Three Freaking Months. Three Freaking Months making this chapter and it's finally done. Alright, the minimum I own you guys is an explanation.
The main problem was my driving lessons. I haven't felt that miserable since High School, and that says a lot. I started those classes tired and ended them tired, then I went home and did not sleep right even once. Yeah, I was fucking miserable.
But the main reason was the sheer size of this thing, it's huge, the longest thing I have ever written, I am taking these things seriously and applying actual storytelling devices to improve it, shuff like Set up and Pay off, the rule of three and the Chekhov's gun, and this extra care makes me add more scenes and therefore take more time writing.
But in the meantime I did a lot, I played P5R again, can't get enough of this game; Persona 4 for the first time; I was impressed by how better Chie and Yosuke are better than Yukari and Junpei just in the first hour. I watched Modern Family, what is really relevant because this fanfiction is essentially a big sitcom for me so I have more reference material for chapters and I am now Playing SMT3. Drag you ass to the PS store/Eshop and support the official release by the way, It features Dante from the Devil May Cry series.
Now let's roll onto the story, finally, after three months we are ready to roll.
And I still own Persona 3, I am giving you all an Aigis Body Pillow, just give me time.
Aigis finds herself lost in thought mid-class today. During lunchtime while walking around the school she came across a flier that piqued her interest, the flier was talking about an ice skating ring on Paulownia Mall. The girls at her side were all talking about the time they went there with their boyfriends, she eavesdropped their conversation for a bit, one spoke about how she was scared and how her boyfriend hold her hand, helping her to finally learn to skate, while the other complained about how she wished he acted instead of being so silent as always.
Needless to say, it did put a lot of ideas into her impressionable robot head but she didn't have the opportunity to ask him after lunch, so the thoughts ran wild on her head, making her even more excited. Minato spent the Fourth and Fifth period covering Junpei for forgetting to do his homework and holding back the teacher as he finished. Aigis really needs to ask him what's with Ms. Torumi and the names Tatsuya and Maya. But now that the bell has rang she finally has an opportunity to ask him.
"Minato!" The excitement in her voice is as clear as a sunny day. "I would like to know if you have any appointments this weekend."
"Um, Actually..." His tone alone made the rest of his phrase unnecessary. "I have plans already."
"...oh ..." Aigis needed some time to process this statement, her expectations were dangerously high after all. Yet, she wouldn't worry Minato with her last minute decision, so she opted to hide it and keep on talking to him. "... Um, so, what are you... On to this weekend?" She stumbled through her words trying to look calmer and more casual, but only made things worse.
He did get suspicious of her behavior, yet he decided to answer her question. "Saturday i'm going to acompany Kenji as he tries to score the new teacher, I made a promise to help him out this time and since Kazushi is tired of his obsession with older woman, not that i can't blame him, i'm his only option left and i need to back him up there."
Aigis couldn't help but smile towards her boyfriend's supportive attitude. "You are such a good friend."
"He needs someone to laugh at him once we're done after all."
Aigis just stared at him, not knowing how to process this.
"A normal person would laugh uncontrollably at his attempts, but he needs someone to laugh gently at him to not hurt his feelings in the process."
Aigis is still puzzled.
"I'm tired of teaching him the same lesson every week. He needs it, trust me."
She finally got the hang of what he means, she thinks so at least. Satisfied, she kept on with her questions. "So what of sunday? Busy too?"
"Yes, I told my friend Nozomi that we would visit a new location around town that day, he is the gourmet king after all, he has a reputation to preserve, he is a really cool guy who idolizes me to a certain degree, i would hate to disappoint him." How could Aigis not smile at this? "I'm actually busy until Tuesday, i made a lot of plans since we're just done with midterms."
"That's great." She said and meant.
"Yeah, I'm 'on to' a lot this week." He joked, making her smile a little more before walking up to her and pulling her close to him. "You okay? You seem kinda down."
"I'm fine, just..." She stopped for a moment to reconsider her words, a subtle sad expression taking over her face. "I got excited over this ideia and I didn't count your schedule."
He gently brought her closer to him, landing a peck on her forehead. "You are my girlfriend, you still come first, once I'm done with everyone I'll be all yours." Even with the possibility of giving her a Malicious smile, he instead gave her a sincere one, lifting her spirits in the process. "And if anything SEES related comes up, we can just tell everyone you're malfunctioning and that I'll do your repairs." Minato can be pretty sneaky when it comes to Aigis. It makes her feel flattered in a good way.
"If-If you wish to, then I'm fine with it."
"Heh, don't worry, I'll tell them." Now that malicious smile finally showed up.
Aigis is not a good liar, her programming does not contain any sort of demands to omit the truth or manipulate it, plus, Aigis came to realize that humans divide truth into two categories, desirable and undesirable, and she still struggles to identify which is which, although she has improved she still fails from time to time.
"So how about wednesday?"
"It's perfect for me."
"Great-" Minato stopped as he noticed a death glare of doom coming from behind his neck. Could only be Kenji cursing him for being lucky.
It was.
"I have to go, Kenji is fuzilating me with his eyes already."
"It's alright, see you in the dorms." He gave her another peck on the forehead and left for the door where Kenji was. Before he left the room, someone struck a conversation with them, leaving him on the door for some seconds before finally following Kenji, the voice was that of Fuuka, who entered the room with her friend Natsuki.
"Hi Aigis!"
"Hey"
"Oh, good afternoon Fuuka, Natsuki." She greeted them, excited to meet with her friends, forgetting the entire situation with Minato.
"We're kind of in a hurry right now." Fuuka explained. "Have you seen Chihiro anywhere?"
"My apologies, I did not see Chihiro today."
"Dammit, we're losing time." Natsuki cursed.
"Me and Natsuki are using the cooking room to bake some cookies." Fuuka clarified. "But we have limited time to use it and we're using Chihiro's grandma's recipe, so we don't have a second to lose."
"I see. Yukari really liked your food last weekend Natsuki, pleases me to see you trying to improve even more."
"Own, thank you! We're actually doing some of them right now, you wanna try one? We ate everything last time, and you got left out."
Fuuka and Aigis nervously looked at each other.
"Sure Natsuki, she would love to try out one but we need to go now." The less said the better Fuuka thought.
"Oh come on, let's give her some-" Fuuka pulled her by the arm and took her to the door.
"I'll give it to her later, walk, walk, walk- CHIHIRO!" Both friends went through the door hysterically.
