What He Left Behind chapter 14-Kyoto Trip Part 1

11/17/2009

Early Morning, 5:40 AM

Minato's PoV

Well, today's the day for the Kyoto trip. Shinjiro said he had wanted to go to Kyoto someday, but he will never be able to now. I'll have to go in his place with the others. Speaking of the others, I wonder what he thinks of me being lovers with Akihiko and Ryoji now that he's no longer alive. Part of me felt guilty falling in love so soon after he died, but another part of me felt that he would have wanted me to move on with my life, not staying stuck in the past like Akihiko had been until recently before his Persona had changed. Ceasar was pretty cool, after all, what with that globe and massive sword.

Life had to go on after all, I couldn't mourn forever, but the more I thought about it, the more it hurt. It just kept haunting me the more I thought of it.

I made a mental note to go talk with Akihiko and Ryoji later. They might be able to help me with this issue.

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6/29 Evening, Shinjiro's apartment

"Hey Mina-chan, come over here." said my lover as he sat up on his elbows. I walked over and sat down next to him and was soon wrapped up in his strong arms. He began stroking my hair, "Hey, have you been eating well lately?" he asked as he looked me right in the eyes. I nodded and gave him a peck on the nose,

"Yes, I have. You know I can't resist your cooking, Shinji-baby. You have the cooking skills of a god." I cooed as he kissed my forehead. I heard him chuckle and say,

"You've been throwing up a lot more than a normal person should be, Mina-chan. I'm getting worried." he said as he pulled me into a full hug, arms wrapped fully around me. I smiled and looked up at him and sighed as I snuggled into his chest, closing my eyes,

"I'm perfectly fine, Shinjiro. Don't worry. It's most likely just a bug that's been going around school." I said and changed the topic to something that would hopefully take his mind off of my stomach flu. My mind thought of the Kyoto trip that would be taking place in November. I smiled at the thought of spending the days there with Shinjiro and the others.

It was going to be so much fun. I looked forward to it.

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I got out of bed and checked the room for the last few things I had wanted to take with me on the trip. Maya-san from online said that a good thing to take on the trip was some disposable cameras to take some pictures with when we got there.

"That's a good idea, I could send some to her over the chat when I get back." I muttered to myself. "Though I do wonder what she meant by getting a doorstop for my room…nah, she can't be thinking of that, I haven't even told her about Akihiko and Ryoji yet. But then again, she is a teacher…hmm, I wonder where she works."

Though, said person was also the same one who recommended that I get a doorstop for my room. I blushed when I realized what she meant by that suggestion and restrained myself and my thoughts from going any farther than they should be. I shook my head.

I sighed and logged off, grabbing my bags and began to walk down the stairs, struggling to carry both of my bags and keep a grip on the stair railing. As I put down my bags, I sat down to get a breather to rest myself before I carried my bags down all the way. As I got up, I saw Souji picking up one of my bags and grabbed the other bag. He smiled at me, saying he'd carry the bags the rest of the way down for me. We made small chat about what we wanted to do when we got there. From what he told me, he wanted to go to the shrine. The rest of the way, the twins kept kicking my insides, seemingly very excited for some reason.

Chuckling in amusement at his kind gesture, I thanked him and we both walked downstairs. We met the rest of the group downstairs, each with their bags. Junpei seemed to have brought his whole room with him; his bag was huge and it was dragging on the floor.

"Seems like everyone's beat us downstairs, huh Minato-senpai? I'm surprised we're the last ones downstairs." mused Souji as he looked at me with a smile. I nodded,

"Yeah, guess I took too long taking my crap downstairs. Thanks for helping me, Souji. Being pregnant is getting harder on me then I thought it would." I said, thanking him as we got to where the others were. As soon as everyone was ready to go, we left the dorm and started heading our way to the train station where the school would meet up. I was walking at the end of the group, along with Souji, Akihiko, Ryoji, and Junpei, who needed help carrying, or should I say dragging, his bag. I chuckled as my two lovers tried helping Junpei with his luggage. But the humor didn't last forever, eventually everyone except for me had to help Junpei. I felt sorry for him, but on the other hand, he shouldn't be carrying that much with him to begin with. Hamuko had gone on ahead to get some help from the teachers and we eventually got Junpei's luggage in the train, earning quite a few glares from the other students in the process.

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We had been on the train for a while now and it was still early in the morning. I was sitting next to Hamuko, Akihiko, and Ryoji in a small booth-like seating area. We had decided to play a card game while we waited for the train to arrive.

It was here I learned a cruel lesson: never underestimate your loved ones when they are hungry and want the last piece of your snack you had yet to finish off. They WILL do anything to get it.

I glared at my twin, smirking while she pulled up another card. I gave her my 'how-dare-you-try-and-steal-the-last-snack-I-have- I'm-pregnant-damnit' look.

She responded with her 'Don't-care-want-food-now-besides-you're-not eating-it-why-let-it-go-to-waste-besides-the-three -of-you-have-hogged-all-of-the-food-you've-brought -let-me-have-some.' look and grinned at me, revealing another matching pair of cards.

