When she'd first started dating Akihiko, Minako had assumed their shared living arrangements would yield nothing but benefits for their burgeoning romance. After all, most teenage couples could only dream about sleeping only steps away from each other.
And sure, there were perks. They could walk to and from school together without raising suspicion, as well as wish each other a good morning and night face-to-face daily (she'd recently added a quick kiss on the cheek to these routine interactions, mostly because she enjoyed how such an innocent gesture could turn his face an adorable shade of crimson).
No, it wasn't their living situation itself that was proving stressful. Rather, it was the fact they shared their space with all of their closest friends, some of whom she knew would love nothing more than to know every minute detail of their relationship. The team would surely bombard them once they found out. Yukari was always trying to talk to her about boys as it was and had picked up on her not-so-secret feelings for Akihiko months ago. She also knew Ken had a middle-school crush on her, which was mostly sweet, but also led to him acting gloomy or frustrated when she spent too much time with the older boys. Not to mention the relentless teasing she was sure she would endure courtesy of Junpei, who did not need the extra ammunition.
Even though part of her looked forward to making her relationship public after having spent so long pining and thinking it would never happen, there was something thrilling about sneaking around. Especially with someone as easily flustered as Akihiko, who was still struggling with the basics of having a girlfriend.
Being with Akihiko meant a constant readjustment to what was appropriate on both an emotional and physical level. Sometimes, he'd take her by surprise with an unexpected show of affection or desire that left her dizzy, while still becoming embarrassed when she'd try to hold his hand. And while she often found herself wanting more, she knew every step forward in their relationship took significant effort on his part, as he was not yet comfortable appearing vulnerable in front of others. Thankfully, the more time they spent together, the less nervous he appeared around her. However, her intuition was far from flawless.
"Hey, hey, slow down." His fingers wrapped around her wrist, stopping her hand from traveling any further than it already had under the fabric of his shirt.
Minako pouted but relented, opting instead to run her fingers through his hair. "Sorry. Too much?"
He shook his head slightly before leaning into her touch, as he often did whenever she showed him any sort of physical affection. "No, I just...I don't want you to feel like you need to rush anything...n-not if you don't want to."
For the most part, it was charming how much he worried about being respectful as they spent more time together. But it aggravated her when it became clear he was holding himself back out of fear of overstepping her boundaries or pushing her to do something she didn't want. Truth be told, she'd been shocked when he accepted her suggestion earlier that day for her to sneak into his room after everyone had gone to bed for some much-needed time alone. Not that she was currently complaining, nestled underneath as they exchanged cautious but increasingly heated kisses on top of his bed. Something she would have never thought possible just a few weeks earlier.
"Believe me, I would love nothing more than to rip this shirt right off of you," she teased, enjoying the way his cheeks seemed to heat up in response. "Or would you prefer it if I went first?" Tilting her head to the side, she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at the look that appeared on his face, his imagination surely running wild at her implication. It was really too easy to provoke a reaction from him.
She didn't wait for a response, pulling him back down towards her so they could continue what they'd started. As the pace at which their mouths moved together quickened, Minako let her hands once again wander to the hem of Akihiko's sweater. This time, she was met with no resistance. She wasted no time in yanking the fabric over his head, her fingers dancing over the muscles of his abdomen appreciatively as he shivered in response to her touch. Now this, she could get used to...
"Akihiko-senpai! Are you in there?"
They sprang apart, Akihiko nearly toppling off the bed at the sound of Aigis' booming voice coming through his bedroom door. Minako began to reflexively smooth out her skirt and her hair, as if that would somehow make their situation any less damning if they were to be discovered alone in his room this late at night. "Y-yeah! What is it?"
"Have you seen Minako-san? She's not in her room. I've searched the dormitory but I've been unable to determine her location."
She let out a long sigh. As much as she loved Aigis, the android was annoyingly overprotective and had no sense of personal space. The number of times she'd nearly awoken the whole dorm with her screaming upon waking up to see that face inches away from her…
Akihiko shot her a worried look before responding. "No, I haven't seen her! Do you need to ask her something?
"Negative," Aigis answered, just as loudly as before. "I am worried about her safety as the Dark Hour is approaching. She also appears to have left her phone in her room, so I am unable to communicate with her using conventional means."