With them gone Aigis let the entire situation sink in. She was left alone in an empty classroom without anyone, while her boyfriend and friends left with their other friends. Aigis left the room with a bitter feeling in her mouth, unable to describe the sensation she is feeling right now. Her face did not go unnoticed by a certain friend, nor the faintly sad look on her face."What's up lovebird?" The voice of Yukari presented itself in Aigis' auditory systems. "What's with the long face?"
"Oh, Yukari." She was caught off-guard by her roommate. "Were you... listening?"
"We both know Natsuki ain't exactly quiet. " Her upbeat attitude did cheer Aigis up. "So you'll tell me what happened on the way to the dorms or am I gonna spend the entire day guessing?"
With a wit that only Yukari would be able to provide, they started packing their things up to leave the school. Aigis let her in on their situation.
"So he is busy with his friends when you actually want to go on a date?"
"Yes... I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about it." Wondered the robot. " I suppose I should be happy for him and his friends, and I am, but this feeling in my chest is so... Overwhelming, I think that's the word." Yukari mindfully listened to her forming thoughts. "Am I perhaps doing something wrong?
"You just want his attention, it's only natural, the two of you are together after all, that doesn't make you a bad person, neither a bad partner."
Aigis' silence expressed her thoughts clearly.
"Still being hard on yourself I see." She muttered, thinking about what to say. Aigis can be pretty complicated to deal with sometimes, she wonders how Minato deals with this on a daily basis. She then decides to shift her strategy. "Listen, if you still think it's petty... That's because it is, you know."
Aigis looked at her clearly losing her ground with these words.
"Wait, wait, let me finish." Reacting to her disoriented look she kept with her point. "Look, you are technically fifteen, aren't you?'' Aigis nodded. ''And you're modelled after a girl, aren't you?'' Aigis nodded again. ''There you go, you are a teenage girl, and being both is… Hell.'' Aigis got even more confused. ''Listen, girls are sensitive by nature; most of us at least, and teenagers make a huge deal out of everything, you mix them together and you have a phase of your life you rather forget, believe me, i went to the store to buy ice cream and when I found out they ran out of the mint flavor i spent the rest of the night crying in my bedroom. Good thing I wasn't on my period, I would probably have jumped at one of the employees."
"I... Can't picture you in this sort of scenario-''
''We're also horny, like, pretty horny, seriously, they say only boys go through that stuff, but believe me, sometimes I fear myself.''
Aigis wasn't sure on how to feel.
"So yeah, be sure to thank god for not having to deal with… this." She mumbled a bit, trying her hardest to ignore the feeling on her stomach. "...ok, so, what I'm trying to say is: I know you are a robot, but you are still a teenager, still are at high school, have a boyfriend, you have needs, you count, you have the same feelings as all of us, and you are also going to struggle with it just like us, heck if it was my man going out without me I would get sulky too. Don't feel so bad for having these thoughts, we all do, we just desire to be better than them and rise above them. I could talk more about puberty, periods, hornyness and how much I miss my...my mint chocolate ice cream…'' She took a pause to get herself together. ''...but I think you got the point."
"I... Understand." She smiled at Yukari, who returned the smile to her.
"Great, now onto the other thing. You need more friends." She scolded. "I know you want to be closer to him, but the right amount of distance can help both of you. To hang out with different people, talk about different things, go to different places, it cools off your head, too much of a good thing can be bad for you." She explained.
Aigis agreed. "I see…' so, should I make small talk to the other students?''
"It's a start! By being far, both of you will want each other more." Aigis' blush is adorable, it's easy to see what Minato sees in her. "But it's not only about spending time with others, it's about exchanging experiences. What if they give you some ideas for a date?"
Yukari is right. Her ideia can work, she got excited over the ice ring thanks to the girls she heard talking by chance after all, so having someone to give her ideas like this one. She recalls the places where Minato goes with his friends, Hagakure… he goes out, has fun, creates memories and then comes back to her, greeting her with a big smile and a lot of disposition.
Aigis agrees with Yukari. "You are right! Now I just need a friend to go out with.''
Yukari gives her a look whose only interpretation can be: 'Girl you serious?' Making the lightbulb on the top of Aigis' head light up. ''Uhmm, how about we go somewhere tomorrow?''
She giggles at her friend's awkward response. ''It's alright, I am already your friend, you should meet someone new or maybe an old friend to begin with.'' Yukari is right, she can't exactly go out with anyone, she still has to hide the fact that she is a robot, so starting with someone whom she doesn't need to hide this big thing can be a slow, steady and appropriate start.
She already is friends with everybody in the dorms, but we're talking intimacy here, so she can try Mitsuru. Whenever Aigis needs some sort of upgrade from the lab or has some sort of issue concerning her own body, she is the number one person to call, yet, Mitsuru is in college and only really appears on weekends to spend time with the group, she can try, but something more immediate may be better for the time being.
''I see, I should go out with Fuuka!'' That's right, Fuuka is a really easy going person and has no problem speaking up in a girl-to-girl talk.
''That's right, you should try asking her once we get home, and then you can talk to Natsuki."
Yes, Natsuki is a good option. Since the SEES operations ceased and Mitsuru and Akihiko left many other friends of theirs have been going in and out of the dorms. Kenji, Kazushi, Hidetoshi, Chihiro and of course, Natsuki. Now they have time to do all the sorts of things teenagers should be doing. They've had meet-ups, competitions, sleepovers and the High Schooler speciality, parties; plenty of opportunities to get to know each other, in those occasions Natsuki in specific is the one that became closer to everyone. How couldn't a cook win people over with her food after all?
"You're right! It's a start already."
"You'll crush it with this whole friendship thing, not that it's going to be now, we're going to the convenience store, number one rule between friends: We don't let the other drool over men, your friend bonding activities start now!''
Aigis' eyes widen in surprise, a warm feeling encompasses her chest, before she lets a smile in. ''Yukari… Thank you.''
''Great! But don't worry, I won't hold you for long, cause let's be honest, after all of this, you will be all over him tonight." How could she not tease her friend in a time like this?
''Yu-Yukari!'' A blush heated enough to break something inside her head takes over her face. Yet, she is not angry or bothered, slightly uncomfortable for sure, but the mixed feelings remind her of...
It reminds her of Minato.
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Minato laids back on his chair exhaling easily as the school day comes to an end. He calls to his girlfriend at his side, who is packing her things as we speak. ''Here, take these to Yukari.'' He handles her two pages from his notebook, filled from front to back, to Aigis.
''Sure, it's unfortunate she couldn't come today.''
''Yeah, Thank god I don't have to deal with all of these… girl stuff.'' He says, referring to what kept Yukari at the dorms today.
''Not that I never saw it coming… Yesterday we went to the convenience store, they didn't have her favorite ice cream, so she jumped at one of the employees.''
