Succubus…?"

The poster for the film was rather… Suggestive. "I'm not watching that."

"Aw… C'mon, Minato-kun! I want to watch it!" She tugged at his sleeve. "I've heard that I speak just like the villain!"

"No."

"Hey, are you scared of the film or something?" She seemed to be asking a serious question. "Don't worry, I'll be there with you!"

"That's what worries me." "…What kind of film do you think it is?"

"Junpei said it's gory." Minato face palmed. "What?"

"With that poster, no wonder Junpei watched it…" He sighed in defeat. "Alright… You pay for the popcorn."

The film wasn't as bad as Minato expected, but he wasn't too comfortable watching it. And yes, there was a bunch of gore. Hamuko seemed to… Like the film? In fact, she seemed to love every time the antagonist had a sentence.

"Doesn't the main character remind you of someone?"

"Now you say it… I do think I've seen him somewhere."

"And man, the fiancé… She sounds just like Yukari."

"…Yeah. Yes, she does."

Hamuko seemed rather indifferent to the "awkward" scenes, but Minato was obviously affected. She couldn't let that chance to mock him go.

"Do you need a handkerchief, Minato-kun? Nosebleeds can be so treacherous."

"S-Shut up." She planned carefully her next prank.

"Oh man, we totally have to try that."

"EH?"

"I was saying that you totally have to try the popcorn." Minato blubbered something inaudible. The boy didn't really want to be there at that point. Using this to her advantage, Hamuko approached him and whispered to his ear "…I could do so much better than her."

"GOD DAMN IT, HAMUKO." He stormed off.

"No way I'm watching this film alone." She ran after him and found him stomping his way to the train platform. "Hey wait for me!"

"I'm not going to the cinema with you ever again."

"Aw, did I make you feel uncomfortable?" Minato glared at her. "You're just so easy to play with."

"So if I was the one acting like a slut you wouldn't behave that way with me?"

"Yeah. Problem is…" Hamuko put her face right in front of Minato's and he stepped back. "…You don't do those things." She clang to him and laughed. "You're such a good boy."

"Well, I did extort you once to get me coffee by imitating you…"

"Well, you were behaving like me, so it doesn't count as being bad." Minato was about to make a rather indiscreet comment but saved it to himself.

"Hey, is being a gentleman a bad thing or something?"

"Nope. I like you like that." She took a hand to her mouth. "W-wait not like, like, "like" I mean "like" like uh…" She muttered something, rather unusual for her normal loudness.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. I just remembered Junpei suggested being more careful with what I say…" Minato laughed at her and she pouted.

"Screw that. You wouldn't be able to spend a day without dropping any innuendos."

"HUH? Well, you wouldn't be able to spend a day leaving the stoic façade aside!"

"Do you think so?"

"Maybe!" They fell silent and looked at each other with amusement. "Whoever loses pays dinner WHEREVER the winner decides."

"Deal. We better tell Kenji and Junpei not to make any plans for tomorrow." They shook hands and waited to see if any ominous voices told them their social link had deepened, but no.

The afternoon continued rather calmly, disregarding Junpei and Hamuko's loud chatter about the awesomeness of the film and how awful not watching the ending -thanks to Minato- was. The boy decided to begin plotting a fitting revenge... Maybe someone would accidentally leak information about Hamuko's part time job uniform to Junpei…

That reference is so easy to tell that it hurts :B