CHAPTER 11 / Edge of Serenity

February 17th, 2010

Dear Yukari,

I don't think I've ever talked about the strange dreams I've always had since I was little. As far back as I can remember. I often dream of a girl that I don't know, she has brown hair and deep crimson eyes. She has an incredible amount of energy. She often talks about many things, such as who's who at her school and all the juicy gossip going around. But then she talks about the family she lives with and she becomes soft-spoken and scared. There have been times where she has come to me crying. And all this and I don't know her name. Well I'm sure she's said it to me but its like every time I wake up I can never remember.

Still whoever she is, regardless if she is a dream or not, she's become important. Over the years I often found solace in my dreams. So much that maybe I wanted to sleep all the time. And maybe that was why I had been able to sleep everywhere. Actually I'm sure it's because I can never sleep as long as I'd like that I stay so tired.

Speaking of tired… guess who is asleep next to me…You, of course. You look so cute when you're asleep Yukari. I guess you really got the run around for the archery club today. I have to wonder if your senpai isn't just training you up to make you Captain for next year. I wonder what you dream about. Would it be too much to hope that you dream about me, or us in the future?

I wish I could have those dreams too, but I already know how the end of my story goes. I know that it may be hard at first, but I'm sure that one day you'll be able to move on and find happiness again. As much as I wish I could be with you, it just won't be possible. Never give up your dreams and keep moving forward like you always have before you met me. One day, I'm sure you'll find someone you can love just like you did me. I am really lucky to have been loved by you in the time we had together. And I will never forget, even when it comes the day when my soul finally fades away.

Love Always,

Arisato Minato

August 2nd, 2009 / Daytime

Training had certainly been a different kind of fun. His challenge was a bit different than most in his position. Many dealt with strength training or focused on techniques...Minato's problem was that his instincts were hard to keep under control. Unlike real battles he couldn't just do what the situation called for. In that situation he also had the help of his Persona's as well as the members of SEES to back him up. A traditional sport like Kendo was a much different beast to tackle. Strikes had different point values based on location and how solid a strike was. Points awarded by a judge that would determine how solid or shallow an attack was. His week of concentrated training had him focusing on the primary strikes that led to points.

Minato had made short work on most of his opponents as his defense and counterattacks were his strongest points. But his next opponent wasn't anything like the other competition from what he had heard. Comparatively the rest had been pushovers.

"The final round of the 18th annual Kendo meet will begin in twenty minutes. Will the participants Arisato Minato and Hayase Mamoru please come down," came the announcement. Minato groaned as he was leaning against the wall and moved his arm and shoulder to loosen up the stiffness from his last match. He felt so restricted in a lot of ways just because of the nature of Kendo. It was a lot differently than how he usually fought. Minato was typically more mobile, with high agility. Kendo was restricted on the size of the ring and the movement was different as a result. Plus all the Kendo gear felt restrictive and ruined some of his range of motion.

"You've been so awesome out there today, Minato." Yukari, who he hadn't even noticed approaching, was suddenly by his side.

"Yukari? Ah, hell. I must have been so focused on the matches that I been blocking out the crowd," Minato stood away from the wall and sighed. He wasn't aiming to win, he was just looking for a fight that would challenge him. Despite Minato silently complaining about his limitations in a traditional Kendo fight, he had been having fun. It was definitely a change of pace of being in a tournament instead of a tower full of things trying to kill him.

"Don't worry about it. Besides, you look kinda hot being so serious like that," She grinned and quickly moved forward and kissed his cheek. Her comment made him raise an eyebrow before Yukari just smiled and stepped away from him, "Alright Fuuka and I will be cheering for you, so go out there and show 'em hell."