''...as someone who knows her for a year I have to say, that's totally in character for her.'' He joked, but the sarcasm went right over Aigis' head, now she feels like she missed something about her friend. Not noticing it, Minato kept on regardless, getting closer to her. ''Hey… are you okay? You were, uh, pretty clingy yesterday, it kinda worried me… not that I disliked of course.''
She blushes slightly remembering her own actions last night. ''I'm fine. You have plans today, don't you? I guess his name was… Nozimi, you said you didn't want to disappoint him.''
''Yes, Nozomi. A good guy, kinda weird, but loyal and well intentioned, Harmless too. He is that sort of friend who doesn't give you a headache you know. Junpei is pretty chill but gets me in trouble frequently, Kazushi is cool but he is kind of a meathead sometimes, Kenji is like Junpei except he never learns his lesson, so he is worse, the need to put him in check is what keeps me going back to him.'' Aigis finally got it. ''I better go, I hate making people wait.''
He excused himself, kissing her on the cheek and hastened his pace while Aigis flustered over the idea of, as Yukari puts it, 'Being all over him tonight' again. She quickly leaves the room in an attempt to shake the somewhat true feeling off her head, for some reason the school seems bigger while she's at it. She then goes to the first floor and finds Fuuka talking to Natsuki.
Their eyes meet and they greet each other, they both really surprised apparently. ''Oh, hi-hi Aigis!''
"Hello Fuuka, Natsuki."
"Oh heeeey. Cutie, how-how are you?" Natsuki greeted her. Aigis assumed there was something wrong with the A/C in her class, the girl was sweating buckets.
"I'm doing fine today."
''Fancy meeting you here." Fuuka barged in. "I thought you'd be with Minato today, I didn't see you two last night after all, even though you were both at home.''
Dammit, she was found out. "Ah, He…'' After being reminded about the somewhat true feelings she did need a moment to compose herself. ''He-he is spending time with his friends now. And I was hoping if the two of you were interested in going somewhere with me?"
"Own, you, I was just waiting for you to ask. We would love to."
Fuuka gave a wide-eyed look to Natsuki that Aigis didn't seem to notice and then she gave her own response. ''Oh sure, I'd love to not today though, we're kinda busy."
"It's alright, I also have plans of our own."
Fuuka seemed impressed. ''Oh my, Aigis is now the popular girl! The transfer student that took all the spotlight even after a year. Hahaha!" Maybe too impressed. "We have to go now, excuse me.'' Fuuka took Natsuki, looked away and ran off with her. Natsuki didn't resist, but kept on talking to Aigis none the wiser.
"I know a place in paulownia you'll love… I'm free on Thursday, I'll call you." Natsuki told Aigis while being dragged away.
"Oh, It's… Fine." Aigis couldn't help but notice the strange behaviour. Maybe it was something she said, maybe something she didn't say, maybe Fuuka is in the same situation as Yukari and is just trying to play cool. But Minato says that overthinking is not a good way to deal with things, so it's time to play cool until she gets new information.
It's time for Aigis' Socializing time.
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"Yes, he is feeling good these days...Yes, I'll bring Koromaru next time…'' Aigis answered the dogs in … She used to spend time with them before dating Minato, and now she is making up for the time lost, answering all the questions they are having. "No, I'm with Minato… No, he doesn't get the cars he chases around… no it wasn't a dead animal he brought me… He showed me how to be human, how to feel, how to love… What do you mean by you don't get it?''
Aigis could keep going but a particular view got her attention, she found Fuuka and Natsuki together on a bench.
''Look, it's my friends Fuuka and Natsuki, we're making plans.'' She told the dogs. ''Aren't they good friends?'' Aigis got closer and realized Natsuki's arm was around her. Just like Minato does to her.
''That's so pleasant. I never knew they were this close, good thing I'm discovering new things about her.'' Fuuka laid down on Natsuki's arms and laid herself on her. Just like Aigis does to Minato.
''Wow, they're pretty close… They almost look like…'' Before she could finish her sentence, Natsuki took Fuuka by the cheeks and kissed her lips.
Just like Minato and her.
''... oh…'' The almost literal lightbulb on her head lit up and Aigis finally realized what's going on.
Natsuki stood up and gave Fuuka another hug, leaving right after, Fuuka sat down again and breathed easier, clearly trying to calm herself down.
Without a second thought Aigis approached her, the dogs following behind, she probably should have thought more about this.
''Hello Fuu-''
''AAAAAAAH!''
Yeah, she definitely should have. ''Did I scare you?''
''Ye… Yeah you did.'' She stumbled through her words, trying to calm herself, unsuccessfully. ''Weren't you supposed to be with someone!?''
''I am now.'' She pointed to the dogs on her feet. ''We were just passing by and found you here.'' Fuuka was still visibly anxious, yet she did not know what to say to her.
Unable to shake off the anxiety, Fuuka decided to be straight with her. '' …so did you see it?''
Not realizing the reasoning behind her embarrassment, Aigis told her unfiltered thoughts. ''Do you refer to the hug, the lean or the kiss?''
The expression on Fuuka's face turned into horror as she covered her face in absolute shame. Upon seeing it, Aigis whispered to the dogs to give them space and sat on the bench, puzzled by her reaction.
''Oh god, oh god, oh god, nobody was supposed to know about it, I-I didn't plan on telling. I was so nervous about it, oh god…''
Aigis can't understand Fuuka's panic. The fear of being caught, the hidden relationship… her overreaction just seemed unjustified to her. ''I… don't see how is this a problem.''
''... alright, you already know, I might as well start from the beginning.'' Fuuka breathed, she needed patience with Aigis, she couldn't understand her struggle in this situation, and all of this has been eating Fuuka from the inside, she needed someone to talk to.
Fuuka breathed easily and now that she was with a friend she could be frank and honest. ''It all started when Natsuki came back to our school.''
''Wait, didn't she move to another city?''
''As our friend said once: 'sike.'''
''Wow, that's so contrived and convenient.''
''I know.'' She cleaned her throat. ''I knew something awakened when she left, but what I didn't know was the gaping hole she would leave behind when she was already gone.'' Fuuka's eyes seemed distant for a while. ''I was… lonely in her absence, but when she came back I think something struck me hard…and… she came back so different. Her dad is still sick, her mom is still hard and work and she is now working part-time, she came back pretty sensitive, It just hurt seeing her like that.'' She breathed slowly this time, to prepare herself for her next sentence. ''It was mother's day, she took me to buy a small card for her mom, the only thing she can afford these days, and once we got to her home and gave the gift, they hugged, and then her mom hugged me afterwards. We went upstairs to study and she saw straight through me.'' Her tone slowed down. ''I'm still not on good terms with my parents, and she knows, so when she gave me a hug… I leaned in, we laid back for a while… it felt so right. I kissed her, she kissed me back and we…" A strong tone of red took over her face. "Let's just say I eventually forgot about the homework.''
