*cracks knuckles* Another day, another moment I spend on my laptop writing chapters.
Do you ever get tired?
You're talking to someone he sleeps... pretty much always actually.
Point taken.
RAX : ... And yet, you still dared me to do the lemon. I haven't even done anything to Makoto/Minato he won't heal from!
Have I done well?
Oh, you've done well, little bro.
MinaxMina : How did I know you and... Well, pretty much everyone would enjoy that moment. But here's a question for ya : Was that Minato or Makoto?
I can't even tell!
Er... Both? Third personality? Do you even know?
I don't know if I know.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!
I don't know
clevernameeh : Should've seen my last story, that had all sorts of similarities to BL... Before I started reading it. We even had a laugh about it a few times, right Nights?
Fluff? I don't see anything fluffy here...
*Face palm* I'm the younger brother... Just reminding everyone. Reminding you that the LITTLE brother had to explain almost EVERYTHING to him. Dammit, everyone's going to side with him because he has cuteness points.
And you eat people.
Hey! It was a valid means of killing them!
?
"Ow! Ow! Ow!" A small boy with blue hair with a large fringe that hanged just above his right eye complained as another bluenette girl with long hair pulled on his arm and dragged him around.
"Stop fighting!" The girl yelled in response to the boy's pain. She didn't want to drag him around, she just didn't have much of a choice.
"I wouldn't be fighting if..." The boy pulled his arm as hard as he could and manged to break free of the girl's iron grip at the cost of him losing his balance and having his back hit the sand beneath him "Ow." he groaned loudly
"See? Even nature is on my side!" The girl announced as she lifted her arms in victory
"You're mean, Minako." The little Minato chastised his younger twin as he stood back up "You're always bossing me around all the time..."
"Alright..." Minako said as she took a few steps forward "What do you want to do, big bro?"
"Uh..." Minato looked around to see what his options were. They were at the beach there weren't a lot of people that they (or at least, he) knew so they were by themselves "... Wanna build a castle?"
"Sure!" Minako answered with a nod... followed by immediately standing perfectly still with a smile still plastered on her face "... How do ya build a castle?"
"..." Minato paused for a moment before a realization hit him "... I dunno"
Minako face palmed at her big brother's oversight. Weren't the oldest supposed to be the smartest?
Minato, meanwhile, was left thinking to himself. There wasn't a lot to do with just the two of them at the beach, but surely there had to be something!
And then, he fell onto his back again. This time, it was of his own volition.
"Um... You okay?" Minako asked as she performed their shared habit of tilting their head when confused "What're you doin'?"
"Makin' sand angles." Minato answered as he outstretched his arms and proceeded to make angels... in the sand.
"T-That's not snow!" Minako pointed out, what kinda weirdo makes angles in the sand?
"So...?" Minato smirked as he lifted his head, there was one thing he knew that would rattle her "... I win?"
Minako blinked, did he seriously just say that? Did he seriously think that she would give in just by-
"In your dreams!" Minako said as she laid on her back and performed the same actions as her brother. Who was she kidding? Of course that'd be the one thing to make to her cave.
Together, the two of them move their limbs as quickly as they could all the while trying to make an actual shape that would be recognizable in the sand beneath them.
When the two were satisfied, they stood up and observed each others works of 'art'
"I win." The little Minato said with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. There were few things more satisfying than beating his sister in a contest... Except beauty contest, those were all hers and could stay that way.
"Wha- Uh-uh!" Minako retorted as she pointed to the one she made "See? Mine has better wings!" She declared despite one fact...
... They looked the exact same.
"Uh-uh! Mine is because I was born first!" Minato retorted using his age to make the final judgement, something that may/may not have been why he won most contest
"Hey! That's not fair!" She pouted, but Minato was almost completely immune to her pouting and begging by now.
Accepting defeat, the younger bluenette looked at both of their creations again but for a different reason this time.