"H-hey, are you two okay?" asked Ryoji as he looked at us both glaring at one another. Neither one of us answered him.

"When they're having a fight over food, it's just best to stay out of their way, Ryoji. Trust me, both of them love their food." muttered Akihiko as he sighed, looking at his large hand. He seemed to be rather unlucky in this match, having the largest hand out of us four. Hamuko had the smallest and my hand was as small as her hand was; yet she kept getting matching pairs. Ryoji had seven cards and was having bad luck trying to get at least one matching pair.

"They're fighting over food at a time like this?" said Ryoji as he looked at the snack in my backpack's side pocket. He seemed very nervous and was glacing back and forth at my sister and me, unsure of what else to say. "But…it's only one cookie. Both of you could easily buy a pack at a convenience store." he added, giving me the 'why-are-you-fighting-over-food?' look. I gave him my 'I'm-pregnant-and-I-want-my-last-cookie-Don't-you- dare-try-and-tell-me-what-I-can-and-can't-do.' look as I went back to look at my hand. You don't steal food from a pregnant person; it's a universal rule.

"It's chocolate. Chocolate's good and I want it NOW. I haven't eaten anything since dinner last night!" said Hamuko as she put down another pair. "The three of you have been hogging all the food since we've gotten on this train. At least give me one cookie!"

"I'm pregnant, Hamuko, or have you forgotten that fact? The twins want that last cookie and so do I." I teased as I put down the first matching pair I had gotten in a while. Card games were very annoying and I hated them. My luck was never good and I always lost whenever I challenged Hamuko…or my other sister.

Hamuko smirked as she put down the last two cards in her hand, "Yes, but I want that cookie." she said, reaching over the table and taking it out of my pocket and threw it in her mouth. She smirked, "I win again, brother. You get way too cocky when you try to play card games." she said after she swallowed. She let out a happy sigh as she lay back on her seat cushion. Closing her eyes, she soon fell asleep within a few minutes. I pouted in non-amusement, crossing my arms like a young child would when they didn't get what they wanted,

"I wanted that last cookie, damnit. No fair, she must have cheated…" I whined as I rested my head on Ryoji's shoulder, not caring whether his scarf got in my face. He patted my head and chuckled, telling me he'd get me some food when he could. "Don't worry, we'll get you some food, baby."

Akihiko offered to save some of his own dinner for me and I thanked him and Ryoji. My mind soon went into slumber…

Hamuko's PoV

My brother could never get the hang of card games. I always beat him whenever we played with our little sister. Speaking of little sister, I wonder what she's doing right now? She's currently staying with our grandfather from our mother's side of the family helping him with a case. It's been month since we've seen her face to face. In fact, the last time we saw her was in March, just before me and Minato left for the dorm. We haven't had much contact since then…I wonder what she would think of the fact she would be an aunt in a few months.

I smiled at the thought as I stared at the sleeping form of my brother, resting his head on Ryoji's shoulder. I had just attempted to take a nap, but sleep eluded me. I hadn't got much sleep last night, due to the fact I was up in the command room, watching another tape that had caught my eye. I had almost gotten caught by Mitsuru and Koromaru, but I managed to convince her that I was just checking up on the equipment.

"I'm gonna go walk around for a bit. My legs feel like they've got pins and needles all over." I said as I stood up, barely managing to avoid bonking my head on the low ceiling. Akihiko nodded, "Don't worry Leader, we'll keep an eye on your bag. Go take a walk." he said.

I nodded and left, walking down the corridor of the train car, looking at the various passengers in each of the seats. I loved watching people and I always did it with my sister when we were younger. She always had fun doing it.

As I reached the end of the car, I found the bathroom was vacant and went inside, locking the door behind me. Sitting down and having the freedom to stretch my legs never felt so good in my whole life.

I soon left the bathroom, ignoring the long line behind me as I went to my seat.

The three stared at me, but didn't ask anything about how long I was gone. I sat down in my seat and fell asleep…

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Souji's PoV

"Man, we finally made it!" yelled Junpei as I helped him carry his bag after we had gotten to Kyoto. I sighed, "I know, it took us forever…" I said, unfocused and stared off into the line in front of us. I hadn't been feeling well since we had gotten on the train this morning. During the whole trip, I had a stomachache that just wouldn't go away. Junpei saw my pained expression and asked me if I was okay.

I don't know how I could manage to nod my head, but I did. "Yeah, I'm fine, it's just a stomachache. It'll leave in a bit." I said as I went ahead of him after Junpei got his bag inside the bus that was heading to the hotel. I kinda just wanted to be left alone for a while. I didn't like being around loud noisy areas for long, so I went towards the front of the long line where it was much quieter so I could relax.

I managed to catch up with Minato and said hello. "Junpei said you weren't feeling so hot, what's wrong, Souji-kun?" he asked almost immediately.

Souji sighed and said nothing as they ran to catch up with the rest of the class…