Chapter 28: Kendo Boot Camp!
7/26/09
DAYTIME
PORT ISLAND STATION FLORIST
Yukari bent over the flowers. The scent of the Lilies and roses engulfed her sense of smell. Behind her, Minato looked over the selections carefully, she had asked him out this morning to help pick out flowers for her room.
They noticed that Ken had moved in last night, and that the youngster had decided to stay indoors today. Mitsuru had told them not to talk to Ken about the shadows, as he wasn't part of the team, yet.
It was the first day of summer vacation, the sun beat down on the Port Island station and its inhabitants baked under the strong summer heat. Over at the florist, the flowers seemed to spread open to take in the sun light.
Minato scanned the wide variety of flora. Yukari had a carefree grin on her face; the summer heat didn't seem to be enough to dampen her spirits. She mumbled incorrigibly, "Hmm... Lilies are too overpowering, and roses aren't really my thing..."
"Maybe gerberas...?" She laughed; her voice was bright and cheerful. "I think I'm gonna go with the gerberas..."
She poked at Minato, "What do you think? Which colour should I get?"
Minato had his hands shoved in his pockets. He thought long and hard and his brows knitted together, finally, he announced, "Pink's cute."
"You think so too?" Yukari giggled, her cheek had a small tinge of red, "I guess we have the same taste, huh..."
Minato smiled. Yukari went over to the pink flowers and carefully selected a small bunch. She turned towards the other flowers, "Hmm... But, just gerberas might be a little plain..."
"What other flowers do you think would look nice?" She glanced at Minato. He arched his brow, "Well... I've never actually been in your room and my impression is kinda vague..."
She laughed, her voice was clear and she felt good. Summer may be hot and sweaty, but on days when she got to go out with a friend, Yukari was always so full of energy. "I guess it's true that you've only seen my room once..."
He suddenly leaned closer to her; his face was dangerously close to her own, "Then, invite me in."
She felt her cheek burn and quickly pushed him away, "Y-You wish!" she laughed nervously, "You're as bad as Junpei."
A smirk crept onto his face, "Ouch... Rejected."
"Excuse me, miss?" The florist smiled politely and handed the flowers over to Yukari. Yukari bowed slightly, "O-oh! Thank you!"
They walked over to one of the benches facing the cinema. Minato dumped his butt on the bench and slouched into the seat. Yukari followed suit, but without the slouch.
"Actually," she grinned, "any flowers would be fine if they were from you, Minato-kun."
He stared at her. His eyes were wide and his mouth looked like it wanted to hang open. Yukari burst out laughing and nudged him, "...Psych!"
"You gotta stop leading me on like this," Minato flashed her a lopsided smile, he glanced over to the Cinema, "Movie anyone? We still have time until curfew anyway."
Yukari stretched out her arm and looked at her watch, "Hmm... I guess we still have time..." she looked at him from the corner of her eye and grinned slyly, "Alright then, what's showing?"
7/27/09
KENDO BOOT CAMP DAY 1
Minato dragged himself out of bed. His hair was slightly frazzled and his eyes were still droopy. His arms ached from getting pulled around by Yukari yesterday and he still had Kendo today.
Augh... What a drag... ngh... Oh well...
He trotted off to school. The monorail was rather empty when school wasn't in session. Minato took the time to maintain his kendo shinai as the monorail car glided over the huge body of water.
Inside the Gym, Kazushi watched over his team-mates as they trained for the tournament. He folded his arms carefully as the boys, dressed in their kendo bōgu, attempted to hit their opponents.
Takenozuka fumbled with his cell phone, he scanned through the list of names and finally landed on Arisato's. "Pick up pick up pick up!"
A clear, cool, disinterested voice picked up on the third ring, "Uh... hello...?"
"MINATO-SAN ARE YOU ARRIVING YET?" The kendo coach yelled over the phone.
A short silence. The boy returned to the phone, his voice clearly hesitant and unsure, "H-huh? Training starts in 30 minutes, sir."
Takenozuka's face froze. Kazushi walked over leisurely and picked up the phone from his frozen hands, "Sup, Minato."
"Um, sorry 'bout the coach but since some of the boys came by earlier so I started the training early. The coach came by, jumped to conclusions and seeing that his star player's not here, called you up and so here we are."
Minato could hear Kaz laughing, his deep, throaty laugh before a loud thud could be heard and Mr. Takenozuka came back on the phone.
The Physics teacher-cum-Kendo coach apologized profusely and hung up abruptly. Minato couldn't help but grin at the turn of events. Today's gonna be fun after all... hmm...
Yuko sat at one of the benches in the Gym, her legs resting on Kaz's thighs. The junior had a small ice pack perched on his head and his eyes were glazed over.
She giggled as he groaned and complained on and on about not being able to participate in this year's tournament. "This year was my year man... Damn it... should've taken better care of my god damned knee..."
Kaz sighed heavily, the sound of clashing shinais echoed through the gym. Yuko rubbed at his knee, "It wasn't your fault, Kaz. Now stop complaining, you're starting to sound like a wimp!"
"True that." The tanned boy grinned, his white teeth contrasted heavily against his dark skin, "Hey look at that... Yoshi's doin pretty good nowadays..."
Yuko laughed, "Heck yeah! He's been training really hard ever since he heard about your knee." She leaned in closer to Kaz, "He wants to be the next captain, I heard."
Kazushi almost wanted to jump straight up, "NO SHIT? Oh hell no!"
Just then, Minato strolled in from the door and placed his bags gently on the bench, not wanting to startle the enraged demon that is Kazushi Miyamoto.
Yuko leaned back, her legs still resting on Kaz's thighs, "Oh, Minato-kun. Nice timing! Yoshimitsu's doing pretty well nowadays, maybe you can go a few rounds, see who's the better man and all that."