"It's kinda fitting right?" Minako said out of the blue as she smiled
"Huh?" Minato tilted his head confused. It was at this point that he was beginning to realize that there wasn't just no one that he knew... They were the only ones there in general
"Two angels ; One made by a boy and by a girl!" She explained, still having that happy smile of her face "It's just like mama and papa, right?"
"Mama and... Papa?" Minato asked as he suddenly felt several degrees colder. Not only that for some reason the scenery seemed darker as if the clouds had moved to block out the sun.
"Don't you remember, Minato?" Minako asked as she took a step forward and grabbed the boy's arms "They're gone, just like you're supposed to!"
"H-Hey, you're scaring me." The child said with a shaky voice before the grip on his arms suddenly felt amplified by ten "Ouch! T-That hurts!"
"We came into this world together, remember?!" Minako screamed at him as her grip on him only tightened and her body was suddenly set ablaze "So where are you?!"
Minato wanted to break free, but he was completely paralyzed by fear. The flames that had spontaneously appeared on his sister began to spread from her main body to her arms.
The flames were scorching hot and they only got closer and closer to Minato until he began to feel his own flesh beginning to burn.
The boy closed his eyes as he screamed in agony
"Minato!"
Yakushima
"GAAAHHH!" Makoto screamed as he leaped out of bed with his body completely drenched in a cold sweat.
The boy blinked as he took in his surroundings. He was in the room given to him as a guest in the Kirijo vacation home.
The boy took then proceeded to evaluate himself. No cuts, no burns, nothing. The only thing unusual was the fact that both he and his clothes were drenched in sweat from his nightmare.
"Grgh..." Makoto grunted as he hit the wall in frustration, only to find that he had hit a soft spot thus causing a large hole to form.
Another night he was haunted by nightmares that left him in a cold sweat. Yet another night that he was forced to dream dreams that weren't his, but were instead the dreams of a dead man.
"Dammit." He cursed as he left his room after changing into dry clothes. This was not the time or the place for this nonsense.
When Makoto reached what could only be described as the lounge, one of the maids approached him.
"Good morning, Yuki-san." The maid greeted with a bow which slightly irked the boy who was not used to the mannerisms
"Hmm..." The boy looked around and noticed that there wasn't any evidence of anyone else here, not even Junpei of all people "Where are the others?"
"The girls went for a walk together while the boys went to the beach." The maid answered "They wanted to wake you, but when they approached your room they heard a large amount of thrashing."
"Yeah, you might want to change the sheets..." Makoto said with a sigh while silently hoping no one asked for details of what happened "... and there's a hole in the wall now. Sorry for that."
The maid blinked for a moment, no doubt surprised by the last part but she shook her head "N-No need, Yuki-san. Shall I lead you to the dinning room?"
"I'm fine." Makoto answered as he sat down finally having a chance to actually relax by himself for once "And it's 'Makoto', 'Yuki-san' just sounds... creepy"
The maid nodded "As you wish, Makoto-san." she said before leaving the boy all alone.
Well, alone might not have been the right word...
"Are you alright?" Pharos asked as he sat on the table in front of the bluenette "Your nightmares have been getting bad lately."
"It's nothing." Makoto dismissed, a few bad dreams weren't going to kill him
"You started scratching yourself." Pharos pointed out which made the boy look at his own nails, if he really did hurt himself then there'd be no way for him to tell in his sleep with Pharos constantly healing him.
"That's what I got you for, right?" Makoto asked with a smirk, but the boy only responded with a blank face showing that he wasn't amused in the slightest
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, he may of loved the little perv to death but moments like this were still bothersome. But, there was still a bit of gratitude to be had over his concern for him.
"Shouldn't you be worried about the girls?" Makoto asked before chuckling softly "I mean, at times it's like your obsessed with..."
The boy's words died in his throat when he noticed his friend was still giving him a blank face, even talking about girls wasn't enough to distract the little boy.
