Mitsuru laid Minato on the dorm's couch as carefully as she could manage. The stench of blood and dirt was rolling off Minato in waves, but Mitsuru was least concerned. At least he was alive which was a true miracle.
Junpei cringed, almost wanting to puke after observing Minato's condition thoroughly. "Eris sure did a number on him..."
"No she didn't," Yukari spat. "He's still alive and well."
"He isn't 'well' at all. I reckon we should call the ambulance. The Dark Hour is almost over," Akihiko mused.
"I too would suggest that," Aigis spoke up. "His spinal cord has suffered quite a bit of damage."
"His chest is like..." Junpei stopped and hung his head low.
"Shredded," Mitsuru rubbed her temple. She fished her cell phone out and the Dark Hour came to a stop. Mitsuru wasted no time and began yelling at the ambulance to pick up Minato.
"In the end, I'm glad Minato is alive," Junpei smirked. "I told you guys, you all kept on sobbing, it would take way and I mean way more than Eris to kill Minato."
"Him being alive is a miracle," Akihiko noted. "I mean, his heart was pierced from what I saw in the picture."
"Who cares?" Yukari said happily. "I'm just glad he's back, and we defeated the Joker." She let out a deep breath. "Our worst nightmare actually ended in a real happy ending."
Mitsuru chuckled. "I agree with that. Our leader is back."
The ambulance arrived within a few minutes, probably due to Mitsuru pressuring them. They evaluated Minato and proclaimed that no ordinary man should be alive right now, but Minato was still breathing and his heart was still pumping blood. How did he survive was still a mystery. After days of no sleep and constant anxiety, the team slept peacefully, except for Mitsuru who actually went along with the ambulance.
The hospital staff did a full diagnosis of Minato and found what seemed to be shallow cut on his right ventricle, a slash on the lower end of his spine. Several of his ribs were broken. His cardiovascular system was in horrible condition, probably from the wound that stretched all the way to his abdomen. They calculated that Minato would only live on life support but Mitsuru ended up smiling and shrugging it off.
Mitsuru sighed and collapsed onto the chair next to Minato. She eyed the blue haired teenager and let out a small smile. For the first time, Mitsuru felt a warmth inside her. She would normally question it, but right now, she was way too caught up in emotions.
"I did really did miss him," Mitsuru said aloud, before closing her eyes. "I wish he never leaves again."
...
Days passed on normally. Mitsuru and her team managed to convince that Minato simply had gone to visit his grandfather, and the rumor about his death was a hoax. After a whole week, Minato finally began to recover. The gash on his abdomen closed up and only a scar remained.
Mitsuru would visit him everyday and would spend long hours beside him, she wanted to be there when Minato woke up. On the 7th day, Mitsuru as usual was sitting next to him, playing around with her cell phone only to stop as she saw Minato stirring.
Minato let out a small yelp of pain as he slowly opened his eyes, only to close them again due to the light stinging into his cornea. Mitsuru tossed her cell phone to the side and stood up.
"Minato," She said softly as Minato opened his eyes again. The male slowly turned his head towards his senior.
The two ended up staring at each other for quite a few minutes. Mitsuru was panting for some reason, and Minato ended up smiling.
"I saw the hottest girl in the country after opening my eyes. Bless my luck," He muttered to himself.
"You're finally awake," Mitsuru said with a cheerful smile.
Minato tried to sit up but his body protested. Lying on a bed for days surely did him no favors. Mitsuru supported him to sit and poured water in a glass, before handing it to Minato.
Minato drank the water and let out a deep sigh. He couldn't believe it, he was in the world of living. After suffering a broken spinal cord and a heart wound, breathing let alone moving around was truly a miracle.
"How do you feel?" Mitsuru asked.
"I feel..." Minato clenched his fist. "Alive..." He rotated his once broken arm. "I was dead for so long, its truly a miracle."
"Miracle indeed," Mitsuru smiled again.
Minato stood up, much to the charging of Mitsuru.
"Reckless as always, I demand that you sit down and rest for another week," Mitsuru crossed her arms.
"I'll die again," Minato groaned, unbuttoning his hospital shirt to notice another scar on his chest, or to be more precise : The place where Eris stabbed him.
"Eris," Minato muttered, reliving the man slaughter which he somehow survived. The teenager closed his eyes and tried to battle back the building layers of hate and rage due to the mere thought of the raven haired girl.
Mitsuru somehow sensed the negative energy rolling off of Minato and she ended up snapping him out of his daze by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Please rest, Arisato."
