Author's Notes: So yeah... Time for another upload. I actually like daily uploads... It gives me a sense of purpose... But because lack of progress in FES is a thing, I really need to slow down. I don't think I'm going to playing FES for a while anyways because Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice is out and it's so good... I only played the tutorial case and it was already loads better than the main gain of Dual Destinies... Anyways, have another filler.

~23 SEPTEMBER 2009~

"Fuuka," Minato leaned over the couch and lightly rested his chin on her head.

The teal-haired girl giggled as she looked up towards him. "Are you still feeling sick, Minato-kun?"

"No… It's the last day of holidays today," the boy pointed out. "I don't really have plans on how to spend it."

Fuuka smiled at him. "Did you know there's a one-day-only Film Festival today? The promoter said there was so much demand, they decided to hold another one. I guess people liked it!"

"Are you going with Moriyama-san?" Minato asked her.

She shook her head. "Natsuki-chan and I spent the entire weekend at the theater since she would be busy today."

"Would you like to go with me then?" the boy smirked. "It wouldn't be fun for me to go alone."

"Ooh… Go where?" Hamuko suddenly popped up at her brother's side.

Minato immediately straightened up. "Hey, don't butt in like that," he scolded her while hiding his blush.

"Were you asking Fuuka-chan out on a date?" his younger sister teased him.

Fuuka blushed too. "U-um… I was just telling him about the Film Festival today."

"Film Festival?" Hamuko blinked at them both before she spotted a tall brunet coming down the stairs. "Shinji-kun! Let's all go watch movies together!" she called out as she teleported to his side and clung to his arm affectionately.

"The hell!?" Shinjiro frowned at her before looking at the two juniors in the lounge. "You know your brother's in the room, right?"

Minato sighed as he shook his head. "On a second thought, maybe I shouldn't go out today."

"But I don't want to go alone either, Minato-kun," Fuuka smiled at him.

"Eh?" The boy looked at her in surprise.

"Great, so it'll be a double date!" Hamuko brightly stated.

"Huh?" Shinjiro gave the brunette a confused expression. "Just what the hell is going on?"

"Are we really going to go to today's Film Festival together?" Minato crossed his arms with a frown.

The older boy blinked at him. "Huh? Film Festival?" He shook his head. "I totally forgot they had those… Not that I've ever been to one," he shrugged.

"Come with us," Hamuko begged.

"Wouldn't you have more fun if you went with one of your girlfriends?" Shinjiro asked her.

"But it's a double date," the red-eyed girl whined. "Minato's taking Fuuka-chan so you have to take me," she pouted.

"It's not a date," Minato shook his head before turning to Fuuka. "Is it?" he asked in confusion.

Fuuka blinked at him. "Um…" She shyly smiled at the blue-haired boy. "I suppose it can be…"

"Eh!?" The boy's face was on fire.

Shinjiro shook his head at the two dense juniors before turning his attention back to Hamuko. "Well, I don't care if you don't."

"Yay!" The girl's grip around his arm tightened.

"Let's go then," he sighed as they passed Fuuka and Minato.

"Nii-san, Fuuka-chan," Hamuko called out to them. "You heard him!"

Fuuka giggled as she pulled the on the stunned leader's arm. "It'll be fun, Minato-kun," she reassured him.

"O-okay…" The boy dumbly followed along and didn't really recover from the shock of the situation until they were finally at Port Island Station. He took a few deep breaths as he studied the list of movies for the day. "Incredible Pet Stories?" He tilted his head to the side.

Shinjiro shared the younger boy's sentiments. "Are we… really watching this?"

Hamuko's eyes widened. "Oh… It's those movies about those small cute animals, right, Fuuka-chan?"

The teal-haired girl eagerly nodded her head. "I've read a lot of reviews online praising them."

Shinjiro crossed his arms and did his best to hide his growing smirk. "Well… If this is what you really want, I guess I'm game too."

Minato oddly blinked at the older boy but saw the others having fun. He relaxed a bit as he put his hands in his pockets. "If Shinjiro-san's fine with it, then I should be too."