It wasn't too unusual all things considered, Pharos placed his friend's care about everything else and vice versa. Ever since the two had been stuck together, Pharos had always taken it upon himself to care for the bluenette which was good since he'd have likely died ages ago otherwise.
However, there were also moments like this where Makoto dismissed whatever problem(s) he was facing all to appease him, something which did the exact opposite.
"It was about her, okay?" Makoto explained as he stood up, such a topic was sensitive to him. If it had been anyone else, he might've lost his temper on the spot.
Pharos let out a weak "Oh..." as he lowered his head. He knew just how sensitive that was to him, and it was somewhat sensitive to him as well, albeit for an entirely different reason.
"Don't worry about it." Makoto assured him as he walked to the door "C'mon, let's find the girls. Maybe they'll be able to cheer you up or something."
Pharos nodded, his will to object to anything the bluenette wanted was nearly gone completely in that moment "As you wish."
...
...
...
Makoto yawned as he slowly stretched his arms. Despite sleeping in the longest of everyone who came to Yakushima, he was still completely exhausted due to his nightmare making his rest completely restless.
Pharos himself was completely silent the entire time, it'd been ten years since it happened but everything that happened then was still haunting both of them. It was when Makoto lost everything and became what he was today.
Of course, it was also the day that the two of them were bounded together. And while Pharos knew that Makoto cared deeply for him, he often found himself wondering how much what had happened then was really affecting him.
Either way, Makoto was his only friend and he was the one that kept him functioning. If he were to disappear, it'd be very unlikely that Makoto would be able to function normally anymore.
Then, Makoto stopped walking as the familiar sensation of a Plume of Dusk could be felt by the boy again just like yesterday.
Makoto let out a "Huh?" in confusion. It was stronger than what he felt when he was near an Evoker, so what could it be?
"Hmm..." Makoto hummed as he walked towards the source of the sensation. Did Kirijo misplace one of their toys or something?
The boy continued with this thought process as he made his way closer and closer to the source of the sensation. Judging by the fact that the source was getting closer faster than he was walking, then it was safe to say that whatever it was, was also moving closer towards him as well.
After a solid ten minutes, Makoto finally reached where the source had abruptly stopped, leading him to find a blonde girl in a blue dress and with her back facing him.
The bluenette tilted his head, she was the source of the Plume?
"Er... Hello?" He greeted awkwardly not knowing exactly this exchange is going to go.
The girl gasped before turning around and looking at the boy intently "You are..."
At that moment, it was like a massive shock wave coursed through Makoto's entire system.
The blonde hair...
Those blue eyes that seemed to have two circles in the irises...
And that voice that he could never forget...
"You..." Makoto said in shock as he took a step back and gave the coldest glare imaginable. How? How could she be here? Why was she here?
"Wait, what?!" The sound of Junpei's voice could be heard as he and Akihiko caught up with the two. For whatever reason, they were in their swimsuits with both sharing shocked looks on their faces "She's talking to him now?!"
"He barely said anything!" Akihiko pointed out, just what the hell were those two doing before this?
"There you are!" And that could only be Yukari. As if on cue, her and all of the girls approached as well while Makoto and the mysterious girl continued to exchange glares.
"Um... What're you doing in the middle of the woods in your swimsuits?" Fuuka asked the two boys awkwardly also as confused as Makoto was in that regard
Kotone looked left and right at Makoto and the girl just as awkwardly "Why do I feel like there's a lot of tension here?"
The girl took an aggressive stance as she continued to glare at Makoto "You are dangerous!"
Makoto clenched his fist tighter than he thought was even possible and bit his lip hard enough that it drew blood in a desperate attempt to stop his eyes from glowing in response to the intense emotions that were coursing through him. Still, he kept his silence, if his body language didn't give it away then his voice definitely give away the fact that he knew this 'girl'.
The members of SEES looked at the two completely baffled by the sudden aggression from both parties. Neither of them seemed to have any reason to hate the other, so what as going on?
