The Sixth Day Continued
The time was 10:02 AM. Akihiko was still holding onto Minato, caressing his head as he had his face nestled into his senpai's chest. Akihiko had been trying to soothe the younger boy by saying comforting things and keeping him close. He never expected for Minato to have been carrying such a heavy load of stress within him for so long. Minato was happy to have confessed his dark feelings to Akihiko, but he still felt horrible having to relive the traumatic events of his past.
"It's alright, Minato. It's alright. I'm always going to be here for you. There's nothing to worry about." Akihiko cooed, stroking Minato's back.
Koromaru was also trying to help Minato. He was nestled in Minato's lap, trying to protect him like Akihiko was. Minato was beginning to calm down. His breathing became less erratic and tried drying his face off from the tears.
"I don't know what I would've done without you, Aki." Minato whispered in low voice. He reached down and gripped Akihiko's hand tightly.
"I love you, Aki…"
"I love you too. And don't you ever forget that, my Blue Puppy." Akihiko said as he wiped the rest of Minato's tears away. Minato smiled up at his senpai. Akihiko leaned down and gave him a loving kiss.
They were interrupted when someone came into Minato's room unexpectedly.
"Hey, Minato-kun. I just wanted to-What the?!" Yukari said then shrieked at the sight in front of her. Both boys darted away from each other, completely surprised beyond believe.
"T-Takeba! What are…?" Akihiko was too shocked to speak in proper sentences.
"I-I'll just go, and… Oh god." Yukari quickly shut the door and left in a hurried pace. Akihiko quickly went after her to make sure nothing would happen that would cause problems, leaving the door wide open. Koromaru ran out as well, trailing Akihiko. Minato sat alone in his room, shaking, feeling afraid.
"I-I-I didn't want anyone to find out." Minato was beginning to feel terrible, feeling the inside of his stomach churn in pain.
Akihiko ran up to the third floor, seeing if Yukari was there. He spotted her walking towards her room. He quickly ran after her and stopped her before she went in.
"Takeba, wait!"
"S-senpai… Oh god, I can't believe what I saw in there!"
"Takeba, if you could just…"
"How long has this been going on!? Is this why you've been spending all hours of the day with Minato-kun!?"
"W-we…we…"
"I thought we were a team, senpai! Friends that didn't need to hide anything from each other!"
"If I could just…"
"I thought you knew how I felt about Minato-kun!"
"I-I did, but…"
"Then why did you go take Minato-kun anyway?!" Yukari was becoming erratic.
"Takeba, listen to me! How about you just take a moment to calm down and think about how Minato feels. For god's sake, he wanted to die for years!"
Yukari was completely caught off guard from Akihiko's statement.
'W-what the Hell are you saying!?"
"You should instead listen to Minato, seeing as though you already know about us…"
Yukari tried regaining her composure and took a breath.
"Okay, senpai. And… sorry about that."
The two of them went down stairs to the second floor and towards Minato's room. They were at the foot of the stairs when they heard loud and repetitive coughing coming from Minato's room. The two glanced at each other for a second and ran over to the room. They went in and Minato was laying down on his bed, constantly coughing and hacking.
"Minato! What's the matter?!" Akihiko was very concerned. He noticed that Minato was sweating very much and had a pained expression on his face.
"I… I feel horrible… my stomach feels like it is getting ripped apart from the inside." Minato barely chocked out.
"D-don't worry, Minato. You'll be fine, I'm here for you." Akihiko said, wanting to comfort Minato, but also trying to assure himself as well. He was panicking from the sudden nosedive Minato's condition made.
"What do you think caused this?" Yukari questioned.
"My guess is that it's because of all the stress he's had today…"
Minato could tell how Akihiko was feeling, so he looked up at the older boy through half-lidded eyes and held onto his senpai's hand. Akihiko looked at his hand and back at Minato. He made a small smile at Akihiko, making Akihiko start to feel better. Yukari could tell that Minato really cared about Akihiko and Akihiko felt the same.
"I'll go get some medicine and water for him. Be right back." Yukari said as she left for the ground floor.
"I-is… Yukari… mad?" Minato weakly muttered.
