A/N: That week you have to talk to each member and see if they seemed busy or were free.

Chapter 30

Stay and Leave

It's still early morning and he was already planning his life. Minato was looking at the calendar when someone knocked.

"It's me. I apologize for the interruption, but do you have a moment?"

He opened the door. It's Mitsuru. Of course, it's Mitsuru, the Kirijo heiress who didn't know what a cell phone could do.

"Good morning. The Chairman will be here tonight. We'll meet in the Command Room. That's all." She turned around and left.

Minato headed downstairs. Aigis was standing in the lounge.

"There is a meeting tonight. Mitsuru must have informed you," Aigis said. The android didn't use any honorifics in front of him. Honorifics were unnecessary. "I will relax until then. Do you have any suggestions on how to relax?"

"Movies could work," Minato said.

"The movies? Going to the theater?" The blonde tilted her head. "It is a social activity, which you said could be a tiring act."

"Movies give you things to think, Aigis. It's a good distraction, and I prefer an activity between two people."

"I see." Aigis nodded. "I shall head to the theater, will you come with me?"

"Ninja War… Does this refer to opposing platoons of ninjas on the screen?" Aigis looked at the posters on the wall.

Aigis decided he should relax too and invited him along to the movie. He really thought the android would be more interested in sci-fi movies, which was coming soon. Aigis could have wait for that movie to come. Instead, they came here today. The movie was about ninjas.

"According to Junpei, 'Ninjas are the coolest of the cool!' He also said that ninjas are the being that has been entrusted with hope..." The blonde paused. "I don't run away. I don't go back on my word. That is my ninja way-"

"Let's go, Aigis..." Minato dragged her into the theater.

...

Yep, ninjas are amazing. Wearing all black and moved silently in the dark... No, they didn't summon a giant fox or anything like that.

"I have updated my information on ninjas. Ninja is the ultimate status that a man can achieve. In combat, the power of their body is equivalent to that of highly advanced special weapons. They were war machines, with unparalleled fighting skill. Given these facts, I am curious as to why their existence has ceased…"

Aigis analyzed all the information she had gathered. Was she supposed to be a detective android? Sometimes Minato suspected that. She could be so... curious. So eager to learn for her own good.

"Was it an ice age?" Aigis tilted her head. "Perhaps the proliferation of the Internet?" She pondered. "An enigma I may never resolve…" She paced around with a hand rubbing her chin. "A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Did I do good enough? I didn't do good enough."

Minato felt like he could understand Aigis a little bit more today.

"I need more information and time to resolve this. Information is important, they say. Time heals all wounds, they say... Thank you very much for today. I shall call you Minato-ninja from now on."

Minato blinked.

"That was a humorous joke."

He's staying? Hell no…

Mitsuru stood up. "B-but Mr. Chairman, he's still in elementary school. Besides…"

"Besides what?" Ikutsuki grinned. "He has potential, and his ability is quite promising. With the proper training, he could be a big help."

"But is he okay with it?" Akihiko asked, or snapped, also standing up.

"Actually, I asked to join." Ken felt the need to remind people he was there. "I believe I can be of some assistance… Now, I finally know why I was given this power."

Ikutsuki smirked. "… So, as you 'Ken' see, it was his own decision." Yukari facepalmed. Minato just shrugged, not in the mood.

"Nice to meet you all." Ken smiled. "I'll try not to get in anyone's way."

"Ken's an amazing kid," Akihiko said, trying to reassure him even though the senior was on edge himself. Or maybe he was telling himself, Minato didn't know. "He's young, but he thinks like an adult. He has a strong will." Akihiko whispered at this point. "A kid's resolve can be much stronger than an adult's."

Minato scoffed.

"Hey, Ken is still a kid," Akihiko said. Again, it sounded like he tried to tell himself. "Someone needs to look after him. Can you help?"

"Sure," Minato said. "Try to."

"Please."

Agh. Minato owed the senior a lot. He didn't want to refuse. "Fine."

Akihiko smiled. "I'm counting on you."

"Akihiko-senpai has been acting strange lately," Fuuka said the next day. "He must be having a hard time with Ken-kun fighting in the battles… Akihiko-senpai is very kind, which is difficult to tell from his appearance."

"... You're smiling?" Minato asked.

