Author's Note: So, yeah. Here's a simple little Minato/Ryoji drabble for your enjoyment. A bit random, but it's for my friend Rachel as a feel-better present. 3 Fluffy, just for her. Maybe a bit stupid, too. XD Anyway, read and review and stuff.

The way Minato smiled was something that kept everyone on the edge of their seat at all times. Who he flashed certain smiles to, who he actually spoke to, who he chose to hang out with were things that were all carefully calculated, as though he spent hours pondering over who needed him the most. I watched him, perhaps a bit obsessively, perhaps curiously, but I watched him all the same in order to understand him. Everything he did seemed so familiar, like I had known the mysterious Minato Arisato since his youth. Certain gestures, gazes, actions all rung a bell that I could just barely hear, and I was just dying to know more about him.

Perhaps, in discovering Minato Arisato, I could figure out more about myself.

It was at lunch. Junpei was talking very animatedly with Yukari, Kazushi, and Kenji about something or other. Something about how he'd heard about some ghost at Club Mandragora. The words, "Junpei's Believe it…or don't," carried over and I couldn't hide a smirk. As ever, the intense gaze of Aegis bore into my head, but I took the usual route of ignoring it. I wasn't up to any shenanigans, yet, so she had absolutely nothing to worry about. With a simple sweep of my gaze, going over the heads of the laughing group around a flustered Yukari, over the head of Aegis, and there he was.

Mysterious Minato was seated in a chair a few seats behind Junpei and that group, eating slowly and hesitantly with his music cranked up to a volume where I could hear individual words from this far across the room. Fortunately, the headphones were around his neck and not blaring into his ears; the poor kid was bound to go deaf if he did that. I pushed myself up and out of my chair, confidently and slyly slinking over.

"Hey," I greeted, and those guarded gray eyes swung up to meet my own blue ones. I sat in the chair in front of him and straddled it, so I could look back at him. I never could eat much, and it seemed his appetite felt the same way, for he had hardly eaten anything out of the lunch that he was packed. His friend, Fuuka, made lunches for most of that dorm gang and I always wondered if they were good. Minato, in relation to my arrival, made a vague and noncommittal noise of distraction. Never one for conversation, and though I knew this, I felt determined to crack his shell. I'd seen it done once before, but it had been completely on accident.

"So," I continued, trying to find something to talk about. "You know what Junpei-kun's talking about now, Minato-san?" Minato fussed with his sushi, but didn't even glance Junpei's way. That was when I was able to figure out that he wasn't in one of his moods. Perhaps that was why he was in the classroom with his lunch instead of out eating with Hidetoshi or Keisuke, and I suddenly realized that I wouldn't be able to break his shell right now. But…being as cunning as I was, I grinned and rested my fingers on my chest. "He said something about a ghost at Club Mandragora, I think. I am curious about it. Hey, what do you say we go check it out tonight? I'll ask him for details. Does that sound fun?"

The other male glanced up at me for a moment, before he shrugged. "I don't see why not," he replied vaguely. "Go get details, Ryoji-san. So I know when to show up tonight." That was almost too easy. I grinned, and stood up. Minato followed me with his eyes for a moment, then he smirked his secret smirk to himself and tiredly set his teeth into one of his sushi rolls. Moving behind Junpei's chair, I listened to Junpei make up a whole bunch of BS on how he knew how to beat any game of Hangman without messing up one letter, then I interrupted before he could start telling Kazushi how he'd been the track champion back in elementary school.

I asked, "Junpei-kun, can I hear about that story about that ghost? I missed most of the details."

"Oh geez, here he goes again," Yukari sighed, but flushed and looked away. Kenji and Kazushi exchanged grins before turning back to Junpei. The boy twisted his cap on backwards, eager as hell to tell his story again.

