November 27, 2008- On the way to the SEES Dorm – Afterschool

Most days he didn't like Elizabeth. On other days, he hated Elizabeth.

Minato knew that he should stop accepting the odd help from the crazy girl whether it came to advice on how to handle people who want to drive him mad (Junpei) or, in this case, drive away the girls that came on to him in the school.

After 'convincing' Elizabeth that he didn't play for the other team, he was again forced into doing a favor for her…and he had to do it or else Elizabeth would make his daily life hell like 'randomly' giving him the duty of cleaning the hospital bathroom for two weeks straight or sending a sugar-high Pharos after him. The last task involved him feeding a cat in Port Island Station for several days since 'she couldn't do it herself.' His latest and finished task involved going behind Port Island Station in the dead of night and stealing a mahjong piece just so she can replace the one she lost.

It was a…good thing that he was a part of the track team or else he might've actually gotten killed. Minato massaged his forehead, a sign of lack of sleep from the previous night. He had to call in to Mitsuru, who already seemed annoyed, and told her that he'd be spending the night at Tatsumi Memorial Hospital. It was times like those that made him just want to lie on a random bunch of grass and sleep… which he couldn't because it was freezing.

The stupid thing about all this was that the 'answer' he received for all of his trouble was just to pretend he was already taken… which didn't solve his problem… since all the girls he actually knew thought he was a complete mental case and would just say no.

The only feasible girl he knew that might…will accept would probably be Aigis, but it just…felt wrong to use someone so innocently and blindly devoted to him in that way. Elizabeth looked…he thought…somewhat disappointed and happy at the same time that he didn't take her advice and ended up writing in that dreaded folder that marked his 'progress' for recovery.

Females. Nutcases of a different kind.

Opening the door to the dormitory, Minato felt his neck suddenly being pulled into a headlock by his other tormentor, Junpei.

---

"Yo! It's the man of the hour!" said Junpei as he put Minato in a headlock.

The smell of cooking food wafted through the air, an odd scent considering most of the dorm members usually just ate out…especially when Fuuka was present. Though admittedly, her cooking has been getting better. Just last week, he enjoyed a rather bland piece of chicken from her and, even though he got salmonella poisoning for a day or so, it was a real improvement for her especially with Shinjiro unexpectedly helping the aspiring cook.

Taking a leaf from Pharos, Minato sharply prodded Junpei in the ribs, forcing him to let go and allowing him to breathe.

"Ack."

"Junpei, what did you do?" Minato asked.

"What? Why am I blamed when there's something out of the ordinary?" Junpei replied with a half-hearted glare.

"Because it's usually your fault, Stupei." Yukari decided to chirp out from between the counter.

Minato turned his head to look and had to immediately avert his eyes from Yukari. Honestly, that obsession with the color pink was horrible. On top of her pink uniform, she was wearing a pink apron and cap which made it nearly impossible to look at her. That color was just painful to look at with the lighting. Instead, he walked towards the counter to look at the other person, Aigis who simply just wore a white apron on top of her school uniform.

"Minato-san. You're back early."

Ignoring the bickering pair, Minato replied to Aigis, "Well…I left track early today."

The look of worry on the blonde's face was equally painful to look at.

"Are you sick? Are you okay? Did you hur-"

"No. No. I'm fine. Errr… the coach decided to let us out early today. That's all."

"When does Coach Takamura let athl-mmphmmmmphheee?" was all Junpei got out before Minato blindly shoved one of the apples on the counter into the other male's mouth.

"Oh…if that's all…I would like to continue to help prepare Thanksgiving dinner. I think Mitsuru-senpai will soon be arriving with the turkey."Aigis bowed her head before watching the pot of stew cook while Yukari was stifling her laughter at Junpei.

Taking a bite of the apple to loosen it, Junpei finally managed to get it out of his mouth while glaring at Minato at the same time who returned it with a bland yet an equally annoyed stare.

"Ai-ch-"

Minato placed his hand over Junpei's mouth and whispered in his ear.

"If you put me and Aigis through that again…I don't care about what favor I'll have to do. I'm going to sic Liz on you."

Junpei's eyes widened in response to the threat before they narrowed and stared Minato straight in the eye. After several seconds, he paled and slowly excused himself to go back to his room. Yukari whistled loudly at Junpei's disappearance before asking in hushed tones, "What did you say to him?"

A small relieved smile lit Minato's lips, "I didn't say anything to him… I guess he didn't like what he saw."

"Finally, showing some assertiveness." Yukari laughed.

"I'm going to sleep on the couch." Yukari frowned at that answer.

