Author note: where all the reviewers in this town, what's a girl supposeeeed to do~ Did they all run off when they knew, that I was writing 'round, wri- I mean hi guys enjoy the chapter, even though it almost seems like I give dull titles on purpose.
And double thanks to Evilshroom for betaing and writing the battle scene 8D
"Yo Minato!" It had been quite a while since he had last heard that voice.
"Oh… hey Kenji." And he really didn't want to keep a conversation with him, even if it was by phone.
"Hey, since we haven't hanged out together in a lot of time... I was thinking that we could go to the movies marathon and then go have some ramen later. Junpei and Kazushi are coming too!" Kenji's voice sounded as stupidly cheerful as ever. "C'mon man! Ramen and cinema day, only the guys! You in?"
"Uuh…" Hanging out with a guy he couldn't become any closer nor more distant to, another who still looked at him weird from time to time and Kazushi, who was only a level away from joining the first… Yeah right. He needed some excuse…
"Hey man." Hamuko tugged at his free arm. "You ready for looking for Maiko-chan?"
Ugh. Difficult decision. Oh well, better go with the one which would grant him some time alone with a girl. And also he was kind of worried about Maiko. "I've got things to do." He hung up and turned to Hamuko. "Let's go."
"…So, you see, Hamuko, there's some kind of… hierarchy in relationships. First, you have friends. Close friends are people you have some affection towards."
"What kind of affection?"
"Almost fraternal affection. It means you think of them as family."
"I know what fraternal affection is, thank you." Hamuko mumbled.
"Good, next level is 'friends with benefits'. It's a step further than friends, and a step below boyfriends."
"So what's the difference between those kinds of friends?" She inquired.
"You wouldn't do the first kind."
"I wouldn't?"
"…You shouldn't." Minato cleared his throat. "So yeah, basically, there's nothing other than physical attraction for those, not love."
"But I love my friends. All of them." Hamuko furrowed her eyebrows. "Just, not in the same way I love you. They don't make me feel all weird."
"As I said, affection and attraction are two different things, whereas love is some sort of mix between both. Apparently, you are unable to tell them apart, and that means…" He pursed his lips and then looked at her with a weird expression. "…I don't even want to know what it means."
"…?" Before Hamuko could get to ask what was wrong with him all of a sudden, something caught their attention. It was a cartel with Maiko's photo- a middle aged couple was posting them all over the strip mall. Apparently, they noticed that Minato and Hamuko were staring at them.
"Hey, you!" A brown haired woman wearing a beige dress and heavy make up ran towards them. "H-have you seen a little girl? S-she's in elementary school and she hasn't been home in two days a-and..." She spoke quickly and stuttered a lot, so a tall black haired man in formal attire, whom Minato guessed was her husband, stepped in front of her, rubbing his temples like he had a headache.
"Stop assaulting everyone and calm down, dammit!" He shouted.
"Calm down? Calm down?" She seemed hysterical. "She's been gone for two days! What if something happened to her?"
"It's your fault for forcing her to study non-stop! I'm surprised she didn't run away earlier!" The man raised his voice even more. "We already warned the police, what else do you want to do? This is ridiculous!" He then turned to the Fools, a hint of recognition in his eyes. "You're Minato and Hamuko, right? ...I heard about you from Maiko. She used to talk about how she skipped piano classes to hang out with you two…"
"This is the first I've heard of it!" The woman yelled in shock. "What the hell did you do to my daughter? Where are you keeping her, monsters!"
"What the hell? We'd never do anything to Maiko-chan!" Hamuko yelled back. "We've been looking for her since she told us she ran away!"
"S-She told you that personally?" Maiko's father blinked in surprise. "She… She left us a note…"
"She's never done anything like this before!"
"It's your fault! If you two hadn't treated her like you did this wouldn't have happened!" The brunette growled.
"Wh- ...You don't know anything!" Maiko's mum seemed about to cry. "Why, Maiko...?"
"Hamuko, let me handle this." Minato whispered to the incensed girl, wrapping an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "We achieve nothing arguing here. Let's look for her."