Yukari quickly disappeared again and left Minato somewhat stunned. "Okay it's going to be a while before I get used to that," Minato shook his head. It hadn't been long since the two of them had started dating, but it was still odd to hear her from time to time. Maybe what was harder to get used to was the fact that he felt like enemy number one since he was now dating one of the most popular girls in the school. Someone that apparently had a reputation for not being reachable...and that she had turned down a lot of guys in the past. Then again...Minato and Yukari's relationship was unique...how many others also fought together in another time against creatures known as Shadows? Well...how many couples did that? Minato found himself laughing a bit before a familiar figure approached. Well two of them.

"Minato-kun, you need to get down to the match area," it was Yuko, the Kendo club manager, that was talking with him. He turned towards her as she handed him his helmet, (referred to as the men). He took it and placed it back on.

"Hey Minato, you better get him good," said his teammate Kazushi appearing from his other side.

"I'll do what I can. Wish me luck, you two," Minato said as he picked up his shinai and headed down the wall and towards the staging area for his match. He wasn't really looking forward to this for a few reasons. He'd been doing pretty good all day but pushing himself too much at this point could be detrimental. Plus the full moon was only four days away. He couldn't afford to injure himself. Plus he wasn't sure he could win anyway. Hayase had excellent technique his strikes and counters were solid, and had an advantage in the fact that he really only did Kendo, unlike Minato. Though being defeated wasn't a bad thing. There was always something to be learned, and even more could be learned from a loss than a win.

Minato had an odd disadvantage in the fact that he had grown too accustomed to real battles. And there was no real rules set when fighting shadows. Because of that his technique in Kendo had actually changed because he had a hard time staying focused on the rule set in a match when his adrenaline got pumping. Because of that he had already had a few warnings with his counter strikes in which he had done one handed. Kendo was traditionally done with two hands, but Minato had adopted a single handed sword style in his fighting in Tartarus because of the need to be able to switch with ease to his evoker to use his persona. Fighting that instinct was hard...doing that and trying to win a match was even harder.

In a real fight, Minato would probably beat Hayase without much contest. However, in Kendo…he was sure he didn't have a match. The only thing that had helped immensely was the week long training he had endured which came in handy for the tournament as he was able to adjust quite a bit back to Kendo. But Kazushi was the only one that really pushed his skills, and he was unable to do so since Kazushi had injured his knee.

The crowd here was big, although Kazushi and Yuko had assured him that this size was pretty normal for this event. Still Minato felt nervous about having so many eyes on him. He wasn't sure if he should risk finding where Fuuka and Yukari were sitting. Doing so would probably just make him even more nervous.

Minato stepped out onto the match floor and the whole place got quiet. Standing opposite of his opponent he looked up as the clock counted down the last few seconds before the match would begin. He stepped forward as did his opponent and they shook hands.

"Let's have a good match," Hayase said with a smile.

"Sounds good to me," Minato grinned. He seemed like a decent guy at least. Even though everyone talked about how great he was, he had no idea how this Hayase was as a person. Still, an even better way to get to know someone was to fight them. At least it seemed to be true in Minato's experience. At the very least fighting next to someone can let you see part of them you would never normally see in them. It's why he trusted everyone in SEES to have his back in battle, even if he was unsure if he could trust any of them outside of battle.

They moved to their respective positions as Minato really started to notice the dead silence that filled the place. Minato readied his shinai and stood ready for the match to begin. He was thinking too much about it. It didn't matter if he won this competition; the only thing that mattered was how much he always enjoyed it. He had never aimed to be the best; it was just when he was in a fight he felt he could lose himself within its dance. Forgetting everything about the outside world and focusing only on him and his opponent. In that brief span of time he was able to truly escape from his reality that he hated. A world that had never cared for Minato. On the battlefield things were simpler...there were no alternative motives, no secret agenda's...no...a battlefield only had two outcomes, victory and defeat.