"She was surprised, but, said she'd listen to what we'd have to say. But, please, just take it easy for now, Blue Pup." Akihiko said, cradling Minato.
A few moments later Yukari returned to Minato's room with a small cup of liquid medicine and some water.
"Here you go, senpai." Yukari said as she handed the medicine to Akihiko.
"Thanks, Takeba. Open up, Minato." Akihiko said as he slowly poured the medicine while Minato sipped it. Minato grimaced slightly.
"Ugh. Is it really that hard to make this stuff not taste nasty?" Minato said in a low voice. Akihiko just chuckled. He handed Minato the water to help relax him.
"I… I'm sorry, you guys. It's my fault that Minato-kun is like this right now. I shouldn't have barged in earlier. I'll… just see you guys later." Yukari sighed out. She started walking out until Minato called out to her.
"D-don't beat yourself over it, Yukari. I-it's not your fault."
"Minato-kun… Thanks. Hope you get better. And you guys don't need to explain anything to me." Yukari left after that, shutting the door behind her.
"How you doing, Blue Pup?"
"I'm… I'm tired." Minato muttered, rubbing his eyes as he nestled more into Akihiko's chest. "Mm. Your chest is my sanctuary, and your arms are my castle walls."
"Then the rest of me is your Knight in shining armor and you're my precious princess." Akihiko said back.
"Oi, I'm not a girl, Aki."
"You're right, you're cuter than a princess. And I'll be right by your side to protect you." After Akihiko said that, Minato fell asleep in Akihiko's arms. He gently set the blue haired boy down and watched over him.
Time had passed and it was now 5:47 PM. Minato woke up, back to the condition he was in before the temporary relapse. He looked over and Akihiko was at Minato's desk, asleep. He appeared to have been looking at some of the other drawings Minato had made. Minato chuckled lightly. It had been nearly a week since he's seen the whole group. He figured it wouldn't be a terrible idea to go down to the lounge and at least interact with them for a little while. He was still dressed in pajama bottoms, socks and an indigo colored T-shirt as he headed for the stairs. It was still a bit of a challenge to walk, but he didn't feel like his legs would give out on him.
Back in the lounge, the SEES members were sitting around the center area. Mitsuru was on one chair. Junpei and Yukari on one couch. Ken and Aigis on the other couch. Fuuka sat at the other chair, Koromaru at her feet. And Shinjiro was standing against the wall near the couch. Minato was making his way down the stairs at a slower pace to make sure his legs didn't decide right there to stop functioning correctly and make him fall. He was at the bottom of them when Mitsuru noticed him from the corner of her eye as she was reading her book.
"Oh, Arisato." Mitsuru's statement made everyone bolt their heads towards the stairs. Minato was making his way over.
"Minato-kun! You're out of bed." Fuuka said.
"Are you well enough to be here?" Ken asked.
"A lot better than from before. It's been almost a week since I've seen most of you guys and wanted to come down for at least a little while."
"What about Akihiko-senpai? Wasn't he with you?" Junpei wondered.
"He fell asleep at my desk. He's already done enough for me this whole time, I didn't want to bother him."
"It's very nice to see you doing better." Fuuka remarked. Koromaru barked in agreement. He barked a few times after that too.
"Koro-san asks if Minato is feeling better after crying in front of Akihiko-san." Aigis translated for the dog. Minato jumped slightly, not expecting that Koromaru would 'say' anything like that. The others were surprised by what Aigis had said.
"Minato-kun crying? What made you so upset?" Fuuka questioned.
"Uhhh…" Minato had no idea as to what he should say. Junpei rubbed the back of his neck, figuring it was what he had accidentally overheard earlier.
"So there really was something upsetting you, Minato-san?" Asked Ken.
"Was it something Akihiko did?" Mitsuru asked, upset of the possibility of Akihiko doing something after she told him not to have any more disputes.
"N-no, no. Of course it wasn't because of Aki…HIKO-SENPAI!" Minato was running on thin ice now.
"Minato-san referred Akihiko-san as 'Aki', indicating that he has a very familiar relationship with him." Aigis remarked. The SEES members were perplexed as to what was going on.
