A/N: Did I say I like Aigis and Ken together?

Chapter 49

Pocketwatch

At the Iwatodai Station, Minato heard random noises.

"What'd you say? You better shut your mouth, bitch!"

"Can I get a piece of that, Bro?"

One thing he hated more than fangirls were delinquents. They kept making troubles. Some of them hurt people without reason, or because other people were different than them. Minato really, really hated this kind of delinquents.

And when he realized it again, he was already in front of the brunette.

"Minato-kun!" Yukari called him.

Minato shielded her and faced them.

"Huh? You want in on this too, boy?"

Someone so short and thin, of course, five big guys wouldn't want to waste their energy on him, but the boy's eyes were too sharp. He was too calm, so much that these thugs felt hesitated.

And then, they felt something pulling them down. Power. Pressure. Gravity. They couldn't move, and their hearts felt cold.

Yukari was not in the attack range, but she could feel it. The coldness…

"Give the wallet back," Minato commanded.

One of them dropped the wallet. They were able to move again. They stepped back in fear and ran.

Minato looked at the thugs running away and whispered, "... I love you Pharos."

Yukari blinked. It was hard to believe her friend just came here to save her. "…Thanks." She looked at the direction that delinquents ran off and scowled. "What the hell, seriously! What's up with those punks? Geez…"

Yukari was angry, or at least appeared to be. A coping mechanism. "They're just, ugh!" She took deep breaths. When she was calm enough, she bent down to pick her wallet up. She flipped it around and check the inside.

"Phew. All here." Yukari kept it in her bag. "... Thanks again." It came out half-hearted. "Wait, sorry. Didn't mean to make it sounded like that, just…" She sighed. "I wish I didn't have to thank you in the first place."

"You don't want to ask for help?" Minato asked.

"I don't need help!" Yukari shouted. She bit her lip. "I mean, I don't want to need it. It's… no different from my mom."

"'Help'," Minato said. He thought about Yakushima. "She needs help?"

"She's desperate," Yukari said. "She's just, like that!" She opened her arms. "Hug me! Kiss me! Push me against the floor!"

Minato merely looked.

Yukari stared at him but it wasn't threatening at all since she was on the verge of tears.

"... Why?" She looked down. "Why didn't mom meet someone like you?"

Yukari took a deep breath. "... She keeps searching for disgusting kind of men and actually expects to find good people? And cries and says all men are bad… Isn't she… the one trying to convince that on herself…?"

Minato nodded.

Yukari looked at him. "I know. No need to mock me."

"I'm not," Minato said. "I'm just thinking, you really care about her." He paused. "You really want to help her, right?"

"... I do," Yukari said. She was smart, smart enough to figure out a way on her own. "That's right. I'm here complaining why she has to be needing help all along."

"Remember I support you," Minato said.

"Thanks… I'm gonna go back." Yukari ran off, leaving Minato at that same place.

"These figurines are that of high quality," Aigis said as Ken trotted along the passage and stopped when he located his desired figure on the shelf.

"Of course!" Ken said and stood on his toes to grab the figure package. "These are the official stuff."

Aigis looked around with her curious glance. "There are many cosplay costumes."

"It's really popular," Ken said. "But I prefer talking to cosplayers. I'm not into wearing them myself."

Aigis nodded.

Ken paid the bills and they walked out of the anime shop. Ken was having a grin the entire time.

"You seem happy," Aigis said.

"Of course I am." Ken raised the bag in his hand. "These are… physical. It's not like reading fics or looking at pictures on the phone. It's in my hands, and I own it."

"I do not comprehend."

"I'm sure you will."

Ken suddenly halted and looked at the water drain.

"What's wrong?" Aigis asked.

"Can't you see that?" Ken bent down and picked something up. Chain.

"That is not yours."

"Yeah, but… it looks familiar." Ken pulled the chain out and something came out with it. "... Now I know what it is."

A pocketwatch. The kind people didn't sell anymore.

"I'll return it to him," Ken said.

"Are you sure?" Aigis asked. "You tend to avoid him whenever possible."

Ken kept the pocketwatch. "Then I'm breaking that trend."

Minato returned to the dorm to see Aigis pointing her fingers at Ken.

"Ahh get that thing away from me!" Ken shielded his face with his hands.

"My bullets could penetrate walls, Ken. Your palms could not save you."

Junpei used the commotion to sneak nearby and take a hold of one of the figures on the table. "Man, these are cool."

Minato raised his eyebrows. That was not a common sight. Don't they hate each other? At least, Ken's annoyance for the robot was clear. Less than for Shinjiro but it was there. Aigis was Aigis. She couldn't hate.

Minato sat down and Junpei put the figure back. They both wondered about what those two were doing.

"Greetings," Aigis said and waved her hand that was pointing at Ken. Ken sighed in relief. "I am going to show him my new feature."

"That is?" Junpei asked.

"This."

Aigis pointed her fingers at Junpei. He hid behind Minato.

The android tilted her head. "I couldn't show you if you do not look."

"Yeah, but…" Junpei eyed the hands. They were guns. All members of SEES had seen this pair of hands in action before.

Minato looked at her hand. "You have fingertips now, I guess."

"Correct."

"Huh…" Ken and Junpei looked at each other.

Aigis removed her gloves she wore every time she went to school. She indeed had fingertips now. The small pieces folded inside with a metallic click and revealed the gun holes.

"Ohhh, that's cool!" Junpei said.

"It's like the hero's hidden guns!" Ken said.

"This is my latest upgrade by Ikutsuki-san," Aigis said. "I got it a few days ago."

Minato looked at her hands. They looked more real. They looked more feminine, human, too. "What kind of upgrades have you done?"

"The ability to eat, as you have seen during the summer festival." Aigis wriggled her fingers and her fingertips came back out. "And this."

"He sure takes care of you, huh?" Ken asked.

"Yes," Aigis said. "He has been taking care of me."

Shinjiro sat at his desk cleaning the pocketwatch. His desk and chair, along with the default bed and closet, were all the furniture in this room.

Shinjiro checked the inside and groaned. Some dirt got in it too. He wasn't sure how he dropped it. He had never. That didn't surprise him as much as the identity of the person who returned this to him.

Ken of all people brought it to me, Shinjiro thought and kept cleaning the pocketwatch.