Author: Evil Day
Title: Precious
Rating: PG-13 for boys touching/kissing, language
Disclaimer: Persona 3 and all Shin Megami Tensei titles are the property of Atlus. Not me. Wouldn't cha know it?
Summary: AkihikoxMinato Tension and angst abounds, (woot/dance), as Minato realizes how he truly feels after almost losing Akihiko forever.
Author disclaimer: All submissions from Evil Day are works of fiction. All characters mentioned are of legal age of consent in the state of California, regardless of the canon age given in the original work. This includes the work itself and any comments posted afterward.
Spoilers: None, really, I suppose technically, up to July 2009, maybe. Set when the only available party members are Junpei, Akihiko, Mitsuru, Fuuka, and Yukari. Yeah…pretty much the beginning.
The first thing that graced Minato's ears when he walked through the dorm's front door was Akihiko's curious voice.
"Where have you been?" he asked, sitting alone in the dorm's spacious sitting room.
Minato joined him, sitting across from Akihiko's armchair on the couch. He didn't dare sit too close, not trusting himself enough to try.
"I've been at the mall. The antique shop Mitsuru suggested." He folded his hands in his lap, helplessly staring at Akihiko. Something seemed different about him today.
"Oh, that's good." Akihiko crossed his legs, sitting up more comfortably. "Did you find out anything interesting?"
Minato froze. His mind flashed through the entire encounter at the shop, and the words of the old woman stuck fast in his ears. Feeling the blunt pressure of his nails making imprints into his palms, he swallowed nervously hoping that Akihiko meant something else. Anything else.
"…What do you mean?"
"Well…I've never met the woman who owns the shop personally, but Mitsuru says she's very knowledgeable on the sorts of things we bring back from Tartarus. She's not a persona user, but she does help us, in her own way. Just like the police officer."
"Oh." Minato let out an audible sigh of relief. The woman herself had assured him that Akihiko hadn't been aware of the things she was telling him, but for a moment he had been terrified that she might have been wrong. "Yeah…she showed me a lot of things. I think she'll be able to help us out."
Akihiko nodded. No one said anything else for a few minutes, but it wasn't uncomfortable. In fact, Minato found it pleasant. Akihiko was mending his boxing gloves, and he concentrated heavily on his work, leaving Minato plenty of room to watch.
Now, in the silence and the late afternoon light, Minato realized what it was that looked different about his friend, and it had nothing to do with Akihiko himself. It was the sunlight. Minato realized that he rarely saw him during the daytime, and now that he finally had the chance he, couldn't bring himself to look away.
Minato's eyes caught the sun in Akihiko's hair, dancing over the strands and locks and illuminating them in places. His skin, pale as ever, revealed no flaws or traces of past defeat, save the thin pink line across his temple. But the thing that stole his attention the most was Akihiko's mouth. There was a place just beneath his bottom lip, a curvature of skin that was hypnotic, and Minato could feel the magnetic pull of it so strongly that he sat back, pressing his back into the couch to make sure that he wasn't drifting. He certainly felt as though he were.
"What is it?"
The abrupt sound of Akihiko made Minato jump slightly. The older boy looked up and met Minato's dazed stare.
"N-…nothing."
"No…something's wrong, isn't it? You're looking like you want to say something."
Minato shook his head furiously. Even if he did have something to say, there wouldn't be a chance he'd be able to communicate it effectively. He didn't fully understand it himself. Standing up, he bowed quickly before stammering out a hasty goodbye and quickly leaving Akihiko alone in the sitting room. He didn't stop walking until he was safely shut in his room, and Akihiko didn't try to stop him.
"Ugh…" Minato leaned his back against his closed door, subconsciously defending himself from something unseen. He didn't want to think about whatever it was he was feeling for Akihiko. He didn't even want to avoid thinking about it, because that would only further denote his avoidance. He just wanted to feel at ease.