"What do you mean by 'very familiar', Aigis-san?" Ken asked. Everyone just turned their heads towards Minato. He was starting to turn red.
"Alright! Alright!" Minato yelled out. Hearing Minato yell like that startled everybody. Akihiko was in Minato's room when he woke up, thinking he heard Minato yell. He looked over at the bed and noticed that Minato was gone.
"Oh, shit!" Akihiko grunted, hurriedly exiting the room. He made his way down the stairs when he heard Minato yell out something else.
"I'm acting so weird because I love Akihiko! And I wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for him!" Minato exclaimed in a loud voice, his face turning extremely red from his confession. Akihiko stopped dead in his tracks, blushing wildly as well. Everybody just stared at Minato. They were completely flabbergasted.
"What do you mean by 'wouldn't be alive'?" Mitsuru questioned.
"I…I've said enough as it is." Minato said, turning around to go back to his room until he saw Akihiko standing behind him.
"A-Akihiko… I'm… sorry about that." Minato squeaked out, trying to get past him. Akihiko stopped him when he grabbed his hand.
"It's alright, Minato. There's no reason for me to be upset or anything." Akihiko gave Minato a comforting smile. It made Minato feel better, bringing back a smile to his face.
"So Sanada-san is really gay?" Ken asked.
"I wouldn't label it like that. I love Minato and only Minato." Akihiko responded. Minato buried his face in his hands, turning very red from Akihiko's statement. Akihiko laughed at Minato and Minato just punched his senpai's shoulder. When looking around, some SEES members were not as surprised.
"Some of the group present do not seem to be alarmed with this new information." Aigis said out.
"I could tell how Akihiko has felt for a long time now." Mitsuru said.
"Akihiko-san told me about it one day when I saw him acting odd." Said Fuuka.
"I accidentally walked in on them kissing earlier today…" Yukari confessed.
"*sigh* I overheard them saying to each other how they felt earlier today, too." Junpei admitted.
"Wow, this had to be the worst kept secret in history." Minato remarked.
"Well it is better that they know, anyway. You know hard it is to make up a lie right on the spot?" Akihiko chuckled, patting Minato on the back. Minato looked at him and sighed lightly. Afterwards Minato held onto his head.
"Hey, what's the matter?" Akihiko asked.
"That yelling made me feel lightheaded. Now I got a head-splitting headache…"
"Well, come on. Let's get you back to your room, Blue Puppy."
"Gah! D-don't call me that in front of them, b-baka!" Minato became really embarrassed at Akihiko as he just laughed at the blue haired boy. They both walked away while the SEES members tried getting a handle on what happened.
"Don't tell me we gotta suffer hearing the two of them act like that now…" Junpei groaned. Mitsuru chuckled lightly.
"What's funny, Mitsuru-senpai?" Junpei asked.
"I'm just glad that Akihiko doesn't have to keep hiding how he really is now."
"I actually think that they're a cute couple." Fuuka giggled.
Akihiko and Minato were back in Minato's room. Minato was rubbing his temples, glad that he didn't need to worry about his relationship getting out anymore. But he wondered if it was okay with Akihiko.
"Hey, Aki. Are you worried about our relationship getting out to everybody at school?"
"Meh. Not really. There's nothing to worry about. Especially because if everybody knows, then no one will be hitting on either of us anymore."
"You don't think any guys are going to make fun of you or anything?"
"Nah. I am the captain of the boxing team. It would be a really bad decision to mess with me. An even worse mistake if anyone tries to hurt you because of it." Akihiko said as he cracked his knuckles.
"So, we can spend anytime we can at school together then?"
"Of course. It's gonna be hard enough to think during class with you taking over my thoughts. I'm gonna be dashing for your class every time the lunch period starts and when school lets out." Akihiko said, sitting down next to Minato.
"Aw, you really are the perfect boyfriend." Minato said, wrapping himself around Akihiko's arm.
"That's cause you're my Minato. And my Minato is gonna stay happy or so help me, I will sock someone in the face."
"I'm always going to be happy as long as you're in my life." Minato rested his head against Akihiko's shoulder.
"So will I, Minato. I'll be happy as long as I'm right by your side."