"Whatever the matter is, I ask that you two settle it some other time." Mitsuru said in her usual business like manner "I'm sorry to interrupt your vacation, but something important has come up."
"Oh, that won't be necessary." As if things couldn't be anymore convenient, the old clown Ikutsuki decided to show himself "You don't have permission to leave the lab on your own Aigis."
Suddenly, the 'girl' known as Aigis dropped her glare and looked at Ikutsuki "I apologize."
Ikutsuki looked at everyone else "Please, return to the vacation home for now everyone. I'll explain everything there."
Makoto eased his glare for a moment "Hurry your ass up." he demanded as he and SEES did as asked.
For reasons completely unknown to everyone else, Makoto seemed to have extreme anger directed towards the girl(?). As for why that is would likely remain a mystery to everyone else for a long time.
...
...
...
Everyone gathered in the Kirijo vacation home as they anxiously waited for Ikutsuki. The sun had gone down hours ago, yet they were still waiting for him!
"Where the hell is he?!" Makoto who had been silently leaning against the wall shouted as he threw his hands up in frustration
"Be patient." Mitsuru asked him, timing was not one of Ikutsuki's strong suits.
"Dude, did something happen?" Junpei asked, noting that Makoto was a bit more agitated than usual
Makoto responded with a one-eyed death glare "I woke up after a nightmare and then I have that... thing be a step away from attacking me, or did you just forget all that?"
"Thing? A little harsh, don't ya think?" Yukari asked, even if she was about to attack there wasn't a reason to refer to Aigis like that.
"Are you an idiot or just unobservant?" Makoto asked rhetorically "Didn't you see her neck? That wasn't flesh, therefore 'she' isn't human."
"He is correct." And just like before, as if on cue both Aigis and Ikutsuki arrived, this time Aigis wasn't wearing her dress which allowed the entirety of her mechanized body to show "I am not a girl. I am the Anti-Shadow suppression weapon, Aigis."
Ikutsuki nodded as if confirming the android's words "She was damaged ten years ago in battle and has been in the lab ever since." the old man rubbed his chin "As to why she woke up now, however, remains a complete mystery."
"Amazing..." Fuuka said as she walked closer to the robot and observed her carefully. She seemed more interested in her no-doubt sophisticated design more than anything, did she have an obsession with machines or something?
"She's so cute..." Junpei said before letting out a depressed sigh "But she's a robot..."
What the hell were you two doing? Makoto thought to himself as he tilted his head while watching Akihiko pat the junior on the back.
"One more thing..." Kotone said before looking back at Makoto "When you two..."
"You are dangerous!" Aigis said as she took an aggressive stance and glared at Makoto once again
"And you're redundant." Makoto replied, pointing out that she had said that exact same sentence in that exact same way earlier today.
"... Yeah, that." Kotone completed her previous statement
"I hate robots and things that want to kill me on the spot." Makoto half-lied, none of them needed to know how he truly knew her while silently praying that the damage she suffered also damaged whatever stored her memories.
"Hmm... This is interesting." Ikutsuki said, genuinely interested with the current series of events "Perhaps she's still half asleep? Maybe her identification system is malfunctioning? Fascinating."
"Is she going to kill me in my sleep?" Makoto asked sharply, never taking his eyes off of Aigis. On top of having to fight a flurry of emotions, he'd have to sleep with that on his mind tonight.
"Requesting permission to eliminate him during the resting period known as 'sleep'." Aigis requested as she continued to glare at Makoto
"D-Denied!" Kotone objected immediately "No killing! You understand?!"
Aigis continued to glare at Makoto for a few more seconds before reverting to her normal stance "Understood."
"Whatever." Makoto said while rolling his eyes, she didn't seem to remember him. Didn't change his feelings, but there was a time and place for everything.
"I'm going to bed." The boy said as he began walking away to the guest rooms "I better not wake up to bullets or guns!" He shouted as a warning.
The moment he reached his room, Makoto slammed his door shut "Pharos?!" he called out to his friend who had disappeared the moment he saw Aigis
"I'm still here." Pharos said as he reappeared on the edge of the bed.
