Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update. I had exams, and my ADD fought with me. Some fluff, mixed in with some plot development. I don't think this'll be too much longer now. XD Review, please! Also, this chappie's longer than the last.

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My mother used to tell me that I was a hard child to be with when I was much younger. She used to tell me I was too headstrong and driven by my sense of justice. Sometimes when she just couldn't take it, she'd just call me stupid for going after a point that was as good as moot. I wasn't dismayed, and I continued to let my stubbornness drive me as I got older. It certainly became more reserved, but you can't hide that kind of will completely. I let it work me subtly. I wouldn't be put down by adversary.

This was certainly why I didn't leave when Minato told me to go. I stood up, eyes calculating, narrowed, focused on his figure. He wasn't intimidated by me, but I could tell that he was uncomfortable with how I was staring him down. I needed to know now. I needed to know exactly what was going on now. I would not tolerate cover-up lies, and I would not tolerate bullying. I would put a stop to this. I would ensure that nothing like that ever happened to Minato again.

I moved closer, my arms crossed. He stepped back, his face becoming neutral. I was losing his vulnerability! If he hid behind his emotionless face again, I'd never be able to get to him. He was one of the most complicated people I had ever met, without a second thought. Doubtful I'd be able to win this game, I dropped my attempt and nodded obediently. Shoulders relaxing, Minato stepped back and bowed his head briefly.

"Thank you for the favor," he said, voice neutral. "Odagiri-san." I moved past with a grunt, nodding, and I left the building. I walked down the sidewalk, but I didn't head home. I didn't head anywhere. What had I done? I'd blown it. I'd blown his trust. He didn't usually refer to me by name, and I noticed he didn't really to anybody when he was comfortable. But then he had said my name. I knew what that meant and self-hatred coursed through me.

Damn it all to hell! This was that man's fault! My face contorted into anger, despite my usual talent for keeping even when thinking to myself. It was hard to help, though. I was so disappointed in myself for letting that momentary trust be abused, and so angry with that man, that bully, I couldn't even comprehend trying to hide my frustration.

With a loud, 'hmph!' I tried to change mental subjects. I couldn't do anything about it now. Instead of pouting over it all, I might as well try and think of the next step. It was much more productive. I had a bully to take care of. I needed to learn as much as I could as fast as I could, I needed to help manage the Sports Day, and I needed to think up a worthy apology. I went home, and set to work on managing a plan of action.

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He was like a puzzle whose pieces were blank and split up into thousands of parts. I couldn't figure it out. I sat in my chair, staring across the room, my gaze firmly planted on Minato. Mitsuru was talking about the Sports Day, which was coming up very fast, at the head of the meeting room. She was checking up on how our jobs were coming along and encouraging us to keep going. If we were going to dedicate to something, we were going to go all the way. I was only partially listening. I knew Minato wasn't listening at all.

Our gazes were matched. Neither of us relented. His soft gray eyes met my hard ones. It'd been two days since the day at his dormitory. We hadn't spoken to each other at all since. We hardly even locked gazes. He was trapped today, and since the meeting itself was exceedingly boring, Minato had decided to see how I would react to him staring at me. It was interesting, but it was a game I was all too good at. He would never beat me in a stare-down. It'd taken me years, but I had perfected my condescending, yet uninterested, glare which was always accompanied by my thin scowl.

Minato had talent despite this disadvantage. His neutral expression was always incomprehensible, and it was hard to tell if he what he was thinking. I couldn't tell whether or not if he was growing uncomfortable or irritated.

"Odagiri-san," Mitsuru said sharply. My eyes slowly rolled up to meet her. I lessened my scowl and let it develop into a belittling smirk. I was in a foul mood, I didn't want to be in the meeting but rather out at Port Island, eager to run into that man. "Your status on the Sports day, please? I would appreciate it if you kept any flirting outside of this room," she added, and several of the members let a slight chuckle pass them through. I pretended not to hear that remark.

"Gomen nasai, Kirijo-san," I drawled, standing and glancing briefly to my pages. "I've elected a couple of trustworthy students to assist with keeping order, and we will patrol each sports station to keep an eye out for any misbehavior. That will be the gist of it, Kirijo-san." I sat back down, looking vaguely sarcastic and even more vaguely irritated. The meeting continued and his eyes rolled back to Minato's.

To my surprise, the other was shutting his eyes, a hand nursing his head. Then, as the light shone through that solid group of blue hair that concealed his right eye, I saw it. A dark purple ring curled around his eye. My own eyes widened briefly, taking in this new development, and that was just when the other's gray eyes fluttered open to catch in my surprise. For a whole second, maybe even less than, I saw right through him. For that whole second, I could see what he was thinking, what he was feeling, like a window had opened right up in his mind.

