Hey guys. Short chapter this time, but you'll be proud of Minato for taking the first steps =D Thanks for all the review, favs and follows. Hope you enjoy this.
"So, she's still asleep?" Minato asked Hamuko, walking down the stairs.
"Yup, she should wake up soon. First Persona summoning can be tiring," Hamuko mused.
"No shit," Minato replied.
"No cussing." Hamuko scolded.
Minato scowled, but didn't say anything in return.
"Hey guys!" Minato cringed just as he descended the stairs. This guy, was Junpei. Who else could have such an annoyingly cheerful tone that almost made Minato puke?
"Hey, Junpei-kun!" Hamuko returned the greeting with a smile. She elbowed Minato who sighed and gave a curt wave.
"Bro!" Junpei cheered, valiantly swinging his arm around Minato's shoulder. "Dude. You kicked ass last night. How about you and me hang out and eat at the beef bowl place? I'm free. And later, you can teach me how to use the sword to perfection," he suggested.
Minato's eye twitched, "Bro… sword… beef bowl," he muttered to himself, going through his mind and reliving the horrible nightmares that he had prior, almost feeling sick as he thought about it all.
Hamuko gulped, feeling the deathly aura radiating from Minato who was shaking slightly. Trembling from anger.
Yukari came from the kitchen, with a cheerful smile. She waved at them before she turned her attention to Hamuko, "Wanna go shopping with me today? I saw this cute dress that I must buy."
"Shopping… dress…." Minato whispered.
"Minato?" Hamuko asked worriedly. Minato shoved Junpei away and made a run for the door.
"I hate you all!" Minato declared, "Fuck the beef bowl. The shopping. That fucking rapier and broness!" Minato said in one breath, "Screw you to hell!" With that, Minato stormed off.
"What happened?" Junpei asked after a long silence.
"Must be the dream." Hamuko mused.
"Must have been a pretty bad dream since he suddenly lashed out like that," Junpei said. Yukari blew a raspberry.
"What are you talking about? He's always like that," Yukari sighed.
"Point there man…" Junpei scowled.
The days passed. Mitsuru kept them all informed of Fuuka's condition which day by day, got better.
Until one day. Yukari greeted Minato in the class and told him that Fuuka had awoken.
"We'll be gathering at the command room," Yukari told Minato who nodded and went out.
Minato spent the reminder of the day swimming in the club. After he was finished, he went home with Hamuko.
"You're Fuuka Yamagishi, correct?" The chairman asked with a huge grin. Poor Fuuka tried to stammer a response, but she shakily nodded in the end.
The chairman laughed, "Relax. There's no need to be scared." He turned to the rest of the team, "Everyone, you all did an excellent job on uncovering the truth. I wanted to let you know that all three girls have regained consciousness."
"Those idiots hung around school and were attacked by shadows when the Dark Hour began. A couple of wusses," Minato spat, leaning against the couch.
Poor Fuuka shivered at the coldness.
"I knew right from the beginning that it wasn't a ghost story," Yukari boasted. Minato's face met his palm.
"It's my entire fault," Fuuka murmured.
"Are you kidding? You were the victim," Hamuko exclaimed before she patted her on the back.
"But I made so many people worry," Fuuka whispered.
"Hey, don't think like that," Yukari patted her on the back, much like Hamuko.
"We could have lost the fight if you weren't there. You saved our lives. You should feel good about yourself," Mitsuru said, standing up, "You have a special power that you can use to help others."
Minato gave a smug and condescending look towards Mitsuru who ignored it.
"We call it Persona. You could be a tremendous help to us. Will you join us?" Mitsuru asked.
"Give me a break," Minato hissed, but Mitsuru ignored his misgivings once more.
"We're not trying to pressure you or anything," Yukari spoke. Fuuka looked over to Akihiko who nodded at her. She looked at Hamuko who was smiling, Junpei was grinning while Minato didn't care at all. He was fumbling with his mp3 player, changing the tracks.
Eventually, Fuuka stood up, her eyes filled with determination, "I'll do it. I'll help you!" Yukari actually gasped.
"Are you sure?" Yukari asked and Fuuka nodded, "But you would have to live here."
Fuuka looked sadly at the ground, "I'd rather live here than at home anyway." Minato managed to hear it, even though he was still blasting music into his ears.
"We really appreciate this. We'll talk to your parents to resolve any issues," Mitsuru smiled.
"Aren't we dragging her into this?" Yukari started but was cut off by a stomp on the ground.
"Is there anything that you won't complain about?" Minato hissed, "It's her decision. Let her do whatever she wants with her life," Minato sighed, rubbing his temple. "I need some aspirin."