"Was that her..?" Makoto asked while sitting next to his old friend. If anyone would recognize her, it'd be Pharos.
Pharos answered with a nod "Yes, she is the one we met all those years ago." he answered before looking very perplexed "What are we going to do?"
The bluenette shook his head slowly while looking down "Can't do anything here. On the upside, she doesn't seem to remember so you're still hidden." he said before sighing "Can't believe I'm saying, but holy shit, I'm glad I agreed to come here."
"You will be leaving the day after tomorrow, right?" Pharos asked rhetorically "We just have to last until then and we should be fine."
"I hope so..." Makoto whispered as his friend disappeared, leaving him all alone for the first time in many, many years "... I hope so."
...
...
...
Just like their first day here, Makoto had been forced to go to the beach with everyone... Even Aigis. It'd been a very long time, but he remembered her perfectly. After all, he met her on the one day that he was never going to forget until the day he permanently died.
Aigis herself seemed to remember him somewhat, at least, that's the only reason he could think of as to why she was so hostile towards him. Other than that, she didn't seem to remember him nor what she had done to him.
Regardless of her memory, Pharos had been forced to hide himself completely. Normally there was no reason to do this outside of a fight or when Makoto was interacting with someone, but now it was used as an extra precaution. It was doubtful that Aigis would be able to see him, but after Chidori, it was better safe than sorry.
Of course, despite yesterdays 'shortcomings' everyone was now out enjoying their last day at the beach. And Junpei being Junpei, he was left drooling over some of the many girls on the beach.
Seeing his chance, Makoto walked up to Junpei "Seeing this is one of the saddest things I've ever seen... And that's saying a lot."
"Hey, I'm just... Waiting for the right moment." Junpei said the first pitiful excuse that came to mind
Makoto faked a sigh, mentally he was laughing at what he was about to do "Tell ya what, out of pure pity I'll give you one line that they always fall for."
"Wait, what?" Junpei said, his attention now fully snapped to his fellow junior "Seriously?"
"C'mere..." He said before whispering into Junpei's ear
"Uh..." Junpei blinked the moment he heard what the line was "Y-You sure about that?"
Makoto chuckled "Allow me..." he said before walking to a group of girls.
Junpei watched in amazement as Makoto actually held a conversation with a group of girls. Not only that, they were visibly giggling and actually seemed a bit saddened when he had to leave.
"There..." Makoto said when he returned to Junpei and patted him on the back "Now, go get 'em."
Junpei gulped as he took Makoto's advice and approached another group of girls. Even from a distance, one could obviously see Junpei clearing his throat before making his biggest mistake...
... He opened his mouth.
The two girls that he spoke to instantly gasped as soon as they heard Junpei dare utter that one line. This was then followed by the one dressed in black slapping him across the face so hard that the poor guy fell to the ground.
Then, to insure that he'd remember this moment, the girl who dressed in green took the chance to destroy what little chance Junpei had of ever procreated by stomping on his most valued possession before she and her friend walked away.
Upon noticing the damage, Kotone approached Makoto "What just happened?"
"I got even with Junpei." Makoto answered with a smirk from ear to ear "Tricked him into saying a terrible chat up line."
Suddenly, Kotone's interest was piqued "What was the line?"
"I'll get to that, but first..." Makoto looked at her with an almost flirty expression "Did you sit in a pile of sugar?"
"Huh?" Kotone blinked, what was happening right now? "Um... No, why?"
Makoto chuckled "Because you've got a sweet ass."
Kotone took a moment to process this before laughing as loud as she possibly could "He actually said that?!"
"I think the results speak for themselves." Makoto said as he felt a strong sense of pride in his handy work "It's true what they say, revenge truly is sweet."
"Bwahahaha... Ha ha ha..." Kotone couldn't stop and her stomach was already killing her "I-I can't believe he... Ha ha ha ha..."