"Oh… Hehe. I like kind people." Fuuka grinned before it slowly turned into a frown. "... But it's something that is overlooked nowadays. Money, education, physical body… That's all that is important for getting jobs, but there's more than that in a human being as a person! Umm... Sorry, I got carried away." Fuuka hid her face with her hand.

"Let's go to the theater," Minato said.

"Yes!" Fuuka smiled. "The theme today is interesting. This will be fun!"

Fuuka is smart…

That hard science fiction movie was quite complicated. If you were not interested in it, it would be very easy to fall asleep. Fuuka watched the whole movies with sparkling eyes of curiosity. Even after watching the movies Fuuka was still talking about it and predicted the future of science.

"Did you see that iron!? It got rid of wrinkles on their clothes in half a second… To get that much heat out of iron so quickly, you'd probably have to keep it charged… Though it wouldn't have to be with electricity… It could be a gas hybrid… Or maybe they have a totally new energy source… but how would they power the iron with it…?" Fuuka suddenly gasped. "S-Sorry! The movie got me all excited, so… I got carried away thinking about it…"

"I don't mind. I like talking to you," Minato said.

"Huh…?" Fuuka looked at Minato and smiled. "Thanks… let's go home."

Minato was at his desk. The Dark Hour hit the world together with the yellow moon, currently the only light source of this room.

"Good evening." Pharos appeared on the blue bed. He stood up and walked to the window. "I thought I should remind you. The next full moon will be in one week." He stepped back, preparing to disappear. "Only a few trials remain."

"Wait." Spinning the chair slowly, Minato looked at him.

The pajamas kid stood still, knowing what the boy would ask.

Minato tried not to make his voice sounded cold. No one likes being interrogated. "Why did you go away after the last full moon?"

Pharos averted his eyes. "... I don't think you need me anymore."

"What do you mean?"

The kid looked down. "You've… grown… I… I don't. I was… I… You don't need me..."

There's more than that, Minato thought. "I want you to stay."

"There's a thing in this world that couldn't be changed. I know for a fact that I'm not needed…" Pharos whispered and then looked up. "I… I don't deserve to be with you, who is in the light." He backed away from the blue haired boy. "Be careful… I look forward to seeing you again..."

"Phar-"

Minato saw the deep blues eyes looking at him. It seemed so sorrowful.

And with that, he vanished. Minato could feel his presence, but he couldn't hear him.

"Pharos…"

Mitsuru is not that bad, really. The romantic movies was a little weird, but Minato liked the concept and that was all there is to it. He didn't have much comment so it could be considered bad for his standard.

"Hello!" Ken greeted the leaders as he walked in. "Have you noticed? Those people- 'The Lost'…They've been increasing… I wish there was something I could do..."

"I know. None. I don't care," Minato said without looking at him.

"Then what exactly is your reason for fighting?"

Minato shrugged.

Ken clenched his fists. "Are you saying you don't care...?"

"I did say that. I don't care." Minato looked at him with a blank face. "They can go rotten in hell and I don't care."

Before the kid could say anything more, Aigis spoke up. "Based off previous data the amount of The Lost should severely decrease after we defeat the full moon Shadow."

"Oh…I see. So that's why the amount of the lost decreased before?" Ken said. "As long as we train and defeat all of the remaining Shadows, The Lost will be cured."

"Temporary," Minato added. "Based on previous data, the number of people who have become the lost increase. The amount of the lost that turn back to normal decrease. Can you see it now?" He paused to look at the kid once more. "Soon, the world will collapse, and it will be the end of everything."

"Woof! Woof woof!" Koromaru ran around.

"Koromaru looks happy when he's here. It must be something akin to hometown for him…" Mitsuru looked at Minato. "I said some things earlier today, but now that I've had time to calm down and think about it… today's movies did have their charms… Does it seem out of character for me to say something like that?"

Minato shook his head.

Mitsuru chuckled. "Straight forward as always… Like I've said, I could really relate to the protagonist, and I thought about it a lot. I… also want to be free, free from people who know me, free from the name Kirijo… Living as a girl named Mitsuru, a normal girl, free from all the responsibilities… I know too well that is impossible."

Free, huh?

"Woof!" Koromaru comes back his tail wagging happily.

Mitsuru smiled at the dog. "Let's go home."

Ken was not silly. A glance and he knew Minato didn't like him, and he seemed to be in a bad mood too. But today's movies...