Minato smiled cheekily. "Don't worry senpai. I'm good as new, totally healed and ready to kick her ass."
"Her?"
"Eris, I mean," Minato stuck his tongue out. "I might be breaking my code here, but I swear to God, she killed me once, and now I'll kill her. Even the score is another belief that I believe in."
"Let's not get hasty, firstly you have friends who have visited you everyday for a week," Mitsuru said.
Minato yelped. "A week? God damn, no wonder my breath smells so bad."
Mitsuru chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here today."
"Anything I missed?" Minato asked.
"We'll fill you in soon enough. Stay here will I arrange the papers for your discharge," Mitsuru began to walk away, she opened the door but stopped and looked behind her shoulder with a warm smile. "We just missed you, that's all." With that, she walked away.
Minato wobbled and he ended up sitting on the bed. "I seriously forget how hot she is at times." He again looked below to observe the two scars on his body. "I swear to God, the entire race of scumbags will pay." Fighting off the anger, Minato ended up taking a stroll around the hospital.
Minato was discharged from the hospital soon enough. Him and Mitsuru drove back to the dorm. Mitsuru had already informed the rest that Minato would be coming, so as soon as Minato stepped inside, he was tackled hugged by everyone, even Fuuka.
"I warned you, idiot," Yukari yelled at Minato, pulling his collar. She was trying her best not to weep again.
"Everyone warned me man," Minato chuckled. "I was a fool to trust Eris," He eyed everyone of his teammates. "All of you guys warned me, but I didn't listen..."
"I wouldn't place the blame on you," Akihiko said. "When Eris saved you, even I thought she had changed."
"That was a part of her plan as well," Minato clicked his tongue. "She played everyone of us."
"Let's look at the bigger picture guys," Junpei said with a grin. "She couldn't kill Minato."
"Yeah, but she ended up singing her own death warrant," Minato said darkly.
"I suggest that we search for Eris and her subordinates as soon as possible," Aigis suggested. "Eris has proved to be be exceedingly calculating, her living on in the shadows will be disastrous for us."
"Yamagishi couldn't sense any of them," Mitsuru said.
"No matter," Minato said. "I will look in every corner if I have to, but I swear, by the end of this year, she will die." He swore and it made the others cringe, maybe because Minato was releasing quite a bit of killing intent.
"A-Ah, let's party, yeah?" Junpei suggested. "I mean, we have our leader back. We all had a couple of rough days."
"Sorry for worrying you guys," Minato rubbed the back of his head.
"J-Just don't leave us again, Arisato," Everyone turned around to look at Mitsuru, but the heiress wasn't bothered in the slightest. Minato closed his eyes and bowed his head.
"Never ever, I promise you," He swore. "I ain't leaving you guys again and I'll make sure that none of you are leaving me as well." He ran a hand through his hair. "Welp, let's party the fuck out."
It wasn't really a party, more of a massive dinner that Mitsuru ordered. Minato ate like 'pig' according to Junpei and who could blame him? He hadn't eaten for more than a week. After finishing several plates of sushi, a dozen boxes of pizza and several liters of pepsi, she sank back onto the couch and let out a soft sigh.
"Felt so good," He yawned.
"I bet," Junpei said. "But dude, you eat like a pig."
"I should keep you dead for a week and then see how much you eat," Minato deadpanned. "Come on man, all I drank was my own blood for a couple of days, needed to drink pepsi to wash that taste outta my mouth."
Junpei cringed. "I was just joking man but that blood part sent shivers down my spine," Junpei removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair, maybe to wipe the sweat off. "I can't believe you're alive man, all of us went into depression when Eris sent us that photo."
"Which photo?" Minato questioned.
"Uh..." Junpei reached into the couch's cousin and pulled out the same graphic photo which haunted him for weeks. He handed it over to Minato who widened his eyes momentarily but ended up scoffing.
"Seriously, Eris is like the cheapest scum of the earth," Minato tossed the photo away. "So not only she beat the crap out of me, but she ended up causing despair to everyone of my friends?"
"Well, she posted it on the student forums," Junpei cringed. "Luckily, we covered it up by saying that you're visiting your grandfather and they believed us, Kenji went insane though."
"More of a reason for me to kick her ass now," Minato smashed his fist into his palm. "Just watch bro, I'm going to show you a side of me that I'm not very proud of."
"Not me man, not me," Junpei gulped.