"Y-Yes, you're right…" The man sighed. "If you have any idea where she is, I'm begging you to tell us."
"Let's see, um… She had a lot of snacks, but she probably ran out of them by now, so she could be trying to buy some more. Let's see… She asked us for a mad bull if we tried to find her…"
"…Hey, didn't she ask for the same when we met her?"
"Yeah, she asked for that and…" His eyes lit up. "Takoyaki! She must be hiding somewhere around Octopia!"
"That takoyaki stand? It's worth the shot, let's go!" The group ran to the east zone of the Strip Mall, where Octopia was located.
"Aw, 400 yens for one package?" Maiko pouted as she looked at the dumplings.
"There you are!" Maiko's mum ran towards her.
"Mom! Dad!" The little girl shouted in surprise. "Oh... you came too? Well I... Um... I..."
"Are you okay, darling? Are you hurt? What happened...?" Her mother asked while tears rolled down her eyes. "Where have you been?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay... I've been sleeping at Erika's…"
"Oh, what a relief..." She sighed, and right after she gritted her teeth in anger. "How dare you run away from home! Do you have any idea how worried I was? You almost gave me a heart attack, young lady!"
"Geez, calm down! Can't you tell she's scared?" Maiko's dad tried to calm her down.
"Y-You guys made me worry too! I was so scared... You said you were getting a divorce, and I didn't know what to do! I don't want you to get divorced because of me...!" Maiko sobbed and then began wailing disconsolately.
"Oh, so that's what this is all about..." The man glanced away. "We're really sorry, Maiko. Why don't we go home and talk about this?" He looked at the Fools. "I'm not sure what to say... Thank you for your help…"
"Y-Yeah, thanks…" Maiko sniffed, trying to hold back her tears, but she flashed them a little smile. With that, the Hanged Man Social Link reached level 7… "...Bye."
They saw the family off, probably to Paulownia, to call off Maiko's disappearance… Minato was about to suggest going on with the walk, now unworried, but, when he turned to Hamuko, he was greeted by the sweetest expression he'd ever seen her with. There was a hint of nostalgia in her smile, though.
"What is it?" Minato finally dared ask.
"Happy families… they always make me kinda…" She mumbled something between chuckles.
"Huh?"
Hamuko puffed up her cheeks and glanced away, a tad blushed. "I said that I… I wanna have a family too…"
"You want a family…?" The boy was genuinely surprised to hear her say that. …Hamuko didn't seem the kind to… Well, there was probably a lot about her he didn't know, and vice versa, but…
"One day. With a guy who doesn't make me feel alone." She breathed. "Someone like you."
"You and me… having a family?" And she was the one who wanted to go slow…
"But you already have one. And you left them." She made a 'hmph' sound. "That tells a lot of you as a father."
Minato blinked in surprise. "I left them for you."
"Same thing, you left them." She turned away from Minato. Barely three seconds later she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, disregarding the fact that they were in such a public place. "…And I feel horrible for being so glad you did. I shouldn't be able to trust you yet, yanno?"
"You… trust me now?"
"Well… You think I'd kiss a guy I didn't trust?" Hamuko put her index finger over his parted lips. "Don't answer that." Her lips replaced the digit.
"Ooooh, so that's what you meant when you said you had things to do!"
"Was that a kiss with tongue?"
"Get a room, guys!"
Minato sighed as Hamuko let him go. "What are you doing here, guys?"
"Tsk, tsk, ditching us to hang out with your girlfriend…" Kenji shook his head disapprovingly.
"Girlfriend…" Hamuko echoed. Minato hadn't actually explained her which was the main difference between friends and that. She'd have to remember to ask later. "So does that mean you ditched Rio to go with the guys, Kenji-kun?" She smirked. "Sausage fest much?"
"W-WHAT? IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT!" The brunet yelled. "I didn't have any plans with Rio, that's why I'm hanging out with these single losers!"
"Who you callin' a loser, you henpecked moron?" Junpei growled. "I coulda been doing something interesting instead of watching a stupid movie about sports!"