But that was the old Minato. So much had happened since he had arrived at Tatsumi Port Island. This was a place where his parents had died, and was never a place he thought he would return to. He had, and everything had changed the moment he stepped into Iwatodai…the Dark Hour…SEES…and all the things that had occurred to bring things to where they were. And then Yukari…a girl that shared a somewhat similar past as his own. She had quickly become really important to him. Going out of his way to ensure her safety, and apparently his efforts had not gone unnoticed. Now that same girl was his girlfriend and out in the stands watching him does the one thing that had always brought him comfort. No...the Minato that stood here had much more in his life...things were changing even more...and would continue to do so. As long as he continued to develop his power with Social Links and his fight against the Shadows. And he also hoped that his relationship with Yukari would only continue to become more and more important to him.

This wasn't about winning; it was about truly enjoying it for the first time. His life was going in a different direction than it had been before. Maybe now Minato could find something he could hold onto and to protect.

The match began. Hayase came in fast and with a powerful downward slash. Minato met it with little effort. Having seen some of the earlier matches he saw that Hayase was a fan of the hikibana-waza technique that was often used to knock your opponent off of their stance. It automatically forced your opponent into the defensive, and once you were there it was hard to get out of it. Minato diverted the strike away and cut across with his own attack. Hayase was quick to recover and blocked Minato's attack. Minato had to fight his urge to jump back and instead of retreating stepped forward as Hayase attacked. Minato deflected it or so he thought. Instead Hayase read Minato's movement perfectly and took a step in and didn't allow his shinai to be parried off this time and instead slid along Minato's own shinai as he moved forward and struck Minato squarely in the chest.

"Point Hayase!" the official called and the crowd cheered.

Minato laughed as him and Hayase went back to their markers. "You read me perfectly, Hayase."

"You're damn good, Arisato," his opponent said with a laugh.

The second point bout began but Minato doubled his focus. He took a broad view of Hayase and tried to keep his footwork and the movement of his shinai in mind. He was sure his time in real battles made it much easier for him to accomplish this. Hayase came in with a fast forward thrust but Minato expertly sidestepped it and countered with his own connecting with Hayase in the throat.

"Point Arisato!" the official called out. Loud cheers could be heard despite Minato's attempt to block out everyone else.

"Man, I think you're the first one to do that to me. Not many can use the Nuki-waza technique that effectively," Hayase praised him.

"I almost messed up. You have excellent foot work," Minato complimented as they both resumed their starting point. The Nuki-waza technique was difficult for many reasons because it involved taking all aspects of the opponent to try and predict their movement. Against an opponent like Hayase, it was a technique that would only work once.

This was the last point and the deciding part of the tournament. Minato smiled, he felt incredibly satisfied with things as they had been. He readied his shinai once more. The final bout began. Minato went in first this time with a wide sweeping arc. Hayase jumped back only to quickly step forward with a downward slash. Blocking he pushed Hayase back causing him to go off balance. Minato quickly stepped in and reversed his attack to try and catch Hayase's vulnerable side but he managed to swing fast enough to push Minato's offensive away. The both of them reestablished their footing and swung full force towards each other. Their shinai meet in a loud clash and the both of them quickly responded with another forward moving attack.

The two of them grinned.

"Arisato's strike too shallow. Hayase point! Match! Hayase is the winner!" the official declared.

Minato pulled off the helmet, "Looks like I didn't step in enough."

"That was awesome, best match I've had all day," Hayase pulled his helmet off to and stepped forward. "I'm Hayase Mamoru, it was a pleasure to go against you." He offered his hand.

Minato was smiling as he shook it, "Arisato Minato."

"Hey we should hang out sometime. I'm sure if you polished up your technique we could push ourselves to the limit," Hayase smiled.

"Sure," Minato and Hayase broke. "I think your team is going to mug you if you don't go over there and celebrate."

"Yeah I guess so," he laughed. "Oh I'm usually at the strip mall in Iwatodai after school. So hit me up there. Catch you later, Arisato."

Hayase ran off and Minato just shook his head. "That guy has one hell of a fighting spirit." He muttered and took off the helmet, he turned as a familiar senior was walking up.

