Here I am again. Not much else to say beyond that.

I'm a touch iffy about this chapter.

And now, REVIEWER RESPONSES!

MKTerra- Koromaru is an awesome dog, yes indeed.

13TheAce- You know it!

Lady Sinistra 23- Yay! Thank you so much! You have no idea- well, actually, you probably have a pretty good idea, being a writer on this site, after all- how happy this makes me! Yay!

SuperNova23- Are you suuuuure about that? *smile*

Serenity Absolute- I know, right?

MadLaughter- 1. I'm glad you enjoyed it! 2. Oh yes. 3. I'm happy that you think so!

Ellen Walker- Thank you so much!

And now, on with the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 3. Also, we here at We Thought It'd be Funny do not recommend drinking cough syrup willy-nilly.

Sincerely,

-Funny.

Minato groaned at the deep blue liquid and grimaced, before electing to glare at his crimson-haired senpai.

"Glaring at me isn't going to change the fact that you need your medicine, Arisato." Mitsuru hummed, barely managing to conceal a grin at the team leader's childish pouting.

Minato sighed and took a deep breath. Then, his eyes ablaze with determination, he quickly gulped down the azure syrup, then snatched his water bottle off of his bedside table.

Mitsuru shook her head as he began to take large, theatrical gulps of his water.

"Honestly, Arisato…" she sighed, staring at the elected team leader, "It can't possibly taste as bad as you make it out to be."

Minato let out a pent-up breath as he set his water bottle down on the nightstand. He looked up at his senpai with a raised eyebrow.

"Senpai, have you ever HAD cough medicine?"

Mitsuru hummed, then shook her head.

"No, I don't believe so. I've been remarkably healthy all my life. Not one sick day or absence from school." she finished her statement with a noticeable mote of pride and a thin smile on her face.

"Lucky. I got sick all the time when I was a kid. I had to take loads of this garbage." he mumbled, glaring at the small measuring cup, still bearing traces of the dark blue liquid in it.

"Put me off of bubblegum for life…" he grumbled, in a bizarre addendum to his tale.

Mitsuru raised an eyebrow. "Bubblegum?" she echoed.

Minato nodded in a sage-like manner. "Bubblegum. I was given some medicine that supposedly tasted like it when I was just a kid, and… Well, it sure didn't taste like it, that's for sure." he suppressed a shudder as he vividly recalled the taste.

Mitsuru chuckled. Minato just sighed.

"Look it's like this…" Minato grunted as he laid his head back down on the pillow.

"What's your least favorite food?"

Mitsuru squirmed a bit. She had a food she hated, sure. Everybody did. But hers seemed childish. Immature.

It was kind of embarrassing to admit it…

But…

There was something about Minato that told you he could keep a secret. That he wouldn't blab, not even to his closest friends.

And she knew that.

She trusted him.

She looked at him.

"…Peas." She said, mumbling slightly.

Minato's eyes widened slightly, then he nodded.

"I see."

Pondering the new information, Minato decided to continue his metaphor.

"Well then, imagine, if you will, if somebody managed to distill and squeeze a plateful of peas into a single, two tablespoon cup.

Mitsuru shuddered as Minato continued.

"Furthermore, and to make things worse, you know you have to drink it. You know that it is unavoidable and it must be done at some point. So you drink it."

He paused, dramatically.

"And every taste bud in your mouth dies."

He closed his eyes, and yawned.

"I'd better sleep. I need my rest after all."

And with that, he turned on his side, and settled in under his covers.

Mitsuru waited until his breathing became deep, slow, and regular. Asleep.

Almost unconsciously, her eyes traveled to a deep blue bead on the bedside table. A small portion of medicine that had spilled.

Before her exceptional self control could stop her, she dabbed up the blue bead, and stared at it while it clung to her index finger.

With a light shrug, she put the blue bead in her mouth.

…!

She staggered back as the acrid taste burned her tongue, searing a permanent imprint on her memory.

Clapping a hand over her mouth, she dashed off to her room to go for water.

She changed her mind. Minato wasn't childish.

He was sensible.

And lo, Mitsuru did discover what anybody who has ever tasted cough syrup knows:

It's disgusting.

Seriously.

See you!

Sincerely,

-Funny.