The four teenagers watched the three movies back to back. Minato stifled a cry as the small bunny hopping across the screen was suddenly mauled by the hungry wolf. Fuuka was holding his hand and her grip tightened as the movies continued. At his other side, Minato heard sniffling. He turned his head slightly to see Hamuko consoling a teary-eyed Shinjiro.

At the end of the experience, Shinjiro shook his head as he tried to pull himself together. "The river… It just… washed that dog away…" he said with a quivering lip. "I… gotta go." He hurriedly disappeared into the bathroom before the juniors could see him cry.

Hamuko smirked at how sensitive the older boy really was. "I didn't expect that, did you, Minato?" She turned towards her brother but noticed he was gone too. "Minato?"

Fuuka frowned at her. "He followed Shinjiro-san into the bathroom," she told her.

"Wow…" Hamuko blinked at her friend. "I really didn't see that coming." She smiled at the navigator. "Did you have fun, Fuuka-chan?"

The shy girl nodded her head with a smile. "I'm glad I came. The movies really were good."

"I'm glad to hear that," the red-eyed girl sighed in relief. "I was beginning to think I forced you and Minato to come against your wills."

"Not at all," Fuuka reassured her. "I…" She lowered her gaze as she blushed. "I was able to spend the day with Minato-kun after all…"

"I wonder what else we can do today," Hamuko smirked.

In the men's bathroom, Minato quickly splashed water onto his face. Shinjiro glared at the junior as he dried himself. "If you mention a word of this to anybody…"

"Relax," Minato plainly stared at the older boy. "It's Hamuko you should be more worried about."

The brunet smirked. "Yeah…"

The junior paused as he studied the other boy's face. "Hm…"

"What?"

"You look like you're enjoying yourself," Minato said as he wiped his face dry.

"So?" the taller boy scowled.

"That makes Hamuko happy," the blue-haired junior shrugged as they left the bathroom.

"Oh, yeah?" Shinjiro smiled at that. "That's good. She looks best when she's smiling anyways."

Shinjiro-san? Minato stared at him oddly before he chuckled. I really don't have to worry about her so long as Shinjiro-san is around. "This should be enough fun for Hamuko for today," he said with a satisfied smirk. His face suddenly fell as the girls greeted them excitedly. "Or not…"

"Minato-kun!" Fuuka's eyes glowed enthusiastically. "Hamuko-chan came up with a great idea! She wants Shinjiro-san and me to cook for the entire dorm."

"Huh?" The male junior was confused.

"We'll supply the ingredients," Hamuko nodded to her brother.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Shinjiro asked.

"Nope," the red-eyed girl chuckled.

Fuuka paused as she considered something. "I remember the entire dorm making a promise to have a dinner together. I don't exactly know when we made that promise, but wouldn't it be nice for everyone if we kept it anyway, Minato-kun?"

The blue-haired boy sheepishly smiled at her as she stared at him expectantly. "Y-yeah…" He paused as the image of a tall grey-haired boy smiled at him. Beside him was a stern woman who was dressed similarly to Elizabeth and another girl with short black hair wearing a blue cap and confused frown. Huh? They're… He tried to recall who they were but the memory quickly disappeared. "We did make a promise, didn't we?" Minato frowned as he sensed the boy he envisioned must have had something to do with whatever it was the SEES leader had forgotten. He nodded his head as he turned towards Shinjiro. "Senpai, you promised Akihiko-san pancakes," he smirked.

"I ain't your senpai," the older boy barked at him before he remembered offering to cook for his childhood friend. "And yeah… I guess so…" He smirked at the twins. "So… You two had better prepare everything. Fuuka and I are heading back to get started on prepping the kitchen. You guys know what you need, right?"

"The ingredients for everybody's favorite foods," Hamuko smirked.

"Then I'm counting on you," Shinjiro smirked back.

Minato nodded his head as he crossed his arms. "No worries, Shinji-nii." The blue-eyed boy blinked as he realized what he just said. "W-wait…" He looked away from the taller boy as his face became red. "S-sorry…"

Shinjiro studied the junior and shook his head. "Whatever. Just don't call me that again." He did his best to fight the happy smirk trying to make its way to his face.