"Hey, not bad Minato," His silver hair senpai was grinning.

"Hm? Oh hey Akihiko-senpai. Were you watching the matches?" Minato was sure he had seen Akihiko around earlier but his mind had been more focused on his matches. But it made sense that he would be here. Akihiko was in the boxing club but he was a sucker for competitions it seemed.

"You nearly had him," he said and lightly punching Minato's shoulder.

"Yeah, I hesitated on that last part but that's okay," Minato rubbed the back of his head.

"It's hard to fight your battle instincts," Akihiko said hinting that he knew the real reason that he had hesitated in that last moment. "Anyway, see you back at the dorm. Make sure you go celebrate your hard work." Akihiko gave Minato a wave as he disappeared off. Soon after he was surrounded by the rest of his Kendo team.

"Hey hold it," Yukari suddenly worked her way through the Kendo team to get to him. "You aren't taking him anywhere. His celebration party has already been decided. So everyone, meet up at Hagakure."

Minato raised an eyebrow at her when she finally looked at him. "Already been decided huh?"

"Well who knows where they would drag you off to, so I had Yuko make sure that the guys wouldn't fight it. After all I am your girlfriend," Yukari smiled at him. "You almost had him too."

"Nah, that doesn't matter today. I feel great," Minato gave her a sincere smile. "You sure you want to tell everyone that you're dating me?"

"Why wouldn't I? I got to make sure no one makes any moves on you," Yukari said honestly defending her actions.

"But who would do that?" Minato laughed.

Yukari looked away, "There was actually a few that…"

"Oh really?" his eyebrow went up.

"That is no longer a concern because your mine now," Yukari said poking him in his chest but realizing what she had said turned her face to a bright red and covered her face. "Well I mean you aren't mine…but I think I have a right to tell them you're now off limits."

"So you aren't worried about how it might…change things?" Minato asked, his own insecurities were showing up again. For a moment it seemed Yukari thought he was joking but he wasn't. After a moment it must have hit her that he really thought that being associated with him could ruin her reputation. He didn't want to be a source of pain to her, regardless of how it occurred.

"I have no intention of hiding this, if that is what you are getting at. What are you so worried about? Just say it Minato," Yukari was clearly getting irritated with him.

Minato instead felt angry himself and just started walking off. He knew he should drop it and stop bringing it up, but he couldn't help it. Still his anger was getting the better of him so he opted to just drop it, "Forget it. Obviously it isn't a problem."

"Hey, don't do that. Minato," she called him but he kept walking. Minato wasn't moving that fast so she quickly ran up in front of him and forced him to stop. "Damn it, don't do this Minato. I'm sorry I got short with you. Can we please talk about this, please?"

Minato took in a deep breath and relaxed, she was right. He couldn't keep just holding his concerns to himself. Doing that would be no different than what everyone usually did with him. And he did trust her...he needed to show that he did and just tell her the truth, "Look you're a really popular girl. I know tons of guys that would die at a chance to get close to you. And me…I'm just some transfer student who had all the luck. I'm sure…"

Yukari stepped forward and grabbed his hand, "Just so you know; I want to slap you so bad right now and just leave you here. I know this has nothing to do with my reputation. Why are you so insecure when it comes to us being together? It isn't complicated. No one is like you so don't..." Yukari paused and looked into his eyes...and as if she finally could see the truth of what he was saying she stopped. She pulled him into her arms, and he didn't resist her. "Something happened before…didn't it?"

Minato merely nodded but said nothing more than that. There was a lot that happened as he had grown up, and there was a reason why he spent most of his time alone when he had first arrived. Fate, as it seems, had a different opinion of how his life should be. It had also led him to Yukari. Now life was different…he was different. She had also surprisingly seen through his thoughts and to the real problem. But he wasn't sure he was ready to explain what had happened. Yukari thankfully, did not press the matter any further. Instead her initial frustration melted away into a smile.

