Disclaimer: Persona 3 Portable is owned by ATLUS.

A/N: This chapter is somehow inspired by the five senses fic on FF XII that I've read at the balthier_ashe community on livejournal. The song for the first time is not by Secondhand Serenade. It's by Stephen Speaks, Out of my League.

With the rate of how the reviews went on the previous chapter I think you didn't like my rendition of the New Year event on FeMC's POV much.

MissFortune-Hime: I hope this chapter makes up for all those times that I've made you sad by reading this fic. Thanks for the review.

Mimi Minato: I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for the review.

REMINDER: I did play the game, I just changed the dates to suit this fic.

Falling

-an act of moving down freely or suddenly

-to begin to be in, or enter into, a particular state or condition

Akihiko learns how keen and expedient the five senses are.

It's her hair and her eyes today

That just simply takes me away

January 13, 2010 / Wednesday / After School

Gekkoukan High Field

Akihiko isn't naïve; he notices it too, like most of the school's male population. After all, the sight to behold deserves a grant of appreciation. However, he doesn't feel comfortable with it, with the attention she is showered with, in which prying eyes delve into what's left for their imagination. He feels guilty too, for looking so much and sometimes wanting so much that he often scolds himself. He doesn't even understand the feeling.

Akihiko sees her at the tennis court by chance. He passes by as he walks toward the storage room to return PE equipment that the boxing club has borrowed for the day. He only glances briefly to his right because of the squeals he heard but it is her who he first notices. He momentarily stops.

Her feet are set perpendicular to each other, her hair gliding in the wind as she moves, and with determined eyes her arm swings ever so gracefully in the air hitting a sharp smash that sends the ball in her opponent's court with accuracy and speed earning her a winning point.

But Akihiko sees it differently; what he sees is an arm that slashes the air with meaning to cut and a posture that is a fighting stance, not a high school girl playing tennis. He frowns.

Arisato raises her arms in the joy of victory and a grin lights up her face, it eases the thought out of his mind and makes him smile. It also makes him notice every detail.

He notices how bright the redness of her eyes are, how devastating that smile of hers is, how alluring lips she has, how the escaping tendrils of her hair sticks to her neck, how her shirt clings too much on her body making him see the shapes and curves distinctly, how short her skirt is that exposes her smooth long legs, and how she could wake up confusing and unfamiliar feelings within him just with the sight of her.

Just the sight of her, ten feet away, makes his throat dry, a hundred elephants stomping on his chest, and a knot twisting in his stomach. It almost drives him mad. He walks away.

And throws a look over his shoulder to peek again.

All the times that I've sat and stared

As she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair

And she purses her lips, bats her eyes

And she plays with me sitting there slack jawed and nothing to say

January 18, 2010 / Monday / After School

Gekkoukan High

He's got a test in French class for tomorrow and he hasn't studied for it yet. He doesn't have club for the day and it seems to be the right time to review the material. Instead of heading back to the dorm though Akihiko makes his way towards the library, he's got a feeling that once he returns back to his room at the dorm he'll just get preoccupied.

Akihiko slides the door of the library and it rouses the attention of the students, as they notice him all eyes linger, he isn't bothered though he's used to it by now or more like he isn't much aware of it.

He strides onto the tables and looks for a vacant spot, and then to his right he sees a waving arm and a familiar face. He smiles and walks up to her. Arisato offers him the seat to her left.

"Getting some studying done, senpai?" She asks after he has made himself comfortable beside her.

"Yeah. We've got a test in French tomorrow."

She crinkles her forehead, eyes slitting and her lips turning into a pout.

"I think French is hard. The words are pronounced differently from how it's written so it's much more complicated than English." A pause, then a pretty smile breaks out. "I think it's fun to learn though and they say it's a romantic language. I had a friend from France, you know the transfer student who was always at the Home Economics room, he taught me some phrases but then he had to go back."

He wonders if Arisato feels out of breathe whenever she speaks.