He was anxious. He didn't want to be around me. He didn't want me to see his weakness. There was a hint of fear, but not because of me. Maybe not even because of what had hurt him. I couldn't figure that last bit out. I saw his pain; his stomach was hurting him a great deal and his eye was making his head pound. Then, as quick as I had this window, it was gone, and everything became unreadable once again.

Stunned by what I had recognized in his expression, I quickly glanced to Mitsuru and pretended to be interested, for his benefit. That was the last straw, I decided. This had to stop. That man was causing Minato pain. What kind of friend did I think I was, by letting this happen this long? I'd been worried about what Mitsuru would do, anxious over what Minato would do about it, but now I knew I could no longer hide. I had to do this. I had to end this. And I would, as soon as this meeting was over.

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Minato caught me by the gates as I left school. His fingers grabbed my arm, quickly, but it caught my attention. The silent other gave me his neutral look, but it melted briefly into something a little more concerned. "I'm okay," he said in his soft mumble. "Really."

"I don't believe that," I replied. "You can't convince me. You have little proof to back your claim up." My stubbornness was glowing through again. I hoped it wouldn't scare him off this time, because there was little I would do to stop it.

Minato's eyes fluttered distinctly to irritation. I almost smiled; I'd never seen so much emotion from him all in one day. I wondered if he had a fever again. However, I humored him, trying not to think he looked a little silly with that pout. "I…Don't mess with Takaya…" the boy mumbled, voice still refusing to rise. "He's...not your concern, Hidetoshi. You'll get hurt."

"Takaya, hm?" I repeated. A name. I had a name. I let my eyes slide to meet his fully, and I tried not to smirk at his steady gaze. "I will be fine, Minato. I believe that a bully will be easy to handle. I cannot allow him to harm you any further. It'd be a shame if he left anything more than a single scar upon your body." The boy seemed to have a hard time finding the right thing to say after that. I continued to walk, my legs carrying me along. I expected him to continue to follow me.

Suddenly, I felt his hand on my arm again. I turned to pull it back, but Minato jumped me with a question. "Hidetoshi-kun, will you come with me to the mall?" he asked, blinking at me with those gray eyes. "You don't go out much, right? Besides, I'm meeting up with Junpei. You guys seem to like each other." I hadn't heard so much from his lips at one time before, and I was a little surprised (and I was even more surprised when he thought that I actually liked Junpei), but a biting guilt rose up in my stomach.

Damn it. I couldn't say no and proceed with my plan. Takaya would have to wait. It took me a moment to realize, from the sudden blankness in his gaze, that he knew it too. I gave him a sneer, but nodded my head. Minato could beat me at my own game after all, for his lips curled into an emasculating smirk that made me feel a little silly for agreeing. I remembered why I was so fond of him to begin with and we made our way to the Paulownia Mall.

"S'up dudes?" Junpei greeted, making his way over to us as we entered. He slapped Minato's back happily, who made a small noise, and when he dared get close to me, I glanced to him. If looks could kill, he'd be six feet under. Apparently feeling the daggers from my gaze, he just greeted me with his big stupid smile. He turned to Minato. "So, I was thinking, why don't we karaoke until it got dark? If our throats hurt, we can always hit that coffee shop there. I swear, I feel handsome when I drink that stuff."

"It's full of monkey pheromones," I told him, pretending to be dead serious. "If you drink too much of that stuff, Iori, you'll grow hair in funny places."

"No I won't!" Junpei replied, but the uncertainty in his tone made me want to chuckle. Minato was smiling his faint smile, looking as amused as I wanted to be.

"It's true," I continued; I liked to see him smile. I tried not to make it too obvious that I was watching him as I spot, but instead tried to pretend my eyes were on Junpei's stupid face. "You know why that one girl stopped coming to school, don't you? They said it was apathy syndrome, but…ah…" I glanced around, like it was taboo to speak of, but I gestured for Junpei to grow closer. The other, sucked in completely, took a brave few steps closer. I whispered, "She had gotten monkey ears, like a furry!"

Minato laughed his soft, quiet laugh. Junpei whipped around to look at him, took a moment to think, and then he whirled around on me indignantly. "You liar! You can't fool me!" I chuckled at him.

"I just did…didn't I?"

"Shut up!"

"Junpei," came a sudden voice. We all turned towards the entrance, where there stood Akihiko, the boxer. "Minato. And Odagiri-san, too. Can I hang with you guys? Mitsuru's…" He anxiously rubbed the back of his neck. I was about to tell him that my first name was fine for him to use, but Junpei exploded with loud words that made my mind freeze up.