"Minato," Yukari leaned back but still holding him and kissed his cheek. "Today is time to celebrate. Second place is the best this club has seen in years, and it's all thanks to you. And you're going to enjoy it no matter what. Everything else can wait for a different day."

He understood what she meant...she wasn't avoiding it, but she was also saying that it was time to relax. She was here to support him, and that she was more than willing to take it at his pace. Minato's unease melted away into a smile. "Alright, let's get going. I'm sure Kaz will give me hell if I don't show up fast enough," Minato laughed. He was definitely going to have to get used to dating Yukari. For some reason he thought she would want to keep it a secret considering how popular she was. No doubt she would have some troubles…he knew that guys definitely gave him issues since he had first showed up just because he lived in the same dorm as her. Well either way things were definitely changing, even if he wasn't ready for it. Either way...it was like his Foster Father had often said, Remember the past, be aware of the present and prepare for the future. Minato knew, he just needed to keep moving forward.

March 12th, 2011 / Evening

It had been a lot to take in. Well, that was putting it incredibly lightly. Hamuko learned that she had been stolen away at birth to be experimented on...and that she was actually a twin sibling with someone that had sacrificed their life to save the world. And now the only reason she was here and learning about it was because of journal that her supposed twin brother had wrote. Something in that journal had sparked a conversation about what they had actually known about him. And that led to an investigation about his earlier life.

That led them to discover early documents and a lot of things that didn't seem to add up. The more they found the more questions they had. Even now...there was still a lot they didn't know about her twin brother.

After falling unconscious, apparently Kirijo Mitsuru had called a doctor to once again check on her to make sure she was okay, but the doctor said she was fine but was probably just the exhaustion from before still affecting her. Most of the group known as SEES probably just suspected they had dumped too much onto her all at once. Hamuko somewhat agreed but also wanted to learn more...so when Yukari had offered to read a bit of the journal she couldn't say no. She wanted to learn more...if he really was her twin brother...then she wanted to learn so much more about him. She had just read about his Kendo matches...something that the two of them had in common. Well Hamuko had naginatajutsu which was also quite similar to Kendo, only that the weapon was different. Still the end of it had peaked her interest...something that had indicating about his past...something painful.

"Did he ever tell you what happened?" Hamuko asked as Yukari put down the journal.

"I wish I could say he did. To tell you the truth I can't really remember," Yukari sighed and looked over to window, she seemed anxious for some reason. Well she had been like that all day now that Hamuko thought about it. "My memories are still scattered but they become clearer as I read the journal. It is probably an after effect of when we left the Abyss of Time. Although it shouldn't be."

"The Abyss of Time?" Hamuko shook her head, something else she didn't know about.

"Not long after Minato died, we all tried to move on with our lives...and I mean tried. Most of us just bottled it up. And I was probably the worst out of all of them. Our suppressed feelings made us literally incapable to move on, so we all became trapped in the very dorm we had been living with him in. Later we found out that it had all happened because of all of us and the grief we felt because we had lost him. It had happened so suddenly…and the doctors had no explanation for it and we didn't have a single clue as to why it happened. But there, in the Abyss of Time, we were able to deal with our grief and find out the real reason he had died. After that we were able to leave, but I believe there is something else we didn't think about that could have happened." Yukari looked back to Hamuko and had a sad smile. "It's possible that in the end all we really did was taken the easy way in accepting the truth."

"The easy way?" Hamuko was perplexed by what that meant, mostly because she wasn't quite sure she had a good grip of the situation. "But you knew the reason why he died…so wouldn't it have been easier to accept it?"