"I see…"

Arisato glances back to her notes and taps her pen on it. A long silence ensues. Akihiko opts to open his notebook and decides to start studying but then he hears her deep sigh. He glances at her to see that she is glaring at her notes and chewing her lip. He takes a moment to observe her closely as she fumbles with her pins repeatedly, which is why he is caught off guard when she suddenly turns her head to look at him.

"Senpai?" She asks, with fluttering eyes and an amused small smile in her lips. He flushes.

"Oh…uh" He swallows hard and thinks of something to say, hoping he won't stutter.

"Is there something wrong? You were glaring at the poor notes."

"Well…you see, I can't answer this certain problem, no wait, all these problems are just too hard Akihiko-senpai, I think I'll never get to answer them correctly. I hate Math." She grumbles.

Akihiko couldn't help but chuckle. He hasn't thought of a subject that Arisato will find difficult especially when she had always been at the top of her class.

"Maybe I can help you."

The statement appears to have made her mood lighten, which made her beam at him appreciatively. Akihiko clears his throat.

"You would? But you're supposed to study for your test. Won't I be bothering you?" She hangs her head low.

"Of course not, I'd like to help you. In fact I know our lesson well enough, I only have to read it again just for assurance." He offers her a smile.

"If you say so." Arisato grins.

"So, what are the problems about?"

Arisato pushes her notes in front of him while he closes his own and puts it aside. She points out the formula she's having trouble of using that despite of following them meticulously she always ends up with a wrong answer. Akihiko takes the scratch paper and scribbles problem number one on it alongside with the formula. He then starts to explain to her where she was wrong.

Akihiko becomes aware how Arisato goes out of her way when she leans towards him to see what he's writing. They both know she needn't have to lean so close with the fact that he's left handed and there's enough space for her to see the paper. Akihiko can feel her back resting on his right arm and he spots how her left hand is dangerously propped near his leg on the chair. This realization makes him freeze and makes him take a sharp intake of breathe, that is his downfall though.

The smell of lilac and vanilla invades his senses he could almost taste it. Akihiko resists the urge to lean towards her and bury his face in the crook of her neck.

Arisato snaps him out of his daze.

"Akihiko-senpai, why'd you stopped?"

She tilts her head innocently in inquiry. Akihiko swallows hard, half-tempted to ask her if she doesn't find their position awkwardly wrong.

"Uh…it's nothing, lets continue."

Akihiko continues where he left off, willing himself to concentrate despite the fact that Arisato inched more forward that their side and hipbones meet and their knees touching. The proximity sends a tingling sensation all over his body and warmth to spread across his chest up to his face. He doesn't mind though and chooses not to say anything about it.

Akihiko inclines his head closer to the side of her face and breathes in more evenly.

It's a masterful melody when she calls out my name to me

As the world spins around her she laughs, close her eyes

And I feel like I'm falling but it's no surprise

January 20, 2010 / Wednesday / Lunch

Gekkoukan High 1st Floor Main Lobby

These days, his ears seem to always perk up, always attentive and alert to every sound. He doesn't really mind this acquired ability of his ears as it is quite useful, although the reason it has been acute is mostly due to his particular intention to hear, someone's voice that is. A soft affected mirthful voice. A voice that grasps his attention immediately, making him listen intently and wait for the words to come.

Arisato doesn't have the most beautiful voice, nor did she have the most fascinating tone. But he likes to hear her. He has thought of reasons really, why he would want to hear her voice. He knew of girls with wonderful voices in his class, so why her?

He has heard of squeals, and laughter, and girls speaking, and juniors and freshmen calling him senpai. None of them makes him want to linger.

What was it in her voice that catches his interest?

Akihiko is shaken out of his musings when he collides with someone.

"Sorry." He says out of instinct.

"It's okay. You should look where you're going though, Akihiko-senpai." And it's that voice.

He turns his gaze towards her face. And it makes him more breathless.

"Yeah, I should."

Out of the blue she laughs merrily with her eyes closed and it makes him wonder what he did to make a fool of himself in front of her. She must have noticed the puzzled expression he is wearing, so she stopped and kindly offered him an explanation.

