Chapter 53

Live

There were tests. He did the tests.

Junpei wanted to walk Koromaru with him. It also turned out to be a running competition. Junpei ran quite fast.

"Man, going on a jog on a day like this just feels right. It makes me forget all the tests I failed!"

Junpei stretched and took a deep breath of the night air at the shrine. He seemed fine now. Junpei sure bounced back quick. Of course he had Chidori to talk to. Minato was sure that was the reason.

"Dogs are just so honest, y'know? When he looks at me… I get embarrassed, like he can see right through all the lies I tell myself…" Junpei said. "You just can't lie to Koromaru."

Koromaru walked to Junpei and barked.

"Oh, and here comes The Dawgster himself." Junpei petted the dog. "Guess it's time to head back, huh?"


Minato sneaked down the stairs late at night again. It had been like this for a few days. He didn't feel like meeting people.

He heard noises from the kitchen.

Fuuka?

Minato walked to the kitchen. There were measuring cups on the counter. Meat frying on the pan. She measured red wine and poured them in the pan.

She was… making beef stroganoff.

Minato's stomach growled. Oh right, he didn't eat dinner today.

"Minato?!" Fuuka turned around with her hand still holding the pan. It was shaking. "Uhhh you're on time! You can taste this! Yeah…?"

Fuuka's food, eh? Even when they had maxed the social link, her food had been on the terrible side. Minato was feeling strangely suicidal today, so he nodded.

"I think it's good now." Fuuka put the beef on the plate and placed it on the table. "Good enough to not be a waste. I didn't burned it..."

Koromaru ran and sat at his foot. "Arf!" The dog was cheering Fuuka. "Woof woof!"

If Koromaru was here, it probably wasn't that bad. Minato took a bite.

Fuuka observed him chewing the meat. "How is it…?"

Minato blinked. It actually tasted like meat and not a burnt charcoal. What a nice surprise. "It's good."

Fuuka's face went red. Minato was not sure if her brain had stopped working or not.

"Fuuka…?"

He thought he almost saw her shrieked from happiness, but she seemed to be controlling herself. "Someone, someone actually like it…" She started jumping. "I did it Shinjiro-senpaiiiiiiii!"

Minato eyed her for a while before he continued eating. Koromaru was sitting there waiting for leftovers.


Walking the dog again this night.

All Koromaru did was running around and all Minato did was watching the dog. The white dog put his paw on the slider and lifted his head. There, on top of the slider, is the highest place in this sand playground area, and also where he wanted to be.

Once, long ago, Elizabeth came to the shrine with him. She was interested in everything and tried every possible kind of activity, such as climbing the jungle gym, attempted to climb the shrine to the roof but was held down by Minato, and climbing a tree. She also climbed the ladder, then raised both of her arms and slid down the slider.

"Is it normal for someone to climb up a slider instead of the stair?" She asked.

He shook his head.

"Oh, I wonder why…" Elizabeth touched the slider with her hand. "Is running up a slider as weird as jumping down from an elevator?"

He shrugged.

"It is like going against fate. They say it's not possible, but is there also a slim chance?" She nodded. "That is an interesting way of viewing it!"

He shrugged again.

"I shall try to go against fate today!" Elizabeth stepped back, and charged at the slider. It didn't last long. "Why… is it so, slippery...?" She knelt down and took some deep breaths.

"You didn't take off your gloves," Minato said.

"Ah, right." Elizabeth looked at the slider one last time. "I really can't go against fate. It is too tricky… It is a fun day, Minato. Thanks for showing me around." She sent him a grin.

At that time Minato didn't feel like talking with anyone at all, but she still said it was fun. For some reasons her eyes seemed to reflect everything, even his mind.

Is that how Koromaru feel when Aigis look at him? Who knows.

Minato looked up. Koromaru were still trying to run up the slider. But every time, he kept falling down. Koromaru whined.

That reminded him of the movie. Of the puppies struggling to survive. Of Shinjiro. No matter how hard you try, you have to fail?

Koromaru shook his head that had headbutted the sand. A mere Shiba Inu probably couldn't climb a slider after all. Shinjiro had told the dog that it was okay.

"Arf!" The Shiba Inu suddenly seemed so mature. "Grr!"

Then Koromaru charged up and ran to the slider with all his might. People would think he wanted to headbutt the slider, but Koromaru was not a suicidal type. Koromaru ran even though the memory told him he'd fall again, but he kept running.

Finally, he reached the top.

Koromaru turned to face him and barked. A bark… How it could be so encouraging, Minato didn't know.

The dog looked at the sky and barked.

That might be his way of talking to Shinjiro one last time.


Minato checked the console in the command room. There were new records. He let it played.

"You fucked up," Shinjiro said. "Let me take a look."

He didn't know there was a camera in the kitchen as well. He also didn't expect to see Shinjiro again. The camera tended to record each person at least once.

Shinjiro was standing in front of that black, smoky unidentified substance on the pan. Minato didn't see it on that day. It was much, much worse than he had imagined.

"How much oil did you use?" Shinjiro asked.

"I didn't use any," Fuuka said. "I thought that it would be healthier that way."

It would be worse. "How much red wine did you put in?"

"I don't know. I poured it from the bottle until it looked like enough."

She didn't measure it. "How long did you pour it, then?"

"Um… Two or three seconds."

That's enough to drunk someone. "This meat's pretty fatty."

"Oh, yes. I asked the butcher for the best he had…"

Shinjiro facepalmed. He had heard enough.

"… Senpai?"

No, it's not enough. Shinjiro walked to the nearby wall and banged his head against it. Oh, Minato remembered that part.