"Hey, it wasn't stupid!" Kazushi frowned. "And I could be in rehabilitation or hanging out with Yuko right now, guys!"
"So you're finally going to rehab?" Minato smiled.
"So you and Yuko are closer now?" Hamuko queried with more interested than she intended.
"So I'm the only one without a girl?" The boy in the cap gaped. His expression became all gloomy. "Guys I… don't feel like ramen anymore…"
"Yeah, me neither…" Kazushi and Junpei walked away.
"H-hey, wait guys! …Good job, dude." Kenji glared at Hamuko.
"Sorry…" The brunette cast her eyes down.
"She didn't do it on purpose." Minato glared back at him. Kenji just shook his head and then continued his path to Hagakure. Hamuko just hung her head low all the way to the dorm. Well, she and Junpei agreed to use their frustrations for something useful: Tartarus!
The exploration went smooth as usual, even more so since both Fools made a quick stop at the Velvet Room to get a handful of new Personae and a rather… insistent request to hang out the following day. Babysitting, yay. And so, they continued their exploration through Yabbashah... until they reached the ninety-eight floor, where the next Guardian awaited them...
"Magical Magus?" Hamuko asked with a raised eyebrow.
"That appears to be the name I'm reading from them, Hamuko-chan," Fuuka affirmed.
"But that's... that's so stupid! It's redone!"
"Redundant," Minato corrected automatically.
"That!" she agreed, incensed. "Ooh, we're the Magical Magi! Have you met our brothers, the Towering Towers? Let me introduce you to our cousin, the Slicing Sword!"
"Hamuko..."
Any efforts to calm her down were for naught, as she stomped off toward the three guardians, who had been regarding her behind inscrutable masks the entire time.
"I swear, even if they weren't in the way, I'd still beat them up, just for having such stupid names!"
"Hamuko-chan, be careful! I sense that their magic attacks are on the same level as the Intrepid Knight's!" Fuuka warned.
"Really?" she said sarcastically. "The Magical Magi have strong magic? Well, I guess I can't expect creativity from Shadows with that n-"
She was cut off rather abruptly by the impact of three separate Bufudyne attacks. With a cry of alarm, Minato, Junpei, and Koromaru leapt into the fray.
"Try physical attacks!" Minato shouted, summoning Cu Chulainn for a Torrent Shot. Junpei attempted a Kill Rush on another, while Koromaru lashed out with his knife, darting around the slower moving Shadow. None of the attacks had much effect.
"Damn," Minato swore. "Fuuka, are you getting a reading on these guys?" he asked without much hope. The guardians were notoriously difficult to find weaknesses on.
"No, but they seem to be resistant to all forms of physical attack!" she reported.
"Maybe we ought to try elementals?" Hamuko offered from beside him.
"Looks like our only choi- wait, Hamuko?" He jumped in surprise. "Didn't you..."
"I had Sarasvati on before I went in. Lucky, huh?" she said cheerfully.
"Yeah. Be careful, will you? Alright, Cu Chulainn!" he roared, bringing the Celtic hero out for a powerful Mazionga on the Magi, who were distracted with Koromaru's flashing speed and attacks. That drew their attention away from the dog's fierce, if somewhat ineffectual attacks. One in particular focused its attention on Minato.
He braced himself for the incoming Bufudyne when...
"Hermes!"
A powerful blast of fire knocked the Magus to the ground. Surprised, Minato turned to look at Junpei, who offered him a grin. Minato grinned right back.
"Well, alright then. Koromaru, Junpei, they're weak to fire! Hit them with everything you've got!"
Unfortunately, the Magi seemed to have caught on to their tactic. Koromaru's next blast of fire rebounded off the targeted Magus and singed his fur.
"Koro-chan!" Hamuko cried out. "Minato, that one in the back is casting some kind of shield spell!"
"That Makarakarn is only good for one attack," Fuuka informed. "If you can get it to wear off, and then do a follow-up attack quickly afterward, before another Magus can recast it, you can knock them down."