"He he..." Makoto fought a laugh. He was willing to chuckled, but there wasn't much that warranted a reaction like that
However, the temptation was also incredibly strong "Heh... hehe..."
Makoto continued to fight the urge to laugh with the girl beside him before his suddenly lowered his head out of the blue and his breathing became very slow and deep as did his exhales.
Upon noticing his strange stance, Kotone was finally able to stop for a moment and looked at the boy in confusion "Um... You alright?"
No response.
"Makoto-kun?" She called out to him again, her confusion now being replaced with genuine concern.
Then, the boy slowly raised his head again as his breathing went back to normal.
"Huh? What? Something happen?" Minato asked as he looked around confused "You look concerned."
"Uh..." Kotone was left baffled yet again. His voice was more relaxed, his posture had changed, the look in his eyes had changed, and the odd chill that was felt by almost everyone whenever they were near him was suddenly gone. Did his brain just switch?
"Err... It's nothing." She dismissed deciding to keep playing dumb "Are you actually going to go in the water now? You know, the whole reason we came here!"
"With Aigis?" He responded with a question "From what I've seen, unless you want bullets involved, then no."
"Ooh..." The redhead cringed at the thought of that "Okay, yeah that's a good point. Uh..."
It being a beach, there wasn't exactly a lot to do outside of that. At least, not without appearing more childish than usual. Where there's a will, there's a way, right?
...
Apparently, they must've been a shortage of will in the world.
"I.. uh... Ah, screw it!" Kotone exclaimed loudly before grabbing the boy by his fringe and dragging him
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Minato complained loudly as he felt friend(?) pull what was likely his greatest weakness "What the hell?!"
"I brought you here to enjoy being at a beach..." Kotone reminded him as she unconsciously pulled harder "... and I sure a hell am not letting you be dry this entire trip!" She announced as she approached her teammates
"There!" Kotone said triumphantly as she managed to get him knee deep before exclaiming "Fish out of water!"
Minato tilted his head as the girl suddenly stood several feet away from him "Fish out of water..?" He repeated before he suddenly got the meaning "Oh, you daughter of a-" he was cut off when he was suddenly drenched from an attack from almost the entirety of SEES from behind.
The bluenette slowly opened his eyes and blew his soaked fringe out of his eyes "... bastard." he finished his sentence before slowly turning around.
Standing before him was Aigis who seemed to be confused for some reason, Fuuka and Yukari who were giggling at what they had just done, Junpei who had rapidly recovered from earlier (how often must it have happened for him to do that?), and Akihiko who had decided to join his kohai.
... I will murder all of you. Makoto deadpanned in his thoughts, hopefully that was just an exaggeration.
Oh, I'll murder them all right... Minato thought, but as usual had a completely different meaning than Makoto.
"So, how was that?" Kotone asked, now standing next to the soaked boy again "See? That's something we call 'fun', understand so far?"
Hmm... Minato hummed as a plan formed in his brain. It was time to brush up on his acting skills again.
Minato frowned as he seemingly glared at Kotone "Oh, really? Plan on treating me like a child much longer?"
"Huh?" And just like that, Kotone's happy mood was killed by the boy's anger "N-No, I meant-"
"I don't care." Minato said as he made the same angered face he made when Makoto yelled at her about a month ago "Do me a favor and leave me the hell alone."
"Makoto-kun, I.." Kotone was about to apologize, but the bluenette began walking away before she could say anything else
Before he could make it back to dry land, he let out a grunt as he crouched down and placed his hands near his right foot "Fuck, what'd I step on?"
"Are you alright?!" Even after that little outrage, Kotone was still concerned about the boy's well being as she made the terrible mistake of walking closer
"He he... Gotcha!" He said before taking the chance to splash water on her which landed right on the redhead's face "That's what I call 'payback', understand so far?"
Kotone stood there for what felt like an hour before wiping the droplets of water that remained on her face and suddenly had a happy, but competitive look on her face.