"Umm… Shinjiro-senpai...?"

"Don't give me that! There's so much wrong here. I don't know where to begin...!"

...

The recording ended there. Okay, next one.

It's the lounge. Shinjiro and Koromaru were watching TV. He's watching a cooking show. That just suited Shinjiro so well. He was also reading a thick magazine.

Shinjiro glanced at the kitchen. "Pasta cooker…do we have one here…?"

Koromaru barked and ran around in circles.

"You're so eager," Shinjiro said. "I'll cook that at night, okay? Won't forget. Promise."

"Woof!"

Shinjiro looked at the dog. "I just noticed your hair is like Aki. That idiot…"

"Arf arf!"

"Wait, I mean your fur… You protected the shrine. You're stubborn like him. Protect this. Protect that…"

Koromaru whined.

"Not your fault, of course. You're a good lil' mutt… Wait." Shinjiro's headed snapped to the dorm entrance.

"The appropriate sentence would be, 'The weather is good today.'"

"Nah. It's pretty hot."

"Humans require energy to maintain a certain external temperature. I comprehend."

"Aw crap!" Shinjiro slapped the book on his face and pretended to be sleeping.

The door was opened. Junpei and Aigis came in.

"Woof woof!" Koromaru greeted them.

Junpei petted the dog. "Oh, Shinjiro-senpai's asleep. We should be quiet."

Koromaru whined in protest. Aigis was about to translate but Junpei interrupted her.

"Huh? That magazine. 'Home Cooking; the complete collection'. That's like the one Fuuka reads." Junpei looked at the book. "Damn, he balances that heavy thing on his face like a pro. Wish I could do that in class…"

Shinjiro sweatdropped.

"Woof!" Koromaru barked.

Aigis nodded. "He says, 'Shinjiro will cook me something good later. I am so happy.'"

"So he really can cook?" Junpei looked at his senpai in awe. "That's… kind of… Well, I have no right to judge. Aigis, let's go. There're tons of anime I wanna show you."

The two of them went up the stairs.

"Damn it. I forgot she understands dog talk…" Shinjiro sat up and sighed. "I kinda want it a secret..."

Koromaru whined.

"Ahh, don't sweat it. It ain't your fault. If you're happy, it can't be helped..." Shinjiro gave Koromaru a smile and petted him. "Don't worry, boy…"

...

Shinjiro being Shinjiro. He's such a good person, Minato thought. Can't blame him for being him, can I...?

"Minato-kun? Are you checking the console?" Yukari asked.

Minato nodded. She just arrived. She didn't see that he watched.

"Are you checking the camera?" Yukari moved closer. The monitor was showing the video thumbnail. "The lounge? Was it a record? Why would someone record the lounge?"

"I don't know, Yukari."

"Of course not." Yukari looked at the monitor. She seemed familiar with it. "It seems fun, huh? Looking through the cameras."

"It won't be fun when you know you're on the monitor," Minato said.

Yukari winced. "Oh…sorry then."

Sorry?

"You won't like it when you know, right? Still…" Yukari looked away. "Yeah. you were on it."

Minato didn't remember seeing a record of himself.

"W, wait, I didn't come here for that!" Yukari said. "Others are hungry and you haven't eaten, so…"


His dorm mates invited him to Wild Duck Burger. Minato accepted.

Junpei was munching the hamburger while Yukari, Fuuka and Minato were properly eating. Aigis sat there looking at the Peta Wac Set tower.

The place was crowded. People were talking about Apathy Syndrome as usual.

"Apathy Syndrome, huh?" Junpei said. "Really, I feel like they are already more and more again."

"True." Fuuka looked up. "The victims are increasing even though they returned to normal after the full moon battle. I hope the next full moon will fix everything."

"Only one boss left," Yukari said.

Minato would usually shrug, but he didn't. "Do you want to go to Tartatus tonight? We should practice."

"Will you be okay?" Fuuka asked.

"Everyone should be okay already," Minato said. "I should, too."

"I will accompany you," Aigis said. "Eliminating the Shadows is my reason of existence."

Junpei and Minato were staring at each other.

"Accept, to live is to devour." Minato grabbed a piece from the tower of hamburgers.

"I live to eat too, you know." Jupei gulped water and picked one hamburger. "Life without food is boring."

"Life without food is death, duh."

"That's the Minato I know." Junpei chuckled and continued eating.

"... Hey, I was wondering," Yukari spoke up, "If the Dark Hour is gone, and there are no Shadows, what's gonna happen to you, Aigis?"

Everyone looked at Aigis. SEES never really thought about it before. Now It was only a month away.

"I operate as an Anti-Shadow Weapon. I was built solely to eliminate Shadows," Aigis said. "Defeating all Shadows is my mission. Once that mission has been fulfilled, there is no reason for me to remain active. What happens next does not concern me."

Minato's hand froze.

"Then there's a chance that you could just… shut down?" Fuuka asked.

"There is a possibility of it happening."

Yukari looked away. "But that's… really sad."

Aigis tilted her head. "Should I leave?"

"What?" Junpei asked. "No, why?"

"I am not a human. I do not 'die', so I could not understand your grief. I could not sympathize with your recent loss," Aigis said. "Also, I am a machine. I do not 'live'... I should not be here to remind you of this fact."

"Aigis…" Fuuka said.

It was sad, but it was true. After this month, what would happen to her?

Minato forgot about it as well. He forgot why Aigis was in the dorm with them, why she attended school and blend in with people. It was her mission, to fight.

Minato thought she had been living with them all this time. He realized she was far from living.

He wanted her to live.