''That sounds… pleasant, it reminds me of the times I spent with Minato, but why are you hiding it? Everyone knows about me and Minato and they are really supportive."
''Remember when I said I was fragile and so was she? I'm afraid that's why we're so close… I'm scared that it's not true love and we're just doing it out of impulse, trying to fill these needs we have during hard times. She is as confused as I am, so we agreed to keep this to ourselves and not tell anyone.''
''I…understand, you fear the emotions might be clouding your judgement.''
''Yes! And I fear hurting her feelings so much. She is my best friend, what if our friendship doesn't resist this? And It will all be my fault, just because I was on a bad day and couldn't hold myself together.'' She said being overly harsh to herself. ''I'm so on edge… I don't even know if I like girls, Me and Yukari were checking out boys at paulownia and I felt attracted to them! I was enjoying it! I'm just so… confused. Wherever I'm far from her I feel okay, but when I'm close I just wanna be in her arms. I don't know, I just feel so… so…''
In Yukari's own words, Aigis responds. ''Horny?''
Fuuka stopped to think;
And then lost it.
''YES! Natsuki is tall, she is pretty, she is nice, gentle and her thighs, god her thighs.'' Fuuka covered her face and blushed for a second when she noticed she spoke that out loud. She recollected herself to continue the point she is trying to make. "But, you see the point I'm trying to make? I don't want this to interfere with our growing friendship with Natsuki. If things go wrong, you guys will take my side and she'll feel left out, she is more sensitive than she looks and… these things last."
"I… understand." Aigis could see how Fuuka thought this through thinking about not only Natsuki but her friends' feelings, putting the long term effects into consideration, pondering on the consequences of her actions… Fuuka truly is looking at the full picture here, and making choices with everyone on their minds.
"So you're not telling it?" She said, giving her friend an hopeful look.
Aigis is really bad at lying. She is not programmed to do it, so it becomes quite the challenge, yet, if Fuuka goes out of her way, becoming this tense, to protect all of her friends' feelings, Aigis can tell a little lie to protect a single one.
"It's fine, if it means so much for you, I will not tell anybody about you and Natsuki."
''Oh Aigis, thank you!'' Fuuka leaned in and took Aigis into her arms, her relief being inexpressible right now. ''This will be our little secret, thank you so much, you have no idea how much it means to me!'' It wasn't only a polite way of saying, Fuuka was serious, and Aigis truly believed her. ''Wow Aigis, I never hugged you before, you are actually pretty warm for a robot, I always expected you to be cold. It actually felt great…'' Fuuka enjoyed the hug, maybe way too much. ''Oh god, I might actually be gay- do you see the problem!?''
Just when thinks she got the gist of human feelings, Aigis just realized how unpredictable teenagers' feelings can be sometimes.
''Dammit, I am so confused, is liking this a sign? Will I ever look at other girls differently? Will I only have boy-friends and… and… *arf*... I just wanna squeeze Natsuki's thighs…" Fuuka then realizes what she said. "I-I-I mean, I wanna squeeze HER, like entirely, not only her legs, even though they are wonderf… they are great but-but-"
She might as well have reseted her brain after this one.
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''Even at night? I swear, even I don't have as many friends as Minato.'' Yukari grumbled, walking down the stairs. ''Let me tell you, less is more, the more you gather the less you connect to them. God I'm good at this, you should be taking notes.'' Aigis listened like a student in a lecture. Both are out of plans, so they decide to take the day off at the dorms.
''I still haven't saw you with anybody.''
''Have I ever told you what the coach's function is?"
Aigis and Fuuka decided to keep their secret, an easier task than Aigis initially thought. It's a path on Aigis' journey to have more friends and become a people person, the perfect way for a robot to know more about the world, to have more experiences to finally share with her beloved one and now she needs to keep Fuuka's intimacy between them both. And with no one around to make questions It is an easier task than Aigis could ever hope for.
''Guys! Natsuki is here!''
At least it was for a day.
Junpei was the first to greet her. ''There she is! The best cupcake baker in Gekkoukan!'' Just as he stopped talking Koromaru got to her feet and she started to pet her head.
Junpei, Koromaru, Ken and Yukari followed by Aigis came to the door to greet her, even being already familiar with everyone, Natsuki couldn't help but be slightly emotioned. ''Oh stop it guys, I'll end up crying.'' A heartwarming feeling came over the living room, similar to that of when Akihiko and or Mitsuru come over on weekends, everyone is just happy to have a friend around. ''I'd love to chat more but homework has been piling up and with me sleeping through class it's fair to say I'm not in good waters.''
From anyone else the phrase might have been pretentious or arrogant, but for Aigis, her scanners and Fuuka's words from the last day, the interlinings were as clear as a day. The bags in her eyes were bigger than your average high schooler, she blinked a lot to disguise her drowsiness and Aigis' infrared could detect levels of stress above average. All things that go unnoticed by anyone without infrared in their heads, a.k.a. everyone else in the room.
Oblivious, Yukari kept on greeting her. ''Oh, so the issue is just homework? I can help you with it.
''Don't worry, we got this, everything under control here.'' Natsuki barged in.
''Come on, I can help you two, don't wanna brag or anything, but already bragging, the semester is in the palm of my hand and a little revision will spare me the stress of midterms.'' Yukari insisted, with no intention to let it.
Yukari is a natural extrovert, the words just come out of her mouth naturally, and when you notice it you already are engaged and within her grasp, a power used from the kindness of her heart to help those close to her in need.
And Fuuka needs her to stop it, it's meddling with her stuff, she widens her eyes and looks at Aigis, quickly looking at her and Natsuki; with slight head shakes to accompany it. Aigis didn't get the sign, but she knows it's about their secret, Yukari's insistence and Natsuki's reluctance sent a clear message.
''If they feel like doing it alone, I think we should let them.'' Aigis came to the rescue, resulting in a smile from Fuuka.
But Yukari did not give in. ''But you need help and we're free.'' So inspired to help, so inconvenient to two gay lovers.
''We got this, we're fine, believe us.'' Natsuki told.
''I believe in them.'' Aigis reaffirmed. And with this critical hit, Yukari was defeated. All she could do now was cease and let their friends handle their alone time.
Victorious, Fuuka and Natsuki went upstairs to Fuuka's room, with nobody to bother them, Fuuka winked to her confidant, a warm feeling roaming through her chest, knowing that sharing this with someone helped her in a tough time, a feeling that Aigis now shared.