She then yelled at the top of her voice, towards the rest of the Kendo team, "ALRIGHT NOW! NO SLACKING OFF! YOU WON'T WIN A POINT OFF OF MAMORU HAYASE LIKE THAT!"
Minato and Kaz both stared at her. The short, tanned girl was obviously enjoying this. Kaz smirked, "Yuko's got a knack for this bossy thing."
In turn, she shot him a dangerous, but playful glare, "And who did you say, was bossy?"
Kaz felt sweat drip down from his back and grinned sarcastically, "Nuthin."
EVENING
As the rest of the Kendo team packed up, they left together for dinner and Hagakure.
Yoshimitsu lost the match with Minato and had to treat him to dinner, and unfortunately for him, Minato had a blackhole for a stomach.
After the dinner, Kaz walked home with Yuko and the team slowly dispersed. Minato strolled back to the dorm alone, his hands shoved in his pockets.
A huge gust of wind blew across the almost empty streets. The cold summer evening bit at Minato's exposed arm and he shivered slightly. The sun had already set and it was already rather dark.
The next full moon was arriving pretty soon and Minato wasn't sure if he was ready. The wind blew again and this time, Minato stood still. He stopped walking completely and made a U-Turn towards the Paulownia Mall.
The trip to the mall was uneventful. As he brisk walked to the almost deserted mall, he approached the back alley and an elegant, wooden door stood right in the centre. Alright... How long has it been since I last stepped into that place?
He touched the cold, metal knob and turned it slowly. Inside the velvet room, two familiar figures greeted him.
THE VELVET ROOM
Elizabeth waited for Minato to come back. And since time didn't exist in the velvet room, whenever he entered and exited, it always seemed as if he had only just visited moments ago.
He opened the door cautiously and peeked into the room. Elizabeth smiled and she repeated the same words that seemed to come out on their own, a habit of hers, "Welcome to the Velvet Room."
The words crawled out of her lips with a slight electric tingle, "How may I assist you tonight?"
Minato sat down in his chair, and almost instantly, he seemed sleepier and for some strange reason, he looked content. "May I check the compendium?"
"Of course," she smiled. Elizabeth walked over to Minato's chair and showed him his album of Personae. He scanned through the thick tome and pointed sleepily at the portrait of Oumitsunu, the towering stone being.
"A nice choice," Elizabeth chuckled, "But are you certain? It will cost you ten thousand yen, rather hefty for a high school student, is it not?"
She watched as Minato cringed, but he did not relent, "N-no... I'm sure." And quite unwillingly, he handed over two smooth five thousand yen notes.
Elizabeth glanced at her master, who had been watching the unusual exchange, and she flicked her wrist. The persona card appeared and disappeared into Minato's pockets.
Elizabeth smiled, "Can I assist you in anyway else?"
"I'm good." Minato sighed and patted at his now empty wallet. Elizabeth giggled, much to the amusement of Igor. He had always enjoyed the changes in his assistant, she understood more and it would certainly help them aide their masters better.
As Minato left the room, Igor laid back into his seat. The Velvet room was silent again. Igor croaked, "Elizabeth... I know that I gave you freedom in giving out the requests... but..."
He lean forward and his eyes narrowed cautiously at the pale, blond women, "Exactly where did you go with the master that other day?"
Elizabeth avoided his eyes as she mumbled her excuse, "T-The Paulownia mall, Master Igor... I have already informed you, sir, about my trip... I merely wished to visit the famed club."
She then turned towards one of the doors in the Velvet room, "I would have loved to rub it in Theo's face." Elizabeth grinned.
Igor sighed and decided to let it go. The three siblings had always held a place in his old heart, and he had always loved them as his own.
Elizabeth had always been the emotional one, easily swayed. Theodore was a prideful young man, but he shared a special bond with his second sister and it made him humane. Margret was the oldest, she prided herself on being a velvet assistant but she lacked something that Elizabeth and Theodore had.
Igor sighed as he thought about Elizabeth, a weird one, she is... but her ability to love wholeheartedly is quite interesting. Will it lead to her downfall...? I wonder. Theodore shares the same trait... Will he follow suit?
IWATODAI DORM
LATE NIGHT
Minato sauntered into the dorm, his face looked fatigued and his body ached.
Junpei, who was hogging the entire length of one of the sofas, turned his head towards Minato, "...S'up, dude... So, how was practice, bro?"
"Not bad..." Minato flashed him a tired smile, "Yoshimitsu lost and had to treat me to raman."
"Whoa..." Junpei laughed, "Poor sucker..."
Minato headed for his room, as he ascended the stairs, he heard Junpei yell, "If you think you can handle it, let's go to Tartarus tonight. We have less than two weeks to get ready, and I'm sure the next Shadow will be stronger than the last one..."
Minato's mind glided towards his newly acquired Oumitsunu and grinned to himself, I think we'll be fine...
Author's note: Alrighty! Chapter up! Oh by the way, did any of you notice that Yoshimitsu was actually a character from Tekken? He's the samurai guy with the weirdo mask and sword :D Also, I thought that I didn't write about Elizabeth and Igor enough, and thought that they might get lonely, so I added a little Velvet Room chapter for ya'll :D
I actually tried to describe stuff more in this chapter, don't know if you guys noticed. Maybe I should try harder, heh heh. Oh and Enon, non-conan means that it isn't part of the main storyline. :)
Actually, can ya'll leave a comment on what you wanna see next, like maybe another MinatoxYukari social link up or a scene for Ken or an AkihikoxMitsuru fluff or whatever, you get the picture. Deadline's the 30th December cause I'll be starting on the next chapter then!
In chapter 29, the team meets Koro-chan! Stay Tuned!