"O-of course, Shinjiro-san!" the blue-haired boy tried to put on an indifferent expression towards the older boy.

Hamuko tugged on her brother's arm. "We'd better hurry. It'll take us a while to get everything we need." She turned back to Fuuka. "Good luck, Fuuka-chan. We believe in you!"

"Yes, I'll do my best!" the brown-eyed girl nodded in determination.

They parted ways and Hamuko stared at Minato oddly. "Nii-san…"

"What?" Minato frowned.

"You called Shinjiro-san…" She wore a small smile.

"Yeah…" he nodded his head. He paused as he considered his actions. Am I expecting too much from Shinjiro-san? His Reapers are still there but… They temporarily disappear whenever Hamuko is around.

Hamuko quickly pulled him out of his thoughts when she hugged her brother's arm. "Thanks for accepting him, nii-san."

"S-sure," Minato tried to smile back at her. "N-no problem."

~24 SEPTEMBER 2009~

Fuuka waved at the twins as they approached the school gate. "Good morning!" she beamed at them. "It feels like fall since the typhoon passed, doesn't it?"

Minato took in a deep breath. "My favorite season," he said with a satisfied smirk. "The air is at its most crisp then," he nodded.

Hamuko pulled on the boy's cheek. "It's also the season you often get sick because you love the breeze so much," she pointed out. She looked over to Fuuka. "Which season do you prefer, Fuuka-chan?"

Fuuka giggled at her. "I prefer the spring myself," she told them. "That's when the flowers begin to bloom."

"That's makes sense," Hamuko nodded. "My favorite is winter," she smiled as she tightly hugged her brother. "It's the most romantic!"

"So why are you hugging me then?" the blue-haired boy frowned.

Fuuka lightly laughed at the two before sighing. "Well, I hope the fighting ends before winter comes…"

Hamuko let go of their leader and seriously considered their situation. "I'm sure it will," she reassured them with a frown.

"I hope so…" Fuuka looked at Minato with worry.

The blue-haired boy shrugged as he opened the door for them. "Who knows? The most important thing is that we stay on our guard."

Toriumi shook her head as she settled the class. "Alright, everyone quiet down! Ahm, there will be no classes this afternoon. However, that doesn't mean you'll be allowed to goof off… You'll all have to work together to clean up the displays and decorations for the school festival. I'll assign you into three groups for the cleanup. The first group will go to the science lab. Your leader will be…"

The entire class groaned as they split into their groups. Yukari sighed as Toriumi placed her in charge of the science lab. "C'mon, let's hurry up and get this over with. Let's break up into groups of two. One person takes down photos, the other binds them together."

"Alrighty," Junpei nodded, pairing up with Hamuko.

Hamuko sternly nodded to her partner. "Let's do this quick."

"Geez," the capped boy shook his head at the girls. "You're so serious all the time. We're allowed to take this easy, y'know?"

Yukari ignored him as she and Minato took down a few pictures. "Sucks for the Photography Club that they took so many pictures and no one got to see any of them…"

Minato sighed as he gingerly took down one of his own photos. "I don't really mind people not seeing them. I'm more bothered by the fact that I painstakingly put in such unnecessary work. I could have been doing something else instead of this, you know?"

Yukari chuckled at him before she spotted a photo of the Volleyball Team. "Oh, isn't this from the summer fellowship?" She gave their co-leader a smile. "Look, here's Hamuko. You guys went to a school in the countryside, right?"

The red-eyed girl nodded. "It was a nice place."

"Lucky!" Yukari looked back at Minato's picture of the inn. "They had a hot spring too, didn't they?"

Minato fondly recalled the peaceful town. "It was a very nice bathhouse they had…"

"I want to go in one too," Aigis stated as she helped them.

"We'll be going to one soon enough," Junpei pointed out.

Yukari looked at the boy oddly. "Are you talking about the school trip? That's in November…" she frowned. "Talk about jumping the gun. I can't believe we're going to Kyoto…"

"Eh," the capped boy shrugged. "It's where everyone goes. I really wish they wouldn't make us go to all the shrines and stuff."