"I said you were getting assertive, not suicidal. Remember what Mitsuru said about sleeping before hours?"

"Liz." Minato said as he curled up on the couch farthest from the television.

"Oh…never mind…I think she'll understand."

---

SEES Dormitories – November 27th 2008 - Evening

Minato woke up to the sight of loud yelling. Loud yelling was a basic part of life in the dormitories. It couldn't be helped especially when the personalities present grated each other like Yukari and Junpei, except in this case it was Shinjiro and Akihiko.

"You're not going to eat that protein shit and actually eat something decent, Aki."

"The weigh-in is a week from now for the hundredth time, Shinji. Honestly, sometimes I think you skip too many classes."

"And I've told you that all you need to do is just exercise or do whatever training more, idiot." Shinjiro himself was in an apron with his hand holding a frying pan that just wanted to plant itself into Akihiko's head.

'They'll work it out themselves…' thought Minato as he slowly tried to return to blissful sleep despite Akihiko and Shinjiro planting a fist into each other's face. Minato's return to his special place though was interrupted by the couch itself suddenly flipping over, painfully returning him to the real world.

"Damn it, Aki!"

"Shinji, I'm going to kick your ass!"

Crawling on the floor and avoiding the two, Minato slowly crawled towards the table to find…dinner. A large dinner. There was turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli, a red sauce he couldn't identify, a pie which smelled strongly of apple, a loaf of odd-smelling bread, hard-boiled eggs, a large pot of boiled rice, fish, and…something that never fit into a Thanksgiving meal…a large platter of assorted sushi. He blinked several times and heard his stomach growl in response to the delectable smells rising from the well-prepared food.

Though he'd probably want to stay away from that lopsided flan cake, Minato suspected that Fuuka probably had a minor hand in preparing this dinner as well. He was tempted to take some of the sushi before a rather firm hand on his shoulder spun him around.

"I fucking worked hard on this. It's either we all start eating together or I eat first. Got it?"

Minato could only dumbly nod at Shinjiro before a fist suddenly materialized right into Shinjiro's cheek.

"Damn it, Shinji! That hurt!" Akihiko said holding the side of his head.

"Of course it did! How else will it go through your damn skull?!" Shinjiro yelled as he pulled back his fist.

"What are you two doing?" Mitsuru said with a cool icy voice. Ken and Koromaru were apparently going to join them tonight since they were right beside her, staring at the upturned couches and the cracked vase on the floor.

Akihiko looked nervous while Shinjiro still looked defiant. Mitsuru continued glaring at the three teenage males in the room. She held up the cracked vase, saying, "This is…a two hundred thousand yen vase which you completely ruined." A sweatdrop appeared behind Shinjiro's head.

"Aki probably pushed the damn thing over when he fell over," Shinjiro grumbled mainly to himself.

"That's cause you decided to punch me in the gut!" Akihiko replied.

"Maybe if you weren't so damn stubborn about not celebrating Thanksgiving with the rest of us, you wouldn't hav-"

"Enough!" Mitsuru yelled as she held the bridge of her nose to stave off a growing headache. "I'll deal with you two after we eat."

"Wait a sec, I don't wa-"

"You. Are. Going…to eat with us and you are going to like it," Mitsuru replied. The air inside the room suddenly felt as cold as the air outside. "Or else I'm going to execute you."

Akihiko froze and then shivered before mumbling the word "Fine" and walked over to the center table, plopping himself down on a chair. Shinjiro, ignoring the anger that Mitsuru was focusing on him, simply sat down nearest to what he probably prepared, the turkey. Ken obviously took a seat near his idol Akihiko before sending a glare to Shinjiro who didn't notice. Mitsuru sighed as she sat a seat away from Shinjiro and several seats away from Minato.

Koromaru barked several times as he suddenly appeared from the stairs followed by the rest in their school clothes. Junpei, Aigis, Yukari, and Fuuka stared at the large dinner prepared and slowly took their seats. Aigis and Junpei sat next to Minato while Yukari situated herself as far away from Junpei that she could. Fuuka took a seat right between Shinjiro and Yukari/

Minato felt a nudge on his side from Junpei.

"Yo…you know that thing you said earlier…were…you…joking?"

Minato's reply was a small mischievous smile as he and everyone else started partaking on what was on the table.

---

Here ends the four-hour ficlet. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you loaded up on lots of food. ^___^

I also know that I ignored Fuuka…because I haven't really established her "story' in Unnamed Persona 3 Hospital Drama. Sorry, Fuuka-lovers. DX