"What the hell…" He brushed a few stray locks of hair from his eyes and all but flung himself face down onto his bed. A sharp poke in the leg reminded him of what lay in his pocket, and he reached down and pulled the stone free. Lying on his side, he held it up mere inches from his face, halfway hoping to find the answer in its rough surface. The amethyst glittered and scattered stray shards of sunlight back at him, as if to hit the final realization home.
"You're beautiful…just like…just like…"
He didn't need to say it. Both he and the amethyst already knew the answer. Holding it against his palm, he squeezed his fist so tight he thought he might draw blood from the tiny ridges of the gem against his palm, but for some reason, it didn't hurt at all. There was an aching in his heart that far outweighed the simple pains of flesh
"So, what do ya think?" Junpei put his hands on Minato's desktop and grinned, as though he already knew the answer. Sighing to himself, Minato shook his head.
"I can't, Junpei. I'm…I have plans."
"Aw, come on! Blow 'em off! You gotta come with me!"
Junpei's dramatic gestures were too much for Yukari, and she laughed out loud as she packed up her books and slipped them neatly into her backpack.
"God, Junpei, leave him alone. Maybe he doesn't want to go with someone like you."
Junpei recovered quickly from the insult, holding his head high and smiling down at Minato.
"It's fine, I'll go alone…but I don't want to hear it when I come back with the hottest chick you've ever seen. You had your chance…come on Yukari." Junpei slung his bag over his shoulder and motioned for Yukari to follow him out of the classroom.
"What makes you think I'm going? I don't want to help you hit on girls!" She turned just in time to wave goodbye to Minato as she sped out the door, Junpei running after her comically and leaving Minato to pack up his things by himself.
He'd almost finished when his cell phone began to buzz in his jacket. Opening it, he found that he'd gotten a text message.
0
Meet me by the front gate. Just you this time.
Akihiko
0
Suddenly self-conscious, Minato closed his phone quickly with a snap. There wasn't anything suspicious about it, but he looked around nervously as he packed up his things, feeling as though he were sneaking around.
Akihiko was already outside by the time Minato arrived.
"Hey." Akihiko smiled as Minato approached him and motioned for him to follow. "I wanted ask if you were busy today."
"No…why, did something happen?"
Akihiko shook his head. "No, it's nothing like that. I wanted to go out and eat, but I didn't want to go alone. Would you like to come?"
Minato pushed all rational thought aside and smiled back at Akihiko, ignoring the warning signals his mind and body were throwing out at him.
"Sure…where to?"
They took the train, getting off at a stop just shy of where they normally would were they going back to the dorm. Akihiko took Minato upstairs in a strip mall, leading him to restaurant Minato had never seen before, let alone been to.
Holding the door open, Akihiko moved to the side. "After you," he said with a friendly grin, which Minato couldn't help but return.
They ordered and got their food quickly, seating themselves across from one another in the back of the restaurant. They ate together in silence for the first few minutes, and Minato was surprised to find that the empty air between them wasn't at all strange or uncomfortable. Akihiko was tragically graceful, as always, and Minato admired this from the corner of his eye as he ate.
"You know," Akihiko began, bringing his gaze up to match the younger boys', "It's true that I wanted someone to eat with, but I was hoping that it would be you."
Minato found that the temperature in the restaurant began to rise dramatically.
"…Oh?" he managed to force out, begging his features to appear casually interested and not exactly how they felt, panicked and strained.
Akihiko nodded. "I feel that I know Yukari and Junpei pretty well. Fuuka is still new, but already I can understand the sort of person she is. Mitsuru, well, I've known her for a long time." He stopped to let that sink in as he took another bite. "But we haven't really talked much…have we?"
Minato shook his head. He didn't know that much about Akihiko, but he knew that he understood Akihiko, and knew that there was a distinct difference. But Akihiko didn't understand him. Realizing this caused a certain unrest within him, and he took down his guard just a little, giving Akihiko a warm look.
"No, we haven't…I guess I've just been minding my own business." He smiled openly at Akihiko, and the older boy saw this and paused momentarily, as though he'd just thought of something he'd forgotten to do.