"Ooh, my time to shine!" Hamuko chirped happily, as her eyes shifted slightly, indicating a shift in Persona. "I'll just use Sati here to take down the shields, since she's not hurt by fire, then Ju-"
She was cut off... again... by a Bufudyne, this time sending her sprawling to the floor. After a quick once over to make sure she would be alright, Minato sighed and switched his own Persona, narrowly avoiding a Bufudyne that would have done the same to him.
With a pull of the Evoker's trigger, and a cry of "Orthrus!", the weak fire spell he slung at the Magi was rebounded back at him, to no effect. Hamuko staggered to her feet, and saw the Magi unprotected.
"I really, really hate these things. I hate their spells! I hate their shields! I hate their names! And I hate," she said, ducking a Bufudyne, "how they keep on cutting me off! Junpei-kun! Koro-chan! Kill them with fire! Sati!"
Little remained of the redundantly-named Shadows after that. After the battle, they walked back to the dorm, Hamuko in a much better mood.
"Junpei really gave it all in Tartarus, but he's been kinda gloomy since yesterday…" Hamuko commented as they walked out of the dorm. "I guess he feels lonely…"
"You should hang out with him once we're done with the date…"
"Huh? But aren't we gonna go to the cinema afterward?"
"What?" Minato looked at her wide-eyed.
"It's… kinda like a tradition by now." She beamed at him. "Also there's this one adventures film set in Sumaru City which I've been meaning to watch for a while…"
"'Watch' meaning 'have some popcorn and enjoy the film', or 'watch' as in, 'have some popcorn and enjoy each others' company'?"
"Huh… Yanno, going to the cinema only to make out sounds pretty dumb to me now..."
"Yeah, we can go watch the film and make out later." He pressed his lips together. "Unless that's going too fast."
"French kisses four days after making up? It actually sounds rather slow to me." She shrugged. Well… "Also… We've kissed like that before. I don't know why you'd have any doubts about doing that again…"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that... being mad for a while doesn't erase the fact you've done it before. So it's like you never stopped doing it, and if you never stopped doing it you shouldn't be worried about starting to do it again." Hamuko shot him a troubled glance, seeing that the boy looked even more confused. "I mean that I'm fine with anything we used to do, for as long as you ask nicely."
"That's... good… but… incredibly stupid. You can't pretend you trust me that much." Or, she was empiric to the extreme. "Who the hell taught you about relationships, Hamuko?"
Minato caught a glimpse of a flinch as she glanced away, completely ignoring his question.
"So this is a shrine..." Theo looked at the offertory while Elisabeth wandered around, examining every single item she stumbled upon.
"It's very similar to a temple!" She stated enthusiastically.
"I see... I'm sensing mysterious presences here... They're different from the Shadows."
"Oh, you sense them too?" The female in blue asked to her brother.
"Indeed, there's one right behind Hamuko-sama..."
"PHAROS?" Hamuko spun around to see what was behind her, and fell in Minato's arms. "N-No Pharos?"
"They were kidding." Minato glanced at the Velvet Room assistants. "I think."
"The first order of business is to worship at the shrine, correct?"
"Do you remember how to do so, Theo?"
"Of course I do, sister!" He pouted. "See? I even brought my own wallet!"
"That's my Theo!" After this exchange, both began dumping an uncountable amount of coins into the offertory box… So many, in fact, that they were oozing from it! Hamuko's eyes were gleaming.
"You're not going to steal from a shrine." Minato frowned.
"It's not stealing if it's not inside the offertory box!" She exclaimed. "C'mon man, we have to give back six hundred thousand yen!"
"No." His glare sufficed to make her give up.
"I have finally finished presenting my offer…" Elisabeth stared at her empty purse.
"It is traditional to wish for something, sister!" Theo stated excitedly. "You just have to swing the rope and call out your wish!"
"Is that so…? Then, a fountain spirit resides here, as well? Well then, even though we don't usually reside in this world, let's bring upon ourselves some 'divine grace'…" And with that, both assistants began swinging the rope. Then they exchanged troubled glances. "So what should we ask for?"
"I do not know… But it would be improper not to call out a wish..." The blonde in blue looked at the Fools. "Ah, of course. I'll wish for your safety, Hamuko-sama!"