The sound of a door opening cut off Aigis' explanation, followed by Junpei's sleepy grumbling. "What's this about Mina-tan?"
"Our leader appears to be missing," Aigis told Junpei flatly.
Another door creaked open in the hallway. "Minako-san is missing?" Ken's panicked voice joined the fray. "Should we go look for her?"
Minako groaned, burying her head in her hands as the group continued to debate what they should do. When did her team members become so clingy?
Panic seemed to flash across Akihiko's face before he sprang into action, rushing to the door and gesturing for her to hide behind the door frame. Opening the door, he cleared his throat before addressing the group, surprisingly calm despite the situation. "H-hey now, let's not overreact. I'm sure Minako is fine."
Junpei was the first to acknowledge him. "Seriously man, did you really have to come out here without a shirt on? You don't need to rub it in for us how ripped you are. We already know."
Minako brought a hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh at the horrified look on Akihiko's face and the blossoming blush on his face and neck.
"Perhaps we should wake Mitsuru-senpai-" Aigis began.
"No - no!" Akihiko's eyes widened. "We don't need to do that." He paused, rubbing the back of his neck as his eyes darted from side to side. "You know, now that I think about it...she may have mentioned something earlier about wanting to take a long walk. I'm sure that's all it is. So let's wait a bit before we sound the alarm, okay?"
Although they weren't immediately persuaded, Ken and Junpei just needed a bit more persuading before they agreed to return to bed. Aigis required a lot more convincing to not go barreling into the night to hunt down her charge, but she also acquiesced even though it was clear she wasn't very happy about doing so. "If you insist, Akihiko-senpai, I will give it some time. I will wait for Minako-san downstairs and update you if the situation changes."
As soon as she rounded the corner and the sound of her footsteps faded, he closed the door and let his head hit the wall with a loud thunk. Minako finally let out the laugh she had been holding in. "Well, that was...interesting."
He was not nearly as amused as she was. "Aigis is holding a vigil downstairs. I give it an hour until she sends the whole SEES looking for you."
She took a hold of his wrist, yanking him back towards the other side of his room. "All I'm hearing is that we have a whole hour..."
"Minako," he protested, albeit rather weakly as he allowed himself to be pulled along. "She'll notice you coming down the stairs instead of through the front door."
She tapped a finger to her chin, as if deep in thought. "I'll think of something. Maybe I could manage to scale the building somehow..." She made an exaggerated show of appearing to eye the terrain outside his bedroom window.
"Don't be ridiculous," he deadpanned. She could just imagine his brain going into overdrive thinking about all the ways she could get hurt in that scenario.
Fighting the urge to roll her eyes, she perched herself on the edge of the bed, tugging on his arm so he sat next to her. He gave in, sighing as he intertwined their fingers and began to run his thumb delicately over her knuckles.
"Just a little longer, Aki," she said, in what she hoped was a comforting tone. "Then we can tell them." As expected, the corners of his lips rose slightly at the sound of the affectionate nickname, still relatively fresh, on her lips. It was endearing how the simplest acts of intimacy made him happy.
The question of when to disclose their relationship to the team was one of the first conversations they'd had after Akihiko's confession on the rooftop. They'd agreed they first wanted to figure out what exactly this meant to them before involving the others. And if she was being honest, she was enjoying their current freedom; Mitsuru would surely keep a closer eye on them if she knew they were seeing each other (if she wasn't already suspicious). Although they hadn't discussed it, she also suspected he worried they would be criticized for coming together so soon after losing Shinji. He had a hard enough time accepting that he deserved to be happy without that additional fear of judgment.
She could see the conflict dancing across his features, his fingers still tracing lazy patterns on her skin. "Although I'll be proud to call you my girl, I'm hoping I get to keep you to myself for a bit longer."
Minako bit her cheek to keep from smiling, both at the sincerity behind his words and how she could make out the faintest dusting of pink forming on his cheeks. "I know this is something we need to talk about eventually, but for now...I kind of just want to keep making out. Is that okay with you?"
Instead of responding, Akihiko lifted his hands to cup her face, pulling her towards him until their lips were just a breath apart. "Let's make sure we make the most of that hour."