"At face value, sure. But not once did we ever wonder what he had gone through. Why had he not told us all the things that he had faced alone? And even to the end he never disclosed the whole truth. In the end something so drastic had to happen for us to know what really happened to him. Even me...in his last months he never..." Yukari shook her head. "But I guess that's just like Minato though. Always thinking of others. And he wrote it was a selfish reason why he didn't tell me. I can forgive him for that...mostly." Despite her words Hamuko felt that Yukari truly did understand her brother's decision to not tell them. Because either way...he was going to die...and even if it was for a little while he was able to pretend everything was normal. That part...didn't sit well with Hamuko.

"I know I don't understand everything or what happened to him at the end just yet but…more than likely he was worried about what would happen if he did tell you the truth. Like with the Velvet Room," Hamuko suggested as she got to her feet. "But in the end, he had decided that this journal was the best way to do so. And an account like this would also serve as proof he had been here...with all of you."

"Yeah, that would definitely be just like him," Yukari sighed. "I want to know what happened to him. What made him so untrusting to other people…"

"Have you guys looked into his previous schools yet? Or actually into the families he had been adopted by? Speaking from experience…I'm sure the cause of his distrust is there," Hamuko could only imagine the kind of things that might have happened considering the things that Yukari had read from the journal. She knew about what had happened to her with some of the families that had adopted her. If any of Minato's experiences had been similar…or worse…then she couldn't help but know exactly why he had hesitated to trust anyone. More than likely if it hadn't been for Persona's and Shadow's he would have stayed clear of all of them and just stayed alone. That was the most likely scenario. It was funny in its own way. Although the two twins had never met, Hamuko couldn't help but compare how similar their lives had been. She was sure she had read something about that at one point...how twins who had never met somehow manage to have similar life experiences making the twins similar even without ever meeting the other until adulthood.

"We only recently started to look up his past in more detail. Originally we only knew the broad strokes of it. Now…it's important to all of us to know what hardships he faced," Yukari was interrupted when her phone beeped. She flipped it open and a smile came across her face. "There is someone I want you to meet. Come with me down to the lobby."

"Alright," Hamuko said as she got to her feet. "I knew you were waiting for something. You've been anxious all day."

"It seems it's easy for you to read people," Yukari said with a giggle as the two of them moved to the door of the room.

"What's so funny?" Hamuko slid open the door and closed it behind them as they headed down the hall.

"Your brother was able to read everyone around him and know instinctively how they were feeling. I was just thinking about how much similarities you guys actually had since you were twins. That's just my thoughts though," Yukari said glancing back at Hamuko. "It's selfish of me to make all these comparisons when you're still learning about him. I'm sorry."

"No, it's fine. I know you haven't been lying to me. And I know that there is still a lot I don't know. So thank you for taking time to tell me about my brother," Hamuko said honestly, after all it was hard for her to feel much of anything at the moment. That didn't mean she wasn't wanting to get as much as she could to learn about her brother, "Even if I can never meet him…I know how great he was and how he affected so many lives."

There was also the fact that Hamuko's dreams had involved her brother all these years. Although she wasn't sure how that was even possible. If she hadn't experienced Persona and fought Shadows herself then she would have never believed what Yukari and the others had told her. And why did she have a feeling that things weren't quite over yet?

"I think this might be a little hard to take in," Yukari said as the two walked into the lounge of the Inn. A woman walked up to Yukari and holding a young baby. "Thank you so much, Kaede-san."

"It was an absolute pleasure, Takeba-sama. Kokoro-chan was an angel," the tall woman said and handed the child to Yukari.

Hamuko forced herself to blink a few times before shaking her head, "Wait that's…" It was the only thing that made sense to Hamuko. There could be no doubts as to who this child was.

"Yes," Yukari took the baby named Kokoro and walked to Hamuko. "This is my daughter, and your niece. She is Arisato Kokoro."

"But that means that you…" Hamuko shook her head. "How old is she?"