The group stayed in the living room, an awkward silence left after a weird conversation, they all stared at each other, fully knowing what was on their minds.
''So...'' It had to be Junpei. ''...what was that?''
Yukari also couldn't take it. ''I KNOW, ahem, I know right!? They were so weirdly evasive today, they would definitely let us help if it was just homework.''
''If it was with me I would take any help I could, finish it as soon as possible and do literally anything else.'' Ken stepped in.
''That 's right!'' Yukari moved on. ''And to put myself in Natsuki's shoes, working hard like she is, I would do anything for help.''
''Woof!'' Even Koromaru agreed.
''And you Aigis?'' Junpei kept the argument. ''Haven't you seen something too?''
Aigis has a facade to keep. ''If I recall the events of the previous five minutes...'' Her speech came back to that of a robot. ''They simply said they were going to study.'' The subtle change went unnoticed by the other members of the group.
''Come on, high schoolers use that excuse to make out all the time.'' Junpei finally said it.
Aigis remembers the events at the park and tries to come up with something.
''That 's not true!" Minato and I study all the time.''
''Oh please, four out of five times he fully intends to woo you, nothing guarantees they aren't intent on doing the same.'' Junpei just said it.
''You don't know this.'' Aigis questioned.
"'Aigis called me to study but I'm not feeling like it, I'll misdirect her and find an excuse to make out a bit."
''Wait, he…did?''
''Last week, twice the one after that, there is one last month- Damn girl, you guys are in better terms than I thought.''
Aigis blushed, and with her personal life out in the open to her friends she has all the reason to be embarrassed.
''Okay, now we know with details that our friends have a healthy relationship, that sort of makes me jealous now that I think about it.'' She whispered the end of that sentence to herself. ''So is that it? Fuuka is lesbian and she is dating a tanned gal with thick thighs, great personality and absolutely incredible baking skills- god I'm suddenly in the mood for a cupcake, Natsuki's are so good.''
''Delicious cupcakes aside…'' Ken interrupted, somehow managing to be the more mature in the group. ''It still is Fuuka, our Fuuka. The same Fuuka that is shy, introverted and keeps stuff to herself. It's not out of character for her to not tell us something like this, maybe she is just scared."
Koromaru wimped, Aigis froze as Ken got closer to the truth and Junpei just froze. But Yukari was the one to disagree. ''...not to me, she won't get intimate, even comfortable with strangers and boys, but she is not a stranger to talking about her feelings.''
Yukari felt her heart stop to the thought. She and Fuuka have gotten along since Fuuka joined in, helping to ease her entrance in SEES and lending an ear to her whenever she needed, and now this huge deal appears and she doesn't even ask for help. Fuuka has never dated before, and she is not a fan of trying new things, if she is indeed dating Natsuki she is probably uneasy and insecure, not knowing how to handle it. Yukari can help her, just like she did with Minato and is doing now with Aigis, everything she knows is useless if she can't help her friends, cause she is definitely not using it for herself.
Why didn't Fuuka tell her? They are best friends after all.
Various emotions ran throughout Yukari's chest, anxiety, fear, anger, sadness, all spiraling into a burst until she got up from her seat in anger and acted. "You know what? screw it! Fuuka wouldn't hide stuff from me, I'm just gonna ask her!"
Aigis could not let that happen "Wait, Yukari!" But Junpei had to be Junpei.
"Yeah, wait for me!"
"Drop it Stupei! This is between me and her." She ran up the stairs, to Fuuka's room, followed by Aigis.
"Yukari, stop, we should bother Fuuka without actual facts." Her robotic speech pattern took over as she protested and followed Yukari, but Yukari wouldn't budge, as if she wasn't listening, like she was possessed by something; in this case she was, her strong belief in her friend's betrayal.
They kept climbing the stairs up until Fuuka's room was on sight. Yukari wouldn't budge, Aigis has no choice, she outspeeds Yukari using her metal limbs and gets to Fuuka's door, blocking the entrance to Yukari."
"Yukari, leave her alone."
"Why should I!?" An aggressive tone took over her voice.
"Because it's her choice, if she is keeping something then we should just let her be!"
"She is not keeping anything, she would have told us something, she believes us and I will prove it, now just let me pass!"
"I can't."
"Why not!?"
" Uhmm…" Aigis needed an answer fast, dammit, keeping secrets is fine but she never counted on lying, if only Minato was here-
"And if anything SEES related comes up, we can just tell everyone you're malfunctioning and that I'll do your repairs."
That's it.
*Bang*
Aigis tilted her right arm towards the wall, shooting an actual bullet from her index finger, leaving a bullet hole in the wall close to them, bringing the girls to a stop and complete silence. The animosity in the room was quickly gone as Aigis finally broke the ice.
"I am malfunctioning."
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Aigis spent the last hour with Yukari in her room, trying to 'fix' what happened in the corridor. The time was spent with Aigis seeing herself forced to adapt to the situation like a wild animal, she made up problems in her body that had complicated ways to resolve like taking her entire arm off to fix her elbow and putting her leg inside out because she felt a scratch. Naturally, the possibility of getting someone shot made Yukari put aside her insecurities for a short period of time, and the things Aigis dropped on her while faking being imobile helped too. An hour later realizing how beat Yukari was, Aigis decided to drop the act and stop pretending to be broken.
"Good, this should be enough." She raised herself from her chair and checked her limbs a second time, yet Yukari didn't react, still putting back the tools in the toolbox. "Something wrong?"
"...No, no. It 's just… the Fuuka thing again." She stated, after taking a heavy breath with a depressed tone, being a far cry from the anger filled girl on Fuuka's door. She doesn't need her scanners to know something is indeed wrong, still, her reaction was so overexaggerated Aigis did not recognize her friend. She then questioned why she acted like that.
"Was it because of your period?"
"No, no, not this time." She chuckled thinking about the things she taught her robot friend, a mix of embarrassment and pride put a smile on her face, before facing her feelings. "It 's just…" She took a deep breath and kept going. "I wasn't thinking straight… and was afraid she was doing the same." She tried to cheer herself up, failing in the process. "Fuuka was the first real friend I made when SEES started, I took a while to open myself up, a long while, to the members of SEES, Junpei was an airhead when it came to woman, Akihiko and don't have much in common, I had so many feelings towards Mitsuru and I wasn't so hot on Minato until… he was hot." She unknowingly meant what she said. "Fuuka gave me a safespace. And trying to give her a safespace when she came made me feel so comfortable, it was the first time I didn't have to pesterize myself over why I was here."