Minato facepalmed. "Way to ruin a moment idiot," He sighed and ended up patting his friend on the back. "Don't worry dude, I ain't going through that ever again." He pointed at the photo.
"I hope so man," Junpei let out a bitter laugh. "I swear Yuka-tan was giving off suicide vibes, and Aigis ended up locking herself in for days. We didn't sleep or eat, and just ended up looking around the island everyday for you."
"I appreciate it man," Minato rubbed the back of his neck.
"Oh senpai went crazy. I swear I never saw her this vulnerable before. She was jumpy and devastated... and not to mention pissed more than all of us." Junpei continued. "She called like every police station and detective agency to search for you, she even began to caress your arm band in the last few days."
Minato gulped as his cheeks flared up.
"I'm sure she hasn't slept for days," Junpei slapped Minato on the back. "She cares for you man, and you should really make her take a rest now."
Minato nodded furiously and stood up, before speeding towards the command room. He stopped in front of the door and wiped the sweat off his brow. One step at a time.
His heartbeat spiked up furiously.
Minato stopped reaching for the knob and calmed his beating hart down.
"A hug or kiss will do," He nodded, before opening the door to see Mitsuru working on some papers.
The redhead noticed him and smiled. "Yes, Arisato, do you require something?"
Minato stumbled his way towards her and sat next to her on the couch. Mitsuru rose a brow as Minato reached for a cup of water and gulped it down before taking several deep breaths.
"I uh," Minato tried to start.
"Yes?"
"Thank you senpai," Minato blurted, rubbing his forehead. "Junpei told me everything, I'm sorry for worrying you and I appreciate everything you've done," Minato blushed. "Haven't had anyone else my grandfather do this for me..."
Mitsuru smiled. "That was my duty. Not only are you our most powerful asset but you are the glue that holds us together, and I'm not shy to say it: you're a very good friend."
Minato inched forward and hugged his senior who was sorta taken aback but she ended up returning the hug.
"I will repay this back, then fold," Minato promised.
Mitsuru sighed. "Not to mention, you're a complete and utter idiot as well." Mitsuru yawned and struggled to keep her eyes open.
"You should sleep senpai," Minato advised. "I'm back, please sleep. After you wake up, we'll discuss how to fish those scumbags out and beat the crap outta them."
Mitsuru chuckled as her eyes got heaver, maybe due to the warmth of the embrace. Soon enough, the heiress dozed off on Minato's shoulder and finally slipped into slumber after many days.
Minato sat there for quite a while, when he was that the rest went to sleep, he slowly lifted Mitsuru up and carried her out of the command room, up the stairs and into her own room. Minato gulped and rested her down on her bed before pulling the covers over her. He started to walk away but his line of sight stayed glued onto Misuru.
"..." Minato bend down and kissed Mitsuru on the forehead. The heiress smiled in her sleep as Minato whispered her a goodnight and walked out of her room and into his own.
Minato landed face first on his bed before getting lost in several thoughts. How the fuck was he alive? Minato was sure he could feel Death's grip on him after she rammed the knife into his heart. He was dead for more than a day, without a spinal cord and a beating heart.
Minato flipped over and sighed, staring at the ceiling. "God damn, this shit is unreal," He circled his finger around the scar on his chest. "I shouldn't have let that bastard go, should have lured Eris here..." Minato was glad however, that there was no Joker to deal with.
Feeling too much weight on his shoulders, the blue haired persona user ended up jumping out of his window. He needed a walk, and more importantly, he needed to vent out his rage.
The magically revived teenager shoved his hands into his pockets and clipped his headphones on, before making his way towards the back of Port Island. He was sure Eris lived there, and from now on, Minato promised that he would visit the place everyday to fish her out.
He removed the headphones from his ears and let out a dark chuckle. "See Eris? I'm still standing, I don't why and how, but I don't care. You mess with the bull and you get the horns."
Minato slammed his foot onto the ground, cracking the surface. "Come on you sick, twisted piece of shit!" He roared.
"Come on, did you catch a case of diverticulitis?" He wondered. "Or Hepatitis? Since you already had a huge case of PunkBitchitus." The waiting was driving him crazy and he desperately to blow the entire area off but he couldn't.
"You forgot to tear my fingers off, and right now, I'm giving you the middle one," Minato shook his head. "Spineless as always." Unable to take the building rage anymore, Minato ended up smashing the ground further with an ax handle before releasing a hateful roar.
And somewhere, Eris shivered.
You know the deal, please review and all. Expect monthly updates. See you all later.