A real quick denouement to finish off this little piece of mine. Thanks for the reviews (To… Ahem… the few of those who actually bothered COUGH COUGH LAZY), but if you already made one, feel free to review the second chapter too... And by feel free, I mean I demand you to.
Before Shujinkou knew it, the weekend had come and gone, and here he was back in class 2E, his eyes literally trembling due to sheer exhaustion from last night's Tartarus session. It was well worth it considering the results, though; despite not having a bed the night before, the SEES leader had slept like a baby and felt like a champion the next day, single-handedly pulling his team through forty floors. It was a feat of such magnificence that even the enigmatic Igor and Elizabeth dully noted, generously fusing the omnipotent persona Cybele of the Lover's Arcanum as a reward. Shujinkou had a gut feeling that it had something to do with his closer relationship with Yukari, to which the polite Elizabeth simply smiled and reassured in her own way.
His energy was only hampered from her roughly waking him up and shoving him out of her room before Mitsuru and the other girls woke up in the morning, giving him ample time to sneak back into his own bed like nothing happened. Personally he wouldn't have minded spending the entire day with her in her room, at the mall, or basically everywhere else, but Yukari had early morning archery lessons at the park, followed right after with a trip to the mall with her other friends. Shujinkou didn't mind; he would have plenty of time to spend with her in the following days; hell, weeks and months after that.
He wasn't about to lose her anytime soon, at the least.
Supporting his head with his own hands, Shujinkou tiredly watched the clock's dreadfully slow hands move in place above the door, with Toriumi-sensei's dull speech about today's lack of creative writing creating a light buzz in the back of his head. So close to the end of the day, and his teacher still found time to squeeze in the rest of her oral lectures. From what he could tell, Yukari was feeling just as tired as he was in the seat ahead of his, her body hunched in an uncomfortable posture.
When 3 o'clock hit, Shujinkou nearly gasped in praise, and it took him a few moments to realize that the ringing bell meant he could go home, rather than simply allowing him to just fall asleep right there on top of the desk. Thus ended day one of a brand new school week. Only five more to go, he dully noted in the back of his head.
After following regular school procedure and bowing goodbye to the teacher, Shujinkou grabbed his pack and held it loosely against his side, not completely sure if he was attentive enough to make the trek back to Iwatodai dorm. Going to student council was completely out of the question; the only reason Mitsuru was attending today was because she was on standby duty at Tartarus last night.
He was contemplating on asking Junpei to help drag him back home until remembering that the goof had stayed home sick, which would've sounded like a good idea if Shujinkou wasn't shooting for good attendance. Waiting around to gather up his energy sounded like the best idea, or at least until one of his friends offered to give him a ride.
Shujinkou scanned the room with one quick gaze and rose his eyebrow, remembering what didn't occur on Monday. Or…
Yukari stood at her usual place after school, checking up on the current schedules for all of her extracurricular clubs in the back of the class. A light smile tugging at his lips, the young man walked over to her side, making her hop a little with a simple "hey".
The girl in question gave a quick yelp from the sudden noise behind her, turning around to look at the perpetrator. She only 'humph'-ed when noticing that it was only Shujinkou and crossed her arms in mild discontent, "Very funny, wise guy. Just hilarious." Shujinkou only chuckled.
His soft laughter forced a small grin on her face, and Yukari greeted him plainly to return the favor.
"Shujinkou-kun…" her smile wavered slightly, catching his attention, "…I'm okay now, so thanks."
Quickly, her hand patted his own, giving it a gentle-but-quick squeeze before letting go, "I'm here for you too, so don't forget that, okay?"
Shujinkou smiled even wider and nodded, looking from Yukari's hand back to her brown eyes. It took all of his willpower to not arrogantly grin at the growing blush on her cheeks. However, his skill was limited.
"…Don't stare at me…" she gushed out, pulling her hand back to her side, "… Someone might start a rumor."
Shuffling on her feet, she twisted herself back against the wall and shoved her face into the reports on the wall, already feeling light-headed.
Shujinkou felt a little betrayed at her fear of them being seen together too intimately in public; hadn't they had a whole episode on that last Friday? Nonetheless, he managed to savor the remains of his energy for a situation like this; it was time to see if their feelings truly were unique to both of them.
Quickly reaching out, Shujinkou took hold of Yukari's hand a bit hastily with his left and twisted her a tiny bit to the side, moving forward to do what both modern Japanese senior society and the school administration looked down upon.
He gave her a sweet, tender kiss gently on her lips, right in front of the remaining students that hadn't left for home yet.
If Shujinkou hadn't taken hold of Yukari's hand, she would've taken one long hop back right through the door and out into the hallway. The kiss wasn't anything too deep; even Shujinkou knew to an extent what not to do in public, but by the time he had pulled away, Yukari was reduced to an incoherent, embarrassed mess.
"Sh-Shujinkou-k-kun...!" her lower lip trembled from the shock of being kissed right on it – has Shujinkou's breath always smelled like that? – and her feet wobbled in her knee-high boots. She suddenly felt almost as drained as Shujinkou was – too drained to pull her hand away from his.
Shujinkou quickly licked his upper lip, more so as to trying to recover from the stunt he just pulled rather than worrying that they were dry. He kept his gaze solely on Yukari and Yukari alone, ignoring her rosy cheeks and waiting for her confirmation.
In between the sounds of her beating heart and her mind questioning if what had just transpired truly happened, Yukari looked at Shujinkou's face, which looked like he was waiting for something.
Oh… I see what he's gettin' at… Real genius boy…
Finally, Yukari managed to mirror the state of her cheeks back onto Shujinkou's, nuzzling her forehead intimately against his, and the two felt each other's breaths winding against their lips from their noses. Being this close to each other with their hands clamping themselves in place, Shujinkou could taste Yukari's breathing when she smiled and exhaled into his face, bringing their arms to rest against their chests. Even their words shared a lack of total coherency.
"Love, Shujinkou-kun…"
"Love, Yuka-chan…"
For once, Yukari wasn't afraid if her friends or classmates accidentally stumbled upon the two this close together; in fact, she couldn't even hear the quiet rumors already starting from Shujinkou's friend Kenji's mouth. She loved Shujinkou, and he loved her; even the thought of Stupei getting on their case once they got back didn't even phase her for a second.
Author's Notes: Real small, just like I promised. Even if you already reviewed, just re-review like I dem—asked politely. Teh, everyone naming the Main Minato… Why can't we all use the much more unoriginal name of Shujinkou (Meaning: Main Character)? You guys and your ability to buy foreign comics and identify series' canon… Phooey.
Listening to Joy in the first half of the first chapter, followed by tranquility on the official soundtrack helped me write and get in character, since I usually listen to music to help me write better. Memories of the School was also listened to for this chapter; it's real sweet, and personally I think that it conveniently fits the feelings of the MainxYukari pairing. I think I'll get around to some more Persona 3 fanfiction; the game is just too good for simply one story.