I don't really know why this chapter took so long considering it's so short, but it's here now! Enjoy :)
Serenity was a concept unknown to both Shinjiro and Minako. Anything and everything constantly turned into chaos at the drop of a hat. Moving to a new city? Chaos. Dark Hour Persona Training? Chaos. Meeting a boy and falling in love with him? Chaos.
Obviously, chaos was not a new affair for either parties.
Serenity was, however. The calm and quiet after the storm. The birds chirping and fish swimming. The fresh scent of pollen on wind. Calm things. Things that you see in paintings in an old woman's house.
Tranquility was not normally the sound of someone snoring, but Minako would take what she could get.
She lies on Shinjiro's bed, covers up to her shoulders, and sinks into the mattress. There is nothing more in the world that she wishes for in this moment, and, quite frankly, is glad that she made the executive decision to skip school today.
Last night had been...adventurous. She was still a bit tired, but wouldn't miss this opportunity to find a little calm with Shinjiro. He had been courteous and gentle, something she wouldn't have expected a few months ago at their first meeting, and treated her like a princess.
Essentially, everything went right which was a fairly new experience for Minako.
Shinjiro rolls to his side, and that's when Minako realizes that he's not asleep anymore.
"Good morning..." Minako trails off as she sinks further into the mattress. Her mattress was definitely not this comfortable. How had he gotten such a soft mattress? Lack of use?
"Hm." Shinjiro mumbles a bit into the pillow, still quite tired. Minako begins to trace circles with her fingers on his back. He turns his neck to face her, and this is the most well-rested she's seen him in a long time.
"Sleep well?" Minako asks. She scooches up further a bit and rests her back against the bars, using the blanket as a makeshift dress.
"Took some time, but yeah...I think I managed." Shinjiro chuckles a bit. They laugh at dumb inside jokes that are laden with innuendo which is silly because they both know what happened. They perpetrated it! Still, Minako appreciates it. She appreciates the normalcy.
She thinks of school, and the way Junpei will laugh at her empty seat. Yukari will blush and roll her eyes at him, knowing exactly what's happened, but pretending she doesn't. Mitsuru will chastise her. Missing school is a crime punishable by death, but Akihiko won't mind. He'll laugh. He'll laugh at this whole damn thing because of all things to sway Shinjiro it had to be a little spitfire with red eyes.
A bird chirps outside interrupting Minako's thoughts. She turns her head towards the window, and lets the sun soak into her skin.
"You uh..." Shinjiro begins to speak as her stares at her, dumbstruck. "You look nice."
He's an idiot. Full-blown and totally 100%. He wants to say so much more. He wants to call her beautiful, and feel her feather-light skin on his hands. He wants to breathe in her vanilla perfume, and let it swallow him until he doesn't hurt anymore. There are so many things he wants to say, but the ghosts in his brain won't let him. They never do.
She giggles.
"Thanks. You too." Minako moves her hand up to his neck and begins to scratch the nape of it. He smiles, and they stay quiet. There's nothing that will ever be like this again. Not a single moment. Minako should be sad, she knows, but there's a part of her that doesn't want to be sad. Not yet. She still needs her time. She still needs her time to be happy and goddamnit she was going to be happy.
A cotton-y lump formed at the back of her throat.
There are a million ways to fall in love, Minako realizes. You could fall in love with a boy that punches his problems away, you could fall in love with a kid still not really sure where his head's at, or you could fall in love with a boy in a baseball cap. But nothing would ever be like falling in love with the boy that doesn't know he's an angel. That's the boy she fell in love with.
She's stupid, she thinks. A stupid, lovelorn, teenage girl.
But she's okay with that.
"I don't wanna move." Minako says after a few moments. Shinjiro gives her a brief look of amusement before shifting around. The sheets move with his body like water in a creek, and he leans against the back of the bed with Minako.
"I'm in love with you." Shinjiro says quietly. He looks down at his hands as Minako shifts her gaze to him. He's never said those words before. They feel strange and foreign on his tongue, but he likes the sound of them. He likes the way they wrap around her like a piece of armor. He likes the way she smiles when he says it.
"Thanks," Minako laughs. "I'm also in love with you, if that wasn't obvious already."
"You're insufferable." Shinjiro shakes his head with a chuckle.
"We should go get breakfast." Minako puts her head on his shoulder. He kisses her forehead, and gets out of bed eager to spend the rest of his days with Minako.
(a/n: Thanks for reading! Like I said before, this is probably the last happy chapter for a while, as I'm sure you all know what happens next. Sorry for the long wait! Reviews are much appreciated as I love to hear from you guys! Thanks again for reading, see you next chapter!