"Yukari, I… never knew that."
A faint smile made its way on Yukari's face. "I always felt like Mitsuru was forcing Fuuka into being here. So I tried my best to try and make her feel comfortable, and doing that made me feel comfortable. I always thought I was forced to be here because of my powers and what happened to my dad so I didn't want to see Fuuka going through the same." Her tone slowed down even more. "We can all agree that we found a place where we belong with SEES… But the first time I really felt that… was with Fuuka. And I guess I thought… that if I lost this connection to her… I might lose SEES too."
"Yukari…" Defeat, it was clearly stamped on her face, it wasn't up for interpretation, Yukari just let the weight of the implications of a simple lie get to her. She took it personally, she felt attacked and blamed herself for something out of her control, when in reality she could not be so far from the truth.
"I know, I'm being dumb, she would not do that."
"That's right! You are being really dumb right now, I can't believe how dumb you are being right now! I wish you had stepped in every single component of my auditory systems and then thrown them out the window so that I had not heard a single thing you just said! " Yukari froze, realizing this was the first time she heard Aigis scream since they found out about Ryoji.
"Aigis, I didn't-"
"Fuuka is taking upon herself to keep this group together after Tartarus being gone. If anything happens to us she WILL blame herself absolutely, and do you know why? She takes us for granted, and she wants to keep it that way and will keep trying to do it because this is her home and this is her family, not the two people who birthed her she is not expecting to call or call back, she is still here because she FEELS accepted. The mere thought that we would fall apart would destroy her and I won't stay silent and let you do this to her."
Yukari was speechless. After all this time, it is Aigis who understands Fuuka and not her. And it's her fault that she didn't realize that.
"...you're right. I'm sorry, god, I'm so sorry. I messed up so badly, thank you. Thank you so much Aigis…" She leaned in and brought Aigis close to her, involving her into a hug; she never pressed someone this hard in a long while.
Yukari felt her worries going away as she pressed her friend into a warm hug she had been needing for a while.
They let go and they keep the conversation going. "It's ok Yukari, it really is. It's just-" Knowing what she knows is impossible to not get mad at someone. "I'm just worried for her, that's all."
"See, being with her is already rubbing it off to you."
"I guess you were right after all, good thing I have a friend at my side."
"Own you, give me another hug."
The two girls hugged one more time, finally making amends and coming to terms with their friend's choice, with nothing left to discuss they opened the door and left the room. But then-
*Ching* *Clink* *Crackle* *Crash*
Loud sounds of metal falling into the ground and into each other silenced Yukari as she watched Aigis fall to the ground.
Confused, Aigis asked. "I think you missed some sort of piece."
"Oh… you mean these nuts and bolts maybe?" She pointed to the small box of screws.
"I don't remember this box being full when we started."
"That's because it wasn't…"
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"Oh god, oh god, the last train is coming, I need to hurry, I'm gonna be stuck here I would love it, but something will keep me up at night. Gotta go Fuuka, see you tomorrow." She leaned in and kissed Fuuka on the cheek, running toward the dorm room and leaving in a rush.
"How straight of her." Yukari mumbled from the couch, where her, Aigis and Minato were on it, with Aigis being laid on Minato's arms, the same Minato who lost the last 500 words so he has no idea what he just heard.
"I wouldn't say straight-"
"Minato,it was the straightest thing I have ever seen." Aigis winked at Yukari after that statement.
Fuuka went back from the entrance and silently sat on the couch with her friends, her blank expression and more than usual quiet behaviour did show some red flags, but Minato lost the last 1500 words, so he can't really tell, so he just asks the obvious.
"So, how's Natsuki?"
"Ah, she...she is-" The shy girl was caught off guard by the inconsequential question.
"Ok Minato, we better give our friends some alone time." Yukari said, coming to the rescue.
"Alright, I'm thinking about the cupcakes, no need to kick me out."
"Out!" Yukari pulled Minato from his arm and took him away from the room while the man still protested.
Aigis broke the ice and gave her friend a rather sneaky smile. "So… How was it?"
Fuuka usually would feel uneasy by the question, yet she feels at ease now that someone else is sharing her secret. "I-I know it seems like we made an excuse to… but there was a lot to do. It was a pleasure to help her, of course, but whoa she did let things accumulate and we're still not done."
"And?" Aigis asked, as if she was dissatisfied with what she just heard.
"She…"Now she is back to being embarrassed, she isn't the sort of girl who talks about her personal life, much less her relationships, so getting into the subject is still hard for her, but with someone she can confide with she is confident she can start now. "Okay, we stopped a bit to…'cool off'... but we eventually continued."
"And?" Aigis asked again, still looking dissatisfied.
"... alright." Fuuka had a defeated look on her face, she gulped, took a break, and kept on talking about what happened. " ...she let me sit on her lap while we studied, she kissed me every now and then too… It made my chest so warm." She eased her breath, knowing there wasn't more to tell.
"And?"
Dammit.
"Tha-That's it, I'm done. What else should I say!?"
"I thought the evening was an experiment." She said expecting Fuuka to be on the same wavelength as her. "You said you needed time to come to a resolve as to whether you did or did not like Natsuki at all, was I wrong?" Needless to say, Aigis expected a response to her statement, but her friend remained silent.
"Oh… right…" Fuuka is dumbfounded, as if she forgot the stoven on. "That was the plan, and I completely forgot, I guess it's because we focused too much on studying."
"I used to think the same when I studied with Minato, but I was just told he uses it as an excuse to be with me, which must be why my grades haven't improved. Maybe Natsuki did the same?"
"You think so?" Fuuka's hopeful expression was pleasant to watch.
"I can only speak on behalf of my experience, still, Minato can be quite the Wild Card, if Natsuki is as unpredictable as him, I wouldn't take my word as a fact." Now Aigis is the one that feels defeated.
"It's fine, I don't mind, really. In fact, it's quite recomforting to know someone else is just as lost as I am… Relationships nowadays get so intimate so quickly, It's scary." Fuuka seemed down, but Aigis knew she was holding back her concerns. It's an entire new world for Fuuka and she is terrified.
"I get scared too."
"Really? How so?" Fuuka seemed curious.
"I have been trying to do the same as Minato recently. He has a lot of friends and I feel the need to catch up to him, Yukari says it's because it's healthy to keep some distance, even though I always assumed relationships were about the lack of distance between two individuals. I have taken upon myself to understand humanity, yet the more I know, the more I feel distant. I am scared too, just like you are."
Fuuka can't help not to laugh a bit about the situation, if before she felt at ease at Aigis' side, now she feels like there is a sister at her side. "Look at us, two scared little girls, it puts me at ease knowing you are just like me, good thing I have you."