"Ooh! Lovers' spat!" Junpei teased. "So you're sleeping on the couch tonight, Sanada?" Minato smiled at Akihiko's furious red blush.

"W-What!? N-No! I--What were you--But I don't--I--"

"You're blabbering, Akihiko-san," I reminded him gently. Akihiko shut his mouth and let his crimson flush crow darker. For a boxing captain, he seemed pitifully incapable at taking jabs. Did he perhaps have a crush on Mitsuru? It wasn't my business, but gossip was hard to ignore. I smirked to myself anyway, amused by his embarrassment.

"Anyway," Minato voiced quietly. "Akihiko, want to go do karaoke with us?"

"I-I wouldn't mind," he stammered, having a hard time recovering. Junpei was doubled over in laughter by that point, and his moronic guffaws ground on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard. The four of us, after I practically blackmailed Junpei into silencing, headed up into Club Mandragora. I was uncomfortable, but luckily, I wasn't planning on joining them. Akihiko and I hung back in the back of the club while Junpei and Minato took the stage for a karaoke duel. We bought ourselves beverages, which Junpei had obviously forgotten he could do here, and we broke into small talk about petty things.

I sipped lightly on my Sprite, eyes watching the lyrics play across the screen as Junpei shook his money-maker on the stage. "Sanada-san," I said softly.

"Akihiko is fine."

"Akihiko, please do me two favors? Carve out my eyes and render me deaf, if you would." He snorted on his pop and took a few moments to recover between his gasps and coughs. When Junpei finished his 'wailing', as there was no other word to cover the horrible noises he'd emitted, the after-school crowd of patrons visibly relaxed.

"That, uh, was Junpei Iori's performance," announced the slightly traumatized waitress. "W-Wonderful. A plus in, uh, effort." Junpei took a bow, unable to see the pain he'd caused. Minato went up to the mike, giving his friend a small, happy smile. I jealously wished that smile had been for me. The boy whispered with the waitress for a moment, discussing his song, and soon it was he who was up there, singing into the mike. I was surprised for a moment; I figured someone with his quiet personality would've refused to do something like this, but I appeared to be wrong. He seemed to like being up on that stage, under other peoples' gazes.

Junpei, who had chosen something he was sure would make him hot with the ladies, had looked like an idiot on stage. Minato, on the other hand, with his combined skills of charm and even bravery, seemed to feel and look natural up there. He sang something I didn't recognize, but Akihiko told me it was the kid's favorite song, 'Burn My Dread'. It sounded too fluffy for the kid until it kicked up near the end. No, he wouldn't be winning any Grammies, but he had a decent voice on him. It was nice to listen to, even if it sounded like he was trying too hard to be louder than he was usually. Junpei came and sat beside Aki and myself during his song.

"He needs to listen to the master," Junpei sighed, shaking his head. "He'll never get any girls like that."

"Master of what?" Akihiko asked.

"Singing, Akihiko-kun, what else!?" he said, and I tried not to chuckle. I sipped my pop instead.

When the boys could sing no more and it was rather late, we all headed towards Port Station. I could feel all of their eyes' on me, as though they were waiting to see if I was going to go another way. "I live in the same area as you," I reminded them dully. "I need to take the monorail too."

"Iwatodai's best," came a sudden chuckle. We all turned our heads. My eyes widened, jaw going ever so slightly agape. "What a coincidence we meet."

"Strega," Junpei snarled between his teeth. I glanced to them, confused, but I was shocked to find they were all squared, ready for a fight.

"Hidetoshi," Minato snapped. "Get out of here. Shut up," he added, before I could ask anything. I turned again to the three people my source had told me about. The pale male, Takaya I assumed, a girl in a Lolita-style dress, and a male carrying a silver briefcase whilst toying with a silver ball in his free hand all stood there, looking at us with smiles. The man had a gun tucked into his pants. My gut instinct came back to me; He is a murderer!

Then, suddenly, I heard Akihiko say, "Sh--The Dark--!" His statement never finished. A second passed. I turned around, looking, but I found they were gone. I stared, and then looked back to where this 'Strega' had been. Gone. What? I spun around, looking for anything that had shown they were there to begin with. They were gone. I didn't understand. How could they just disappear? It wasn't possible.

"Minato?" I called, unnerved, maybe even spooked. "Minato?"

It was to no avail. He was gone. I was alone. I went home alone. I tried to call, but his phone was off. So I sat in my bed, and allowed myself to feel utterly confused. What had happened to them? Who were this 'Strega' group? And what the hell had I actually gotten myself into!?

End Note: I want to thank broken.ningyo (again) for helping me with some errors I made!