"I prefer you wished for my monetary fortune." She mumbled under her breath.
"Should I do the same for Minato-sama…? No, Minato-sama doesn't need divine protection, I shall make sure he is fine personally…"
"I wish that my dear friend remains..." Theo's words stopped when he noticed that they were being looked at. "W-Would you perhaps mind... not listening? It's odd, I admit, but for some reason I don't feel comfortable knowing that you're listening..."
"Aw, Theo, don't be so shy. Hamuko-sama will be happy to know that you care about her welfare."
"Do you think so, sister?" With that, he began whispering his wish. "Everything will be all right now. You'll be protected for all eternity." He smiled. "Do you intend to pray for anything?"
"Um…" She turned to Minato. "What about I pray for safety and you pray for money?"
"I've got better things to pray for than that!"
"Oh really? Like?"
"Well, I could pray for… having good luck in love." He smiled flirtatiously.
"You're already lucky at that. In any case I should be the one praying." She snuck her tongue out at him.
They began praying silently, who knows for what.
"...It isn't mandatory to call out one's wish?" Theo asked, surprised, as the Fools stopped their prayers. "If that's so, then why didn't you... Well, never mind."
"So have you been granted with 'divine grace'?" Elisabeth queried.
"We can check out the fortunes to find out…" Hamuko suggested. She walked left of the offertory. "Here."
"Ooh! Paper fortunes!" The girl with platinum hair exclaimed.
"What are those, sister?"
"It's a game where people entrust their destiny to a slip of paper, and exult in the risk!" She examined the strips of paper. "I see, there are many possible destinies written on them… We have to try this, Theo!"
"I-I don't know.."
Elisabeth puffed up her cheeks. "Well then, wait while I work on obtaining all of them."
"That's not how you—eh, whatever." Minato scratched the back of his head. Why try, huh?
"Oh, hey guys!" A childish voice claimed.
"Maiko-chan!" Hamuko ran towards her, leaving the assistants with Minato. "How did it go yesterday?"
"Well… They talked to me about why they were getting divorced. I was sad, but I listened to what they said." She looked at Hamuko shyly. "...Did I do good?"
"You listened to them like a grown up, good job!" The older brunette congratulated her. "So, what happened?"
"So, Mom and Dad... They said when there's no love, it's hard to still be married." She sighed. "...They said not to worry, because they would always love me. ...I told them that they're still not allowed to get divorced. Even if you don't have love... you still have to try!"
"I see…" Hamuko nodded to herself. Love keeps people together…
"Hey, so... I have to choose whether I want to live with Mom or Dad... But I can't choose that! You decide for me, okay?" Maiko beamed.
"Hmm… Well, if you hafta choose… your dad seems a pretty cool guy…"
"We can't choose that for you, Maiko-chan." Minato's voice startled Hamuko.
"But I really don't know!" She released a big sigh.
"Who seems sadder?" Hamuko's question made Minato glare at her.
"Mum… has been crying a lot lately…" Maiko adopted a thoughtful stance. "Mom might move somewhere far away, so if I went with her... I couldn't play with you anymore! ...That would be bad. I'd miss you too much."
"Maiko-chan…" With that, the Hanged Man Social Link reached level 8. "We'd… miss you a lot too…"
"Hey, it's time I get home… Or mum will get mad for skipping piano classes." Maiko chuckled sadly. "Will you… hold my hand on the way home?"
Hamuko quickly grabbed Maiko's hand, but then she turned to Minato. "Will those two be alright?"
Minato glanced at the Velvet Room assistants. Elisabeth seemed to be trapped in the jungle gym, and Theo was hiding under the slide. "They will be fine." With that, he took Maiko's free hand and together they walked her home, looking like a family...
By the time they were back, both Elisabeth and Theo were trying to keep their balance on the horizontal bar, for some reason beyond their comprehension. And then Theo fell down.
"Hah! I won the battle for endurance!" Elisabeth yelled proudly. …Yeah.
"See? I told you they'd be fine."