"I have you too. It is Minato and you for me, and now you have Natsuki and I."
Fuuka was silent. Aigis could tell she was lost in thought, as if she just had an epiphany, she held onto her chest and broke eye contact and after a few seconds of silence she finally spoke again.
"Have you made a decision?"
"...Yes. I did." Her expression was firm, unshakable, Aigis could tell she made up her mind, and with this same look of confidence she spoke. "Let's go get my girlfriend."
Aigis stood up and went towards Fuuka, grabbing her by the waist and legs; carrying her princess style making Fuuka blush and her heart sped up as she realized she made the right choice. Aigis goes through the door in a speed only possible by her metal legs, she smiles and looks at Fuuka, who is terrified and holding Aigis' body tight.
Natsuki turns her head around reacting to the fast paced tapping noises, being weirded out by the way the noise suddenly stopped, but the confusion stopped once the view of her girlfriend appeared in her sight and everything stopped for a second.
"Fuuka!? What are you-" *Humnp*
Natsuki couldn't even react or think about the situation or how unlikely it is that she came here so fast, Fuuka went into her arms and kissed her more passionately than ever and without thinking one more time Natsuki took Fuuka and returned the kiss.
Aigis stared at the couple satisfied, knowing that Fuuka is holding Natsuki harder than she was holding her in the past minute.
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"Dammit, I burned my bread again." Minato cursed as he took the bread from the toaster.
"Own sweetie, do you want some bacon then, I'm almost done with Ken's." Mitsuru said, holding a frying pan.
"Actually Akihiko is really stepping up that omelet game."
"Get in line, I'm almost done with Junpei's." Said Akihiko holding another frying pan.
Another morning started in the S.E.E.S. dorms, a sunday morning, your usual high schooler would spend the day sleeping until the afternoon but when the friends that helped you save the world are coming, you do get ready earlier. Especially when one of these friends used her money to pay for Sunday training sessions in the morning to make sure you were in top form to save said world.
No seriously, everybody in this house is unable to sleep past six, so it's either stay up at night or sleep in the afternoon just like old people.
But at least it's Sunday, so Akihiko and Mitsuru can cook for them.
"Has anybody seen Fuuka?"
Even in his unbearable state of drowsiness Minato can't help but notice the large grin on his metal, cerment legs, girlfriend.
"Something on your mind?" He said to the clearly dumbfounded Aigis. It took a while for her to process while heavy in thought.
"Ah, I'm just… thinking." He expected her to continue, but nothing came.
"...about?"
"It's a secret."
"Huh." Minato is taken back by the statement, he and Aigis aren't exactly the type to hide things from each other, so he wasn't expecting the response. He wishes he could deny the jellyness.
"Can't tell your boyfriend?"
"Not mine to tell."
Minato's eyes widened, reacting to his girlfriend's words. He has zero idea of what happened while he was with his friends, all he knows is that it changed the person he loves, and now she has no problem keeping things from him now, and even though he is a bit scared...
He came closer and whispered in her ear. "I'm proud of you, you know?"
She smiles and replies. "Thanks."
"It's not even seven and you two are already at it?" Yukari yelled.
"You're just jealous." Minato replied.
"So what if I am? Your room is upstairs, go get it."
"I love how you don't even deny it anymore."
"Yes Minato, I am a lonely, sad and pathetic girl who knows everything about relationships and has never got into one. Now make out with your girlfriend far away from where I can see."
Aigis whispered to Minato what was on her mind. "I thought periods were only once a month."
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEY, has someone seen Fuuka? Is she even up?" Akihiko read the room better than anyone could right now.
"That 's right." Mitsuru picked it up. "I usually expect Junpei or Akihiko to sleep late, not her, I'm going to see how she is."
"Don't go, let her, she works as hard as everybody here, one day is enough for her." Akihiko responded.
"But what if she was late at night doing something?" Her expression soured. "She might be stressed out, she needs to relax, spend time with us, who knows how many nights we still have together?"
"You're doing it again." Akihiko scolded her.
"I'm worried. It's not like her."
"She is fine, Fuuka is a responsible young woman and is totally capable of taking care of herself, without us on her tail all the time."
"That's so you, just for once you could pick my side."
"I'm just saying-"
"Akihiko, you need to take action once in a while, what if she was using drugs last night."
"You're exaggerating."
"Between lonely and depressed teenagers and parents fighting, I don't know which one is worse." Minato was the one to read the room now. "Fuuka! Get down already! Mitsuru and Akihiko are fighting already!"
"We're not fighting Minato, we're just discussing.
"It's like my parents' divorce all over again." Junpei whispered, deep down genuinely concerned, freaking Yukari out.
"I'm comiiiing!"
"Told you it was nothing." Akihiko scolded one more.
Fuuka appeared on the feet of the staircase, with a big smile on her face and everyone's eyes were on her. She felt tense, nervous, and like her voice wouldn't come out, totally aware of what she needed to do, yet faltered the courage to do so, if only she was a 'badass' like Minato. Her legs trembled and she wanted to flee, but she looked at one face in the living room, the view of one single person gave her the strength to keep herself together and say what she needed to say.
And Aigis smiled back at her.
"GUYS!" Fear was still present within her, yet she kept on talking regardless. "I… I- Guess what I was doing last night."
"Oh god just tell me it wasn't drugs." Mitsuru's desperation was
"Girl, what the hell, only I was there."
Junpei lost it. "Wha-wha-what the- WHAT IS THI- *OWWW!*" He stopped, reacting to the immensely strong punch Aigis gave him.
"Junpei! Let her speak!"
Yukari still needed more time to process what was happening, her brain froze, so she just spoke what was in front of her. "Is... that my jacket?"
"Natsuki needed something to wear."
She still is at a loss of words. "...that still doesn't explain the jacket."
"Guys, I think my arm is broken." Junpei said, kneeling down.
"Oh, thank god it wasn't drugs, My dad lost good friends to that."
"And I lost some of my best friends to that one drug on the stairs."
Mitsuru gave him a stern look.
"You should have seen the before and after, brutal."
"Guys, seriously, my arm hurts a lot."
"There's a joke to be said here, I'm just struggling to find one." Minato said.
"Is it something about big shoes?" Yukari responded.
"I guess it is, I completely lost it."
In all of this chaos, Ken still has his priorities straight. "Hey Fuuka, are you still up to help me with my homework tomorrow?"
"Sure, I can run the basics down to you again."
"Thanks a lot." He said and kept on eating his omelet.
Junpei is just making noises on the ground by now.