"Guys!" She called as Akihiko and the junior members of SEES rallied to their leader's call "Let's show this boy what we can really do..."
"W-Wait, what?" Minato said as he took a step back and had a worried look on his face "T-That's not fair! I'm outnumbered!"
"Should've joined when you had the chance~." Kotone refuted before pointing at the boy "Charge!"
"Hey! Wait a-" The boy's words were quite literally drowned out by the sudden splash attack from SEES.
Aigis, however, remained confused as she looked at the boy. Yesterday and even during the morning today, her systems registered him as an extremely dangerous threat. Now? Now he seemed to be a perfectly normal boy and her scans indicated such. Were her systems already malfunctioning?
Whatever the reason, everyone would be returning home tomorrow and she would be the next new member of SEES with her persona 'Palladion'. It would seem that whatever questions she had would have to wait until some other time then.
In the meantime, she could watch the bluenette boy nearly drown from the attack of her new team members.
In a short moment to catch his breath, Minato managed to catch a glimpse of Aigis who was simply standing there watching him be attacked.
You'll pay... Makoto threatened as Minato continued his water war with SEES ... Just like Kirijo, I'll make sure there's nothing left of you when I'm done. I will destroy you, the Kirijo fools... I'll destroy everything.
...
...
...
Minato forward leaned against the railing of the boat as they left the island where everyone had formed memories they'd likely never forget. Makoto, of course, thought of the place less fondly especially after meeting Aigis. But still, both of them enjoyed it at least somewhat in their own way.
"Gonna miss it?" The redhead asked as she rubbed her eyes, everyone was pretty tired from having to leave so early in the morning. Everyone else had decided to do what Makoto would call the smart thing and not waste time on sentiments, instead choosing to go to sleep
"You know, I think I will." Minato admitted as he continued to smile at the island that was fading further and further into view "Hey, uh..." the boy looked down and actually seemed a little embarrassed "Er... Thanks for bringing me. I know I'm a bit of a dick at times, and..." the girl hardly held in her laughter at the blushing boy "... Thanks."
Kotone managed to fight the bulk of it, but a small giggle escaped her lips "Anyone ever tell you that you're real cute when you're embarrassed?" Considering he still seemed to be his gentler self, she wasn't too worried about any repercussions.
"I.. uh.. You..." Minato looked away with a red face "... Shut up."
"Next full moon won't be long from now..." She noted as she looked at the sky, it was so early in the morning that once could still see the moon "... What're you going to do?"
"No clue." Minato answered as he shrugged "I take it that I don't even need to ask what you're going to do?"
"I don't have a choice." She answered, still looking at the moon "They need me."
"Why did you join them?" Minato asked, realizing he never bothered asking her before
The girl shrugged "I dunno."
"What?" Minato deadpanned, did she actually just... "How... How can you not know?"
"It just... Felt natural I guess." She tried her hardest to explain as she finally stopping gazing into the moon and looked back at the boy "I mean, I wake up one day to be told I have a special power of a special power and..." She shrugged "What else was I supposed to do?"
"Guess it's a matter of perspective." Minato concluded "Eh, you do good."
"Really?!" She asked, seemingly astonished that those words came from him
"Um... yes?" He said slowly, a bit surprised by that reaction "I mean, you've got them this far right? You're about halfway through, you often explore Tartarus while taking the role as leader, and you keep pulling personas out of thin air it looks like. Honestly, I don't anyone who'd do better in you-Ah!"
His words were stopped when Kotone suddenly moved what must've been the speed of light and began crushing his ribs with a death grip.
"Forget what everyone else says!" She exclaimed in her typical happy-go-lucky voice of hers and with her carefree smile "Right now, you are the nicest person ever!" She was no-doubt enjoy herself
Minato, on the other hand, quickly had his face turning as blue as his hair "Can't... breath..." he barely managed to utter as he felt his entire rib cage nearly shatter "Ribs... breaking..."