"You were staring at me weirdly, Akihiko-senpai. I don't know but you looked as if you saw something…" She trails off, probably thinking of the right word to supply with the way her eyes moves up to the ceiling.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…uhm, I wasn't thinking…argh, it sounds all wrong."

"It's okay. I don't have dirt on my face though, do I senpai?"

He takes a moment to stare at her before he replies.

"No. There's nothing wrong with your face."

"Thanks. See you around then, senpai." She says before bowing slightly then walking away.

Arisato is already out of sight, but still, he can't breathe properly.

Maybe that's why.

And my voice shakes along with my hands

January 22, 2010 / Friday / After School

It's a Friday. He doesn't have club. And he's bored.

Akihiko rounds up the corner of the clubrooms hallway and there he sees her going down the stairs. She notices him instantly as if she had known he would be there all along. Arisato smiles and waves a hand. He nods and returns the smile.

"Heading back to the dorm, senpai?" She asks him as she bounces on her toes once she's in front of him.

"Yeah. I don't have club so I'm kind of free today…" He trails off, hinting.

"Want to go together?" Arisato tilts her head.

"U-um, yes, lets…"

In between their trip to the dorm Arisato has managed to lead him to agree on buying takoyaki at the Strip Mall and pass some time by the shrine to eat the delicacy there. All this happened with him nodding and stuttering and in a daze the whole time, his body tense and his hands clammy within the confines of his gloves.

They sit silently at the bench enjoying the cool breeze of leaving winter, the taste of takoyaki and Cielo Mist fresh in their tongues. Akihiko glimpses Arisato staring nostalgically at the jungle gym with a hint of longing. He decides to humor her.

Akihiko climbs the frame with ease and sits himself at the top. He lays out his hands to her, beckoning her to come join him. Arisato grins and follows through. She is careful on where to hold and place her feet, he notices it is not that she is taking it slowly rather she doesn't have much energy to push herself. He lends a hand.

Akihiko grasps one of her wrists and puts a hand on her back. It does not matter that he is wearing gloves because he can feel it, feel her, and she's so warm and so near that her hold on her falters. Arisato sits promptly beside him and makes herself comfortable despite the hardness of the steel bars. Akihiko retracts his hands, burned, and grips the bars tightly.

"Ne, Akihiko-senpai, thank you for spending this day with me."

It is said with a voice so melancholic he wonders if there is something wrong, when he looks at her though she flashes him a small sincere smile.

"N-no! I mean, I-I should be the one to uh thank you since you were the one who's always…busy being in uhm many clubs and a part of the st-student council and having lots of friends."

He keeps on stuttering, and he doesn't know why. His hands are shaking too for some reason (still feeling burned). And it doesn't help that his lungs are threatening to explode in a minute with his heart beat hammering in his hears.

Arisato chuckles.

"I've always wanted to ask you but…"

She trails off and frowns at him. Akihiko thinks maybe he looks awful with the emotions that might have shown on his face. But then he notices she is looking lower. Her fingers come in contact with his Adam's apple and the back of her hand brushes against his chin. The sensation sends a fever crawling around his entire body. When Arisato takes back her hand she is already holding something tiny and yellow in between her fingers. She twirls it and blinks innocently.

"There's a dandelion caught in your collar Akihiko-senpai." And she giggles.

"O-oh. Really?"

Arisato blows on it until nothing is left of the fluffy seeds. She looks at him through her lashes when she starts to speak.

"I want to ask you something, senpai."

"Go ahead."

"Please call me Minako from now on." The corners of her lips curl up and he sees a genuine smile grow on her face, one he has never seen before. Akihiko is startled with her request and he is filled with the thoughts of how intimate it feels like to call her on her name. A knot in his stomach twists.

He wants to ask her too. Would you mind calling me Aki?

But his mind is scattered and he can't collect himself. Akihiko feels like he's floating higher and higher and without direction, but he thinks it's quite fine since he likes where he is at. Right now, here, beside her.

"Alright, Minako."

Cause its frightening to be swimming in this strange sea

But I'd rather be here than on land

And also learns how to fall.

A/N: The last sense, the taste, will be at the next chapter.

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