"Six months now…closing up quickly on seven months," Yukari gave a small smile and kissed Kokoro's forehead. "After the incident with the Abyss of Time, I had realized that something was up…with my body. I was late, I mean late late, so I went to the doctor because I was really worried and…that's when I found out I was pregnant. There was only one person that it could have been. Because he's the only one I've ever been with." Hamuko had easily come to that conclusion...Minato was the only candidate to be the Father for Yukari...because he was the only one she had ever had sex with. No...made love with was probably the more accurate term here...just by they way Yukari talked about him...

"You really loved my brother, didn't you?" Hamuko stepped forward and took a good look at Kokoro, the girl that was her niece. "Would you have married him?"

"Yes, I would have," Yukari's answer gave no room for Hamuko to doubt her. Her answer was full of confidence, love...and the unspoken loneliness and undeniable fact that Minato was gone. The emotions Yukari had were honest and raw.

"My brother will never know he had such a lovely daughter," Hamuko whispered as Yukari wordlessly handed Kokoro into Hamuko's arms. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she looked at the baby. "You're so cute. I hope I can be a good aunt." It had to be true...Minato had to be her brother. A brother with such a high capacity to love...that he would give up everything in order to protect it. And the reason why he made that choice...had to do with his past experiences.

"Minato would have never wanted this, I'm sure. I knew what kind of hardships would come because of the pregnancy. Not to mention all the rumors and girls that would talk behind my back. But I loved Minato. I wasn't about to give up the last connection I had with him. Especially when I could fulfill one of Minato's dreams, even if he won't know that he was able to have a child. I decided I would endure anything and have Kokoro," Yukari smiled slightly. "Even if Minato wanted me to move on without him. I can't do that, and I don't think I ever want to. Minato was the love of my life, and even if it was brief, I'll raise our child to the best of my ability."

"I think, I would have done the same in your position," Hamuko smiled softly. Kokoro was clutching on to Hamuko's shirt. "She's really beautiful."

"Want to help me get Kokoro situated before we continue?" Yukari motioned for where they should go.

"Sounds good to me," Hamuko felt somewhat somber after what events had happened so far of today. She had a niece...and a brother that had accomplished so much. Yet Hamuko felt an overwhelming amount of sadness and pain when it came to a simple horrible thought. Her brother would never know his daughter, would never know her. And all his loved ones he left behind would continue to be affected by his passing for the rest of their lives. None of this was fair, or right. And Hamuko hated it...she could only wish that there was some way to make this right. For now she would have to simply settle with learning all she could. And at the very least...be there for her twin brother's daughter, and hopefully be a big part of her life in his stead.

Author's Note:

Everyone has a reason for the decisions they make. To you a man cutting you off while driving is just a jerk that made a decision to cut you off. But the truth is something you don't know, and more than likely will never know. What you don't realize is that the man in front of you is having a horrible day and had honestly just not realized you were even there. Does it excuse what he did? No, but that doesn't mean there isn't a reason in which why it had led up to that moment. Granted this is a rather loose example as I'm sure there are people that just do it because they are a jerk...I mean the world takes all kinds.

My point is that there is never something that happens without someone making a choice. As much as Yukari has her own problems she realizes that she never stopped to ask Minato what was wrong in his life...what was it that caused him to be so distrustful of others. At least...she believes she didn't ask. But then again that is the point of this story...they don't really remember who he was...or what he did...and more importantly...why he did it. The characters briefly mention the Abyss of Time here, it is something that will continue to show up as they realize the difference between what they remember and what Minato wrote in the journal.

As for Hamuko...there is a path of discovery that she has to go on just to realize who she is...and also to accept not only who Minato was and his relationship to her as a twin sibling but also the truth that they would never meet or get to know each other. Well...at least as far as she knows right now, haha.

Chapters might seem to be a little short for the next couple days. But this is because I typically have goals in mind when I approach a chapter, sometimes they take quite a bit to get across and other times...well it doesn't take nearly as long to tell. Anyway, see you tomorrow with Chapter 12.

As always, read, review...and maybe spread the love across the internet about this story...it just gets me pumped to keep my writing going.