"Huh?" She widened her eyes as she realized how tightly she was holding him "O-Oh! Sorry!" she immediately apologized and loosened her grip while pulling back slightly "Death by hug... That'd be an awkward obituary, huh?"
"Eh, it wouldn't be all bad. Aigis would probably love you for it." He said sarcastically which caused the both of them to laugh
"That and... and..."
"U-Uh..."
All thoughts seemed to die in the both of them as they realized their close proximity to one another, along with the fact Kotone was still holding onto him.
Neither of them knew what to say, all that they knew was that his faded out blue-grey eyes were meeting her bright red ones.
Neither of them said a word, the only sound either of them could hear was the sound of the ocean waves and the boat they were on.
Both of them felt their hearts pounding faster and harder than it ever had before while outside of battle. One minute felt like hours as the remained completely still.
Unconsciously, the two of them began leaning closer and closer until...
"Excuse me."
The two juniors let out a small scream as they literally jumped away from each other out of shock from the interruption of this new third party.
Kotone felt like her heart was about to burst from embarrassment as she looked to see who it was "Aigis?!"
"Christ..." Minato exhaled as he placed a hand on his heart to emphasize his shock "We should put a fucking bell on you. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I noticed that neither of you were in your rooms, so I went searching for you." Aigis explained innocently enough "I apologize if I interrupted the two of you."
"Uh..." Minato looked away, hoping that the light the Sun gave at this time wasn't enough to show his scarlet face
"Y-You didn't interrupt anything!" Kotone said as she waved her arms like she was an anime character "Just uh... There was a lot you missed!"
"S-Speaking of which, shouldn't you go to sleep now?" Minato asked Kotone in a somewhat shaky voice "I mean, it'll be a long trip."
"Y-Yeah, I should totally do that!" Kotone said as she slowly began to walk away "Bye!" she shouted before taking off in a full sprint
Aigis blinked as she watched her new leader run faster than she'd ever run before, almost matching her top speed for a moment. What was it that made her so nervous?
"Makoto-san, I wanted to-" Aigis' words were halted when she saw that the boy's head was now hanging and his breathing had slowed greatly.
Suddenly, her systems which had been silent most of the day had returned with a vengeance as she was alerted over and over that the boy in front of her was an extremely dangerous threat.
Makoto slowly lifted his head and glared at the android "What the hell do you want, you bucket of bolts?"
Aigis took her aggressive stance again "You are dangerous..."
Makoto chuckled as he stood up straight "Should I make a tally for every time you say that?"
Aigis aimed her right hand's fingers at Makoto, which in reality meant that she was pointing at least four guns at the boy at once "You are... A threat."
"Really? So killing the last two shadows makes me an enemy? Wow, that's impressive logic." Makoto 'complimented' as he slowly clapped his hands "You can't hurt me. You're under expressive orders to not do that, remember? Or are your memory banks fried?"
Aigis glared at the boy for a few moments before lowering her hand, intimidation did not seem to work on him. Furthermore, now that she's joined SEES, she cannot disobey her orders.
Left with no other option, Aigis simply continued to glare at Makoto who walked past her with a taunting smirk on his face
"See you later, bucket of bolts." He said farewell, using what would likely be his nickname for her.
Aigis stood there, unsure what had just transpired. Earlier today, he was registered as a normal human who was an ally to SEES. Then, her systems told her that he was an extreme threat despite next to nothing happening that'd warrant so.
What was going on?
Heh, how many of you thought they were going to suck faces then and there? Ha, I'm not that nice of a person.
Anyway, BL readers probably experienced severe deja vu while AT readers went "What the fuck?" Put this into perspective, you have a guy who had Death itself sealed inside him. Next, you have him have 2 personalities, one of which you could say is more shadow than human... Suddenly, her systems telling her that Makoto is a threat makes sense.
Robo-bitch...
You really hate her.
She SHOT me! Of course I hate her!
Pf, wimp
Oh, fuck you, Grim!