"Yeah, seriously," Kenji said as he came in with Kaz and the cleaning supplies. He crossed his arms and smoothly approached the girl currently in charge. "So, Yukari-san. Why don't I show you around Kyoto when we go?"

"Aren't you only into older women?" Minato asked him with a frown.

"How did we jump onto that subject…?" Yukari frowned at the boys. "Anyways," she shook her head as she turned to Kenji, "did you find a nail puller?"

"Yeah, Kazushi brought all of them," Kenji pointed to the track star.

"You've got a bunch to choose from," Kaz responded as he handed her one.

"We just needed one or two…" the brunette frowned. "Aren't the guys in the other classes going to need them too?"

"Oh, y-you're right…" Kaz looked down at the tools he carried. "I'll go return the rest!"

"Uh, well…" Yukari continued to frown at the dense runner. "I don't think you need to go right away. Just if someone asks."

"I-I see…" the boy nodded as he set them on the ground. "Then I'll leave them here!"

Junpei looked at the tools and shook his head. "You know what? I'll take them back. You forgot a few things anyways. Hey, Ai-chan, come with me." He lowered his voice so that Kaz and Kenji wouldn't hear. "The stuff might be heavy so yeah… I might need your help."

Kaz frowned at the archer and capped boy resulting in Kenji chuckling to himself. "You know… When you're with girls… Well, more like when you're with Yukari-san…"

"Wh-what?" Kaz asked him in confusion.

"Nothing," Kenji shook his head as he began taking down a few pictures. He paused as he stared at the various pictures hanging from the stands. "Hey, this is the Photography Club's display." He looked up towards Minato. "Aren't these pictures from the big competition?" He pointed at a photo and pulled on the blue-haired boy's arm. "Look, Minato, you're in this one. Whoa… isn't the guy who took first kinda dark-looking? He looks like he's got a bad suntan or something.

"That's Mamoru," Kaz looked over Kenji's shoulder. "He's crazy strong." The runner crossed his arms and smirked. "Though of course, I'll beat him one—"

"Dude," Kenji sighed at Kaz. "I think you've already taken the sweatiness competition. I've never seen you in the school uniform before. I guess jerseys are better for stuff like this, but still…"

Yukari groaned at the two boys. "Hey, you guys can jabber all you want, but work while you talk. At this rate, we'll be here all day."

Kaz turned to her. "O-oh, sorry." Yukari quickly went to another portion of the lab by herself.

"Hey…" Kenji smirked at the track star. "You're not, like…?"

"Wh-whaddaya mean?" Kaz blankly stared at his classmate.

Junpei sighed as he returned with Aigis. "Ugh, I'm already bushed…" He put down the heavy box. "I brought the stuff. A few more nail pullers, tape, and…"

Kenji quickly swiped a nail puller from the capped boy. "Cool, thanks man!" He paused when he noticed something missing. "Wait, hang on… Did you forget the popping stuff?"

"Popping stuff…?" Junpei stared at the fellow Magician in confusion. "Ohhh! The bubble wrap." He scratched his head sheepishly. "Uh… Good call, Kenji," he smirked. "Go get it. You know where they keep all this stuff, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Kenji shook his head at him. "You're the one who forgot it."

"Huh? Are you sure?" Junpei's smirk grew. "You really don't wanna go? That place is like a paradise, you know that? Some fine chicas there who'd be just your type…"

"W-wait," Kenji smirked as he played along. "Are you serious!? Be right back, guys!" he called to the others before shaking his head at the capped boy. "Yeah, like I'd fall for that, dumbass. What kind of supply room is stocked with hot babes?"

Yukari cleared her throat in annoyance. "I believe I asked you all to hurry it up so we can go home!" She shook her head. "Ugh, we're never gonna finish at this rate," she complained.

"U-uhhh," Junpei frowned. "Sorry, Yuka-tan…" The girl turned her back on them and the capped boy ended up muttering something to Kenji. "She's like a pissed-off samurai…"

"I heard that," Yukari snapped. "Geez… Are you stupid or something?"

"More like Stupei, I think," Kenji rolled his eