Aaaand another! What is Mina

Disclaimer: I do not own Air Master.

Mina Nakanotani… Bodyguard?

A brisk knocking pulled her abruptly from sleep, and Maki jolted upright at the sound. She squinted through sleep-blurred eyes at her alarm clock. 'Six-fourteen?! Who in the hell?'

Stumbling to the door, she pulled it open and gaped at the smiling girl on the balcony. "M-Mina? What are you doing here?"

"I told you I would do whatever was needed to keep you safe," the teen replied, her smile fading as she eyed up her friend's disheveled appearance. "Is everything alright? Did something happen?"

"I was sleeping. It's… really early," the redhead mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Mina stepped through the threshold, slipping out of her shoes and past her friend. "You can go back to sleep if you want to. I'll sit and watch over you."

Somewhat creeped out by the notion of the dark-haired girl watching her while she slept, she replied, "No… that's alright. I'll just… get up now, I guess."

Nodding, her persistent companion beamed, "I brought you some breakfast!" She withdrew a bento box from the bag she had slung over her arm, offering it to Maki with a smile.

Blinking owlishly down at the proffered item, the tall fighter took the food with a stammered 'thank you', and seated herself at the table. Mina followed suit, opening hers and tucking it with a pleased hum. While still half asleep and completely baffled by what was currently happening, the young redhead was never one to turn down a good meal. She opened the lid on her bento… and stared down at its contents. Hearts… everything was arranged into heart shapes; the rice, the eggs… everything. Even the fruit was cut into little hearts. She glanced across the table at her friend, who was now staring expectantly at her. Smiling back, she picked up a piece of cantaloupe and put it in her mouth, trying not to seem too freaked out.

They ate in silence, but Maki could hear Julietta stirring in the other room. Whether or not he was actually awake yet she wasn't sure, but she sincerely hoped he would stay put. She didn't think she could handle a confrontation this early.

When they finished, she decided to forego washing, not wanting to risk an encounter between the two. While a nice warm soak would have helped her wake up, she could go without for now. Changing into her uniform, she collected her things and they headed out.

"So… what should we do? We're going to be really early if we go straight to the school now," the young fighter inquired, genuinely curious.

"We could go for a nice walk. We hardly ever get to spend time together alone," Mina suggested.

Nodding, Maki fiddled with the straps on her bag, thinking her dark-haired companion had certainly gotten a lot bolder. "You really didn't have to go to all of this trouble, Mina. I'm fine. He hasn't tried to do anything…"

'… in some time,' she finished internally, knowing it would not be wise to tell her worried friend about the shenanigans Sakamoto had tried to pull during the beginning of his stay.

A naughty little voice in her head pointed out that she – on the other hand – had attempted to initiate a kiss just the night before! Her face heated at the memory, though she was still rather uncertain as to why she'd done it in the first place. It wasn't as thought she was attracted to Julietta, after all… right?

'No! How could I be attracted to that smug, arrogant, beautiful maniac?!' she denied, but then realised her slip up. 'Beautiful?'

Well, there was no denying he was attractive - she'd seen how females flocked to him - but that didn't mean she was attracted to him! She'd… merely gotten caught up in the moment. Yes, that was it.

"That doesn't mean that he won't try something, but you have nothing to worry about! I'm not going to give him that opportunity," Mina told her with a self-satisfied little smile. Her expression turned dark. "Who knows what kind of awful things that monster is capable of."

Rolling her eyes, Maki reminded her (again), that it was a temporary arrangement, one that would be over rather soon. Strangely, the notion caused an odd little pang in her chest. She purposefully ignored it. She would be glad to have him gone, to finally have her space back.

'Liar,' that same smug voice in her head retorted.

Oh dear. Looks like Mina is taking her new role as 'guardian' a little too far.

Thank you all for the love!