"Umm," Ken approached the blue haired boy. "Today's the last day of summer vacation, right?" Silence, so he continued, "Well, since it's the last day, I was wondering if you had any plans."

Minato stared back.

"I-I was just curious. It's no big deal…" Ken said. "Will you…"

"Let's go to the theater," Minato said.

"The monster on that poster is from Amoebaman…" Ken introduced the characters Minato. "... Err… I-I wasn't really looking forward to this, you understand… I was just bored, and I thought it would pass the time-"

People rushed inside the theater in a commotion. That could only mean one thing.

Ken widen his eyes. "Oh no! It's starting! Quick, we gotta get good seats!"

...

"That…" Ken grinned. "That was so cool!"

Minato followed him out of the theater as Ken started spilling all his opinions he couldn't back in the dark room.

"Oh! Did you see the part where Amoebaman gets captured!?" Ken waved his arms around. "And, and the part where he was in that underground prison, but Morus Signal came to help! And they had him tied up, and the bad guys were about to-" Ken halted. He looked away in embarrassment but finished his sentence anyway. "... Shoot him, but then... the whole team... showed up. Yeah."

Minato just looked at him. Ken felt like being silently judged.

"A-Anyway, I thought some of the scenes were pretty good. B-But it's all just fake…" Ken felt the need to justify himself. "That was fun. Thank you for inviting me."

Minato looked at the clock on the theater wall. "It's almost noon. Let's eat."

…

Wakatsu was quite empty. Lucky us... It made Ken felt a little weird, though. The earth tone of this restaurant made him felt... like home.

They ordered and sat at the table near the door. The food came shortly.

"Thanks for the food." Ken began eating the sweet-and-sour pork. He saw the bell peppers and scowled before pushing them away from the meat.

"You shouldn't be a picky eater," Minato said.

Ken widen his eyes before looking up. "Huh…?" They stared at each other. "... Oh, sorry… The way you said that… reminded me of my mom." Ken forced a laugh and looked at the plate. "It's so bitter, so…"

Suddenly it became quiet. Minato ate his sushi, so Ken silently ate.

After a while, Minato sighed before asking, "How's school?"

"Um… It's okay." Ken thought the boy didn't want to talk, but Minato did sigh so he was probably making an effort to talk. "I do alright on my tests, and I have people to talk to. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Do you watch TV?"

"I watch the news, at least," Ken said. "Everything else is so boring."

"What's popular at your school?"

"I think they play games. Also, there's a television show called Featherman R that they like. It's an action program." Ken grinned. "Last week, Hawk snuck into the enemy base and planted a missile guidance system! But the launch switch fell into enemy hands, so Swan proposed-... a battle... of riddles…" Ken trailed off, his voice quieter with each pause. "... Uhh, umm that's just what I heard happened."

Minato observed him with those blue eyes. Or were they grey? People stared at him a lot, but not quite like this. Ken felt like being in a confessional.

"I-I kind of… like action stuff… The movie was fun to watch."

The uncomfortable silence surrounded them. Ken began eating again. Minato continued eating too. Ken thought he was used to silence. He felt like they should talk.

After a while, Ken looked up. "Do you watch any TV shows, Minato-san?"

The boy drank his iced tea. "I'm more of an anime type. Action anime."

"Huh? R-Really? Like Junpei-senpai?"

Minato nodded.

"B-But, you're an adult, and a top student-"

"Doesn't matter," Minato said.

Ken thought for a moment. "True."

He started eating again. It was a good idea to come here. Minato treated him. He even had VIP tickets. But, isn't he...

Ken spoke up, "Why exactly are you angry at me?"

Minato frowned. "I'm not angry at you."

"So you hate me?"

Minato kept quiet. He's not answering, not agreeing, and not denying.

Ken could wait, so he did.

The blue haired boy looked at him and asked, "Why do you smile at people you don't want to talk to?"

"Huh?"

"I hate looking at it."

Ken didn't know. Did he do that? He thought it was a good manner.

Minato kept asking. "Why do you have to drink black coffee even though you don't like it?"

"Uhh…" Ken averted his eyes.

"Why do you hide your collection of the Featherman R figurines?"

"W-what!?"

Minato continued drinking the iced tea. "If you don't know the answers, then nothing would change between us."

Ken looked at his own plate. "… Can I leave the bell peppers?"

"No. Eat."

"But-"

"Eat."

They finished their dinner and returned to the dorm.