"It was on a dark night," he began, using his hands as he talked to emphasize his point. "The streets were cluttered with the Lost. A girl, not any older than us…let's call her Mary; well, she went into the mall late at night to grab something for her dear sick mother at the pharmacy. As she entered, she heard this far off whisper. It lured Mary into Club Mandragora, which had closed for the night, and she wandered around into the darkness until she felt her foot sink into something. She screamed! But not a sound was heard. A soft wailing cried out, muffling her yell, and Mary pulled and pulled until she had pulled herself out of the pit. Alas!" He shot an arm up, then pulled it back down with his hand clenched. "She had lost her shoe. Mary reached into the pit, reaching and reaching until, suddenly! A ghostly figure, not human from what Mary could tell, grabbed her arm from inside of this abyss and held her fast! It glowed faintly, but it was hard to see. Mary pulled and tugged and yanked until she had been freed from her captor's grasp, and she ran out of Mandragora faster than Kazushi when he wasn't a cripple!"

"Hey!" Kazushi said, sounding offended. He adjusted his crutches, scowling playfully, and kicked Junpei's knee with his good leg. "Ass." Junpei merely grinned, continuing with his spiel with his eyes low and his lips curled.

"Mary got lost. It wasn't until the police found her yesterday that she could tell her story."

"Wait," Yukari interrupted before Junpei could finish with his 'Believe it or don't' crap. I glanced to her. "Do you mean Yoshi Hiwatari? The girl who has a track record for being a complete and utter loony?"

"The one and the same," Junpei said, still using his mysterious voice. I smiled, wondering if he'd realized what Yukari had said or not or just didn't care. I messed up his hat playfully, giving him a brief and inane but all-the-while effect compliment on his story. I returned to Minato, who had an eyebrow raised and one of his carefully constructed faces of interest on. I related the most important parts, and Minato thought on it a moment before his eyes flashed.

"I'll be there are one in the morning," he finally spoke, and I mentally cheered, while physically I smirked and humbly thanked him for joining me. Then, for one moment, I saw those gray eyes flash hot, vivid curiosity in my direction, then go dull. I wondered if my own eyes were lying to me, but the way he was smiling gave me the feeling that he had carefully allowed me just a hint, a peak into his feelings. And for that moment…I felt more at home than I had for as long as I could remember.

I squirmed in my seat the rest of the day. Damn it all, I wanted to be able to have my time alone with Minato! I wanted to know what was inside of that head of his. I wanted to know how one person could pull off being so many different people. I had seen the other with Kazushi, and he was fluent in sports as well as knowing how to keep the boy's confidence up during his rehab. I had seen him with Yuko, where he was all-smiles and eager. I had seen him with Hidetoshi, when he could pull of being serious and sarcastic. Minato was a jack of all trades, but an ace of none; and I died to know how.

Once I was out of school, I began to prepare. I got myself a flashlight or two, as well as a few lock picks. I found myself pretty good at doing many things as well. Besides flirting, which I got a kick out of every time. Perhaps, tonight, I would be flirting with the dead instead of someone hot like Mitsuru-senpai. And perhaps, I would be flirting with that guarded boy, too…

It was twelve fifty when I arrived at the Paulownia Mall, sneaking in and bearing a flash light. Sitting at the steps leading up to the Club was Minato, staring into the depths of the propped open doors. Since the mall was supposed to be locked down at night, the last shift must've assumed that the Club would be fine. It probably would, actually; the punks kept to the bar on the far side of the Port Island station. How I knew this, actually, was beyond me. I just knew. Minato glanced back to me, hands in his pockets, gray eyes neutral and bored as I flashed my light upon them. He didn't even flinch at the sudden light, just smirked cautiously and then looked back into the darkness.

"There's a soft noise," he reported. "I wouldn't say a whisper."

"It's what Junpei-kun said," I replied casually, siding him. As I reached to playfully shove him, my fingertips brushed his hand. I blinked in mild surprise. "You're freezing." Minato glanced to his hand, mildly amused, and flexed his fingers.