"Wow…" Natsuki was surprised by the whole ordeal, the entire dormitory didn't seem to care, focusing on other sorts of details, seemingly unaffected by the fact her friend just came out. "Are you guys serious!? We're gay, we spent the night together, we didn't even study last night, heck I didn't even had the intention to study last night."
"Darling, you have two big assignments for tomorrow."
"I've been through worse." She said like it was nothing. "Guys, we, are gaaaaaaaay."
The whole room stopped to hear Natsuki. They stay quiet and exchange looks with each other, Akihiko and Mitsuru exchange looks, then Ken and Yukari, Aigis and the moaning Junpei, then they all finally look at their leader, who encapsulates the entire team's thoughts in his own particular way.
"So what?"
Natsuki was astonished, she expected diverse reactions expanding from shock, doubt, but this was different. This is unilateral acceptance. She was reactionless, until she looked to the left. Nothing, truly nothing stood out in that room more than Fuuka's ear to ear smile. Her mind came to a blank, and her first instinct was to take Fuuka's face onto her hands and take her to a kiss.
Minato let out a small grin and looked at his own girlfriend.
"You knew didn't you?" Aigis smiled, Minato took her with his right arm into a hug and kissed her forehead as she leaned in and suddenly forgot about the situation.
"SOMEBODY PLEASE CALL AN AMBULANCE!"
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Minato found himself lost in thought today. Turns out Kenji's attempts to get laid weren't completely in vain, in the sense that it ended so quickly he decided to go to work on paulownia mall and get an extra buck. A couple in the café was talking about places to go on a date so the subject of the Ice skating ring he and Aigis went to last week came up, since he reciprocated, they also told him about the new planetarium that just opened up, sharing with him stories that their friends told them; and hoo boy, there were stories.
There were a bunch of them, but the only ones that stuck with Minato were the ones where Itsuki wooed his childhood friend and when Hiroshi made out with Hinata in the back of Jupiter. He is sixteen and horny how couldn't he? Working with these thoughts on his head proved to be dangerous. He got orders wrong, spilled a drink once and zoned out multiple times, the last time he'd been this unfocused was when the world was literally about to end and when Aigis said she wanted to know more about porn; Not in this specific order.
He would have loved to just go home, call Aigis out, then smooch her a bit, like any teenager would, but Junpei needed a healer in 'Innocent Sin', so he just stuck to just smooching Aigis.
Right now he is half-asleep on the couch, awake with only the strength of his will to see the smile of his beloved shine again in front of him.
God he needs snuggles.
"And when Natsuki let out her hair my heart started to race."
"Oh, Minato did the same when he came back from work at the coffee shop. I felt a rush running through my body that I could never explain… wait… was I horny?"
"Haha, in a certain way, I'd say so."
"...It's happening… I'm finally horny!" Aigis exclaimed in joy.
Minato heard her laughter from the couch and got up to get some snuggles- He means, call his girlfriend out on a date.
"Hey Aigis I-" He stopped midway through his sentence when he saw Aigis and Fuuka completely dressed up, not only was he surprised, but needed more time to process Aigis' beautiful new dress. After a round of awkward silence he finally spoke. "G-going somewhere?"
"Yes, we're going shopping." The excitement in her voice was as clear as a sunny day. "Fuuka wants to try some new clothing she saw in this month's catalogue."
"...oh…" Minato needed some time to process this statement, his expectations were dangerously high after all. Yet, he wouldn't worry Aigis with his last minute decision, so he opted to hide and keep on talking to her. "Oh, so, umm… How about the weekend, are you…" He stumbled through his words trying to look calmer, but only made things worse. "...on to something?"
She did get suspicious of his behaviour, yet decided to answer his question. "Actually, Thursday I'm going to a meeting with Mitsuru, she planned a meeting with some executives about building more Anti-Shadow weapons like me. They weren't planning to make more like me, but remember when I went on a dinner with Mitsuru?" Minato nodded. "One of her superiors tagged along with us and when I told them about you, high school, and some of the things that happened recently, he got really impressed with my capacity of adapting and adjusting to my environments, and is thinking about using my systems to create a new line of robots for the Kirijo group."
Minato's eyes were agape, it felt like being discovered by a famous manager, having someone see something special about his girlfriend made him feel so proud of her, and whatever makes her happy makes him happy too. "That's incredible, Aigis-" Until it hits him. "Wait, wait, you didn't talk about that time in the library didn't you?"
"We were embarrassed just by hearing about the library he had at home, so the subject didn't come up."
"The 'study sessions'?"
"I left out the kissing and the hickeys." Fuuka pretended not to hear this part.
"That one time in the hot springs?"
"With everyone or just the two of us?"
"ALRIGHT, I think your escapades are safe." Fuuka barged in, not needing to hear about this one.
Minato eased up. 'Thank God' He thought to himself, now he can think about what to do in the planetarium in peace, oh, that's right. "Sooo… Wednesday? Busy too?"
"Yes, Natsuki's part time job needs more help, since Wednesday they have a big important sale and they need more employees to help, so we've got the day booked. The money isn't great, but it's more to help Natsuki."
"That's amazing for you." He said and meant it.
"Yes, I'm 'on to' a lot this week." She joked. "You seem uneasy, something wrong?"
The unnerving sense of dejá vu took over his mind, in a way he couldn't help not to laugh at the absolute one-eighty their relationship took.
"I'm fine, I just…" Minato held back his emotions and let only his pride in Aigis take over his facial expression. "I'm just happy for you, that's all."
She approached him and with her hand she brought him close to her, giving him a short kiss. "You are my boyfriend, you still come first, once I'm done with everyone I'll be all yours."
"You're just using your photographic memory aren't you?"
"Yes, I am."
He laughed again to fully let the situation go and told Aigis off. "Alright, I won't hold you back anymore, have fun, you too Fuuka." They thanked him, Minato gave her another kiss and he watched as they both left through the front door.
Ken, who was watching the entire thing from the couch alongside Koromaru, stepped up and went to Minato, his eyes thoughtful and distant, looking at the door as if they were still there. Concerned, he spoke up.
"Are you okay Minato?"
"I think I have too many friends."
"Is… Is that a problem?"
"Yes it is, I am never one-hundred-percenting this game ever again, who needs Orpheus Telos anyway?"
Three Months, and the final result is... I don't like this chapter very much.
I don't know what to say guys, It's too serious, I never intended for this chapter to become like this, it was only when I stopped to think about the consequences of the plot points that I turned the story into what is here right now.
Eh, it's kinda whack but if I got a laugh out of any of you it makes me satisfied.I am not taking another Three months for the next, I promise.
Maybe Four, not Three.