Eventually, they decided to leave and head to Paulownia, while the assistants seemed busy discussing something about feelings. Once in the Velvet Room, they were given something called 'Book of Ancients' which would allow them to fuse Thoth.
There was some dense silence between the Fools as they headed to the cinema, and it didn't get better when they arrived there. There hadn't been any kind of argument, but, Hamuko seemed really distant and thoughtful since they'd left Maiko.
"Hey, the film's about to start."
"Huh?" Hamuko snapped out of her thoughts. "O-oh yeah, the film…"
The film started awesome… And with every minute it turned more awesomely ridiculous. "Mayans in Japan, why not?" He whispered between chuckles. "You look kind of bored…"
"I think it's the first time ever I've come to a cinema to actually watch a film." Indeed. She'd gone other times to make fun of Minato and bond with diverse people... But not to specifically pay attention to the film. It was boring. "Hey, what about you… wrap your arms around me…?"
Minato did as asked, and immediately she leaned on the armrest, staring at him expectantly. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. We're going slow, right?"
"…Do you even know what going slow means?"
She blinked. "…Not… going fast?"
"I need to have a talk with you." And so they left the cinema while the film was still going -anyway, they had missed two minutes of that film, so they couldn't understand it any more. "Let's see, Hamuko, what's going slow for you?"
"Err…"
"Let's try a different approach." He sighed. "How fast are your relationships?"
"Um… I guess that like what we had back then… but… much faster. Say… a week instead of a month."
"…" Minato nodded slowly. Maybe he was getting to things he didn't want to know about. "…Why?"
"Because, that's the normal thing, right?" Dense silence. "Right?"
"Not… quite." The bluenet knit his eyebrows together. "Who told you that?"
"…" Hamuko looked down. "What's a boyfriend supposed to do?"
"Huh?"
"You never told me what makes a boyfriend different from a friend."
"Changing the subject…? Well... Your partner is supposed to be someone you love and who loves you back. Not just physical or intellectual romance, there must be some kind of link… The perfect partner would do anything for you, and know you'd do anything for them, asking only in return some loyalty. I think." Yeah, Minato wasn't precisely the most experienced guy in relationships.
"…Really?" Silence took over again, during which they saw Junpei trying to hit on a red haired girl with a white gothic Lolita dress, sketching something. "…I don't even remember his name."
"Whose name?"
"My first boyfriend's." She pressed her lips together and inhaled deeply. "… I said that I was feeling alone, he answered he could help; I asked how, he told me when." She snorted at the accidental rhyme. "He said that it was fine even though we'd been only dating for a few days. Then, he got mad when I told him I still felt alone and called me a slut when I decided to look for someone else. Rinse and repeat with every boy after him… until you." She looked at Minato. "You… you are different from the others… that's what I wanna think." Both teens grimaced at that last part.
"God…" Minato held her strongly against himself. "No wonder you are as messed up as you are…"
"Says you?" She grumbled as he rested his chin on her head, but soon she gave in to the warmth of his embrace. Too warm indeed. Way too warm. "Hon, it's blazing hot here under the sun…"
"Want me to let you go…?"
"No… Let's just… hug somewhere else…" They got up and headed to the station, hands on each others' waists. "So uh… How was yours?"
"Mine…?" He arched his eyebrows.
"Yanno what I'm talking 'bout." Hamuko smirked. "You keep asking things about me, but I too wanna know everything about you, including that."
"Ah, well, uh… I-I don't know, I haven't had any other… occasions to judge… Ask Yuko… Better yet, don't…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I… didn't enjoy it, if that's what you're asking…"
"Say whaaat?" She rose her eyebrows up.
"I was thinking of you the whole time, how could I?" The girl in his arms got quite rigid. His eyes widened as he realized what he had just implied. "W-WAIT, NO, I DIDN'T ME-" Too late, the girl had already left, shaking her head disapprovingly.
…At least Hamuko had a fun night playing catch with Koromaru –quite a good way to get Strength level 3- and giving Minato glares which could almost rival with Mitsuru's.
And so the night went on…
Now you'll be left wondering just how creepy can Minato really be. Cue evil laughter.