"So are you," he replied simply, and I blinked, then smirked. Turning back to the Club, we stared for a moment or two longer, hearing the soft whisper from inside. A bit of an obvious 'ghost' wasn't it? I smirked, and started to enter with Minato. We crept along like spies to the walls and the booths, making sure we didn't accidentally slip into this so-called 'pit of doom' ourselves. Minato's eyes were trained on the floor, while mine were focusing on the steps again.

His arm flung out and stopped me from walking. I shivered at his touch, heat in my cheeks, but I focused instead on the floor. Minato crouched down, running his fingers along the surface, and I stuck out my tongue. "Do you have any idea how many people have spat on this floor?" I asked, pulling a face. He snorted, but smirked in bemusement. Those agile and slim fingers of his pressed here and there, until he hit the jackpot. The floor creaked loudly, revealing the weakness. It was a fake floor; the real stuff had been cut away. I set aside the flashlight and carefully helped Minato lift it up and over.

"Fake floor," Minato told me quietly. "It's a joke."

"We still have one more half to disprove," I reminded, smirking. "But you already have this all figured out, don't you?" He smiled, and it was the realist smile I had seen out of him during the entire time I had known him. I had thought the most realistic he got was with Akihiko Sanada, but upon seeing this…My heart fluttered in my chest and I laughed quietly. Minato joined me, until he gestured back to the so-called 'pit'. The other half of the rumor…well, the girl had put her hand into the hole to try and get her shoe. So they had to find out what had snagged up her hand.

Minato sat back, and I knew he had figured this all out already. But I leaned over and shoved my hand into the hole anyway, using my free one to grab the flashlight and light up my hand. Something latched on and I tugged a bit, but didn't get scared or anxious. I never had been truly afraid in my life. I didn't fear death at all. It took two to tango, and you couldn't dance with life without dancing with death. However, I did get a bit annoyed. "I think I'm stuck," I sighed, and Minato moved closer to me. I could smell his breath, smell the shampoo in his hair, see the soft reflection of the flashlight's light in his gray, vivid eyes…His long, cold fingers reached into the hole and wrapped around my wrist. A sharp bolt of electricity ran through me and I flinched without meaning to, and I saw him do the same, but then we just kind of smirked and snickered it off.

"It's the insulation that catches your wrist," he explained softly to me, easing my hand out of the hole. "The light that this 'Mary' saw was from the lights downstairs, by the Velvet--" He stopped, and I realized he had slipped something he shouldn't have. Without knowing how I knew, I decided to give him comfort by finishing his word.

"Velvet Room. Yeah?" I stated, and we both realized that there was definitely mystery here. A soft, deep, under current of connection made me feel like I really did know Minato, and that I had my entire life. He stared at me, eyes a little startled, face carefully neutral was he tried to understand if I was a threat or not.

"How…?"

"I'm just as lost, Minato-kun," Ibackward sighed, and the answer, though confusing, seemed to relieve Minato of his confusion. It was most assuredly still there, but muted. He pulled our hands up and out of the hole, and held onto my wrist longer than he had to. I didn't mind. Neither did he. I opened my mouth to speak, but he caught my other hand as it rose up to my chest. He pressed his hand over mine, feeling my heartbeat through my hand, and I froze. We were both still for a moment, until I felt something very natural fill my head. I leaned forward, and I pressed my lips to his.

Unfortunately, we didn't make it for as long as we could have, as we both burst out into little snorts in a fit of silent laughter. Then we burst into outright raucous laughter, but I didn't think either of us knew why. I gathered my flashlight and we left the Club, but before we parted, I glanced to Minato and grinned at his bright and lively smile. His gray eyes were alive and shining, even in the darkness, and I had never seen him so unguarded and happy. I wrapped my arm around his neck playfully, and he caught my chin for a hungry, much stronger kiss. That didn't seem to bother either of us, either, even as we pulled away. I gave him a dizzy farewell, and soon he was gone.

I got to kiss Minato, I got to see into his shell, and I got to solve the mystery of the Mandragora 'pit'. Believe it, or Don't.