"I'll do my best," Fuuka bowed at each of them before turning to Minato, holding her hand out for a shake. "Nice to meet you, Arisato-kun," Fuuka smiled.
Everyone braced themselves for lash out. Poor Fuuka was going to get a verbal curb stomp from Minato.
However, Minato didn't yell at her just yet. He popped the headphones out of his ears and studied Fuuka carefully. Her cute smile, resolve and determination radiating from her; all of this, truly made Minato sick to his stomach. He couldn't stand friendly people… But, this time, he didn't yell out at her.
In his cold, stoned heart, something urged Minato to accept it. The blue haired psychopath slowly raised his hand, his eyes studying Fuuka who still had a smile.
After what seemed an eternity, Minato shook her hand, shocking everyone. "Yeah, welcome to the team. You've got no choice but to do your best," Minato said curtly.
Everyone could not believe that it was Minato who actually shook Fuuka's hand and welcomed her to the team. Hamuko was surprised for a few moments but she ended up smiling brightly.
Minato let go of her hand and yelled at them. "What the hell are you gawking at!?" he thundered, making the others glance at each other, nervously.
"Minato is taking the baby steps towards being a nice person," Hamuko giggled in delight.
"If anyone of you even mentions, swords, beef bowl, swords or shopping, I'll mutilate every one of you," Minato warned. "Go on. Have your stupid little party!" With that, he slammed the door shut.
Minato sighed and unlocked the door as he heard a knock. With that, Hamuko bounced into his room with a smile.
"Have you heard?" she asked.
"Nope, I haven't," Minato sighed, sitting on his bed.
"These large Shadows appear only on a full moon," Hamuko replied, doing the same as Minato.
"Ah," Minato replied passively. Hamuko glanced around his room, and nearly gasped.
"Dude, is that another broken phone?" she asked.
"Don't ask," Minato muttered.
"Why is there ash present over there?" Hamuko pointed at the far end of his room.
"Tch. Don't ask," Minato mumbled again.
"I am asking!" Hamuko grabbed his head and locked her crimson eyes onto his cold silver ones. "Tell me. What happened?" she asked.
Minato sighed, "Alright. I dreamt that I was incredibly devoted… to each of those assholes downstairs."
"Devoted?" Hamuko asked again.
"Yeah, like I am to you," Minato replied nonchalantly, but as soon as he realized what he said, he blushed deeply.
"Aw…" Hamuko cooed, "Aren't you sweet?" she teased, leaning her head against his shoulder.
Minato shivered but didn't pull away. He didn't want to cause discomfort for her. His heart was beating painfully fast and Hamuko's auburn hair was tickling his face, which was hot and red, frankly, he never felt like this ever.
'What's happening to me?' Minato asked himself as a shiver crawled up and down his spine, brushing over each segment of the bone. Eventually, sighed, frankly, he didn't mind this at all.
No, he actually liked it.
He liked something after a decade.
'I might… like her,' Minato said to himself, letting out deep breaths. '… I might,' he thought as he wrapped his arms around her shoulder and hugged her tighter.
"Hee hee, being a gentleman, I see," Hamuko giggled.
"I won't let anything touch her," Minato swore to himself quietly as he stared at Hamuko's blushing, smiling face.
…
"So, do we have a deal?" Takaya asked.
"D-Deal," The figure in shadows spoke.
"Excellent," Takaya said, and bowed. "I'll be on my way then," he said before he walked away, still with that same grin donned on his face.
"Brace yourself Minato Arisato, your greatest challenge is going to rip a hole through your stomach," Laughing, Takaya faded into the shadows.
…
"This is not good," Igor shook his head, seeing the whole event play out in a crystal ball. "This could very well spell much disaster for Master Minato…"
Hoshiro AN: Haaai, back with another chapter. Well now, isn't this chapter foreboding? I wonder who indeed that dark figure was! (Actually I don't, I'm just joshing you guys. And yes I referenced Pokemon.) Welp, plz box your thoughts, Nights and I would appreciate it~
Aniki120: I dunno, maybe it was in one of my stories… I dunno I'm not going to look back through all that. Well, this one did, and this chapter was fun. Yeah, thank Nights for that. Thanks! We'll do our best!
Rickyp01: Did I miss something? Well darn. *facepalm*
Yoshikunitsu: Hahaha, you consider Nyx a love interest too? What have I done indeed… Yeah, I laughed too when Nights suggested it. Glad you liked it!
Gin: Well, uh… it KINDA played into this chapter? Somewhat? A little? Hehe, glad you liked the chapter! Yup!