Minato leaned his head to the side a bit, wondering what had happened to him suddenly. "Is everything all right?"
"What?" Akihiko blinked a few times, coming back to reality. "Oh, yeah…everything's fine." He set into the rest of his food eagerly.
The afternoon passed much more quickly than any Minato had seen since his arrival. It was nice, though, and much easier than the moments they had spent together the night Akihiko nearly died.
Minato stood still and silent just outside the door of the antique shop. Had anyone else wanted to enter they would have had to move him to the side, but he wasn't thinking of that just then.
Minato was trying to work up the courage to enter.
He had just about give up on the whole idea when the door to the shop opened, and the older woman stepped out into the mall.
"Well, don't just stand there. Come inside!" Raising her hand, she all but ushered Minato into her shop, closing the door at his back. The string of bells on the doorframe jangled loudly behind him, signaling the end of his half-hearted escape.
"H-Hello." Minato smiled tentatively, watching as she made her way behind the counter.
He thought that his reason for coming was a bit silly, which was why he had hesitated to enter the shop for so long. He'd come across another stone in Tartarus, but he himself hadn't found it.
Akihiko had given it to him. It was a beautiful stone, with a deep crimson shade that looked black in the night. The red depths were only revealed to him later, when he had studied it at his desk. The light from his computer monitor showed him the true nature of the stone, illuminating its inner beauty. With the light filtering through it, it looked like fresh blood, suspended in time.
"Well? What have you got for me?"
The shop owner's voice pulled Minato from his memories, and with a shy smile he approached the counter and set the stone on the glass. It was no longer than two inches squared, but unlike the amethyst this one was smooth, free of blemishes and irregularities.
"Oh, my." The woman's face lit up at the sight. "This is incredible." Just like the last time Minato had shown her his findings, she held it up to the light and peered over the edge of her glasses.
"I…I was hoping you could tell me a bit more about it." He hoped it didn't sound too obvious. It was a childish idea, really, and an indulgence that his emotional state really couldn't afford, but he wanted something to hold onto, besides just a single stone and an ambiguous smile.
"Oh…I take it this was another gift from your friend?"
He nodded in response, hoping she wouldn't pry.
"That's a pity…I would have loved to take this off your hands. It's a garnet, you know."
"A garnet?"
"Yes…they come in many different colors. Each color brings a different sort of energy."
"Oh…" He wasn't sure if she was going to make him ask or if she just hadn't thought of it yet, but now that he was here he had to know. "What does garnet do?"
The woman took her eyes from the stone, settling her gaze directly on Minato's face. She studied him over the top of her glasses, searching him out before she spoke.
"Garnet…well, this sort of garnet brings protection and good health," she said, handing it back to Minato. "But, I suspect you want to know more."
"Please."
She nodded before continuing. "The giving of a garnet between people is an old tradition, although not here in Japan. It's from the British Isles. A garnet is given to one you never want to leave behind. It ensures that no matter what happens in life, the garnet will bring the two of you together."
"Oh…" Minato closed his fingers around the garnet, wondering briefly what it might be like if Akihiko knew of that old tradition. What it might be like if Akihiko meant it that way.
But Minato knew better than to think that, and knew that it was foolish to cling to such thoughts. He wasn't even entirely sure why he kept coming back to the old antique shop, seeking out strange information that wouldn't do a bit of good for him.
"Can I ask you one more thing? What would you give someone if you wanted to tell them…that you loved them?"
Wordlessly, the woman, ducked underneath the counter, rummaging around a bit until she reappeared with a small, tumbled pink stone in her hand. She gave it to Minato with a solemn gaze. "Rose quartz."
"Thank you," he said softly, backing away from the counter and leaving the store quickly.
End Part 2
Yayyyyy! Only one more part…and then it's done. I'm actually rather liking this one…I hope you do, as well! I'm a huge sucker for the angst. Thank you very much for reading! And since you read it at least this far, lemme know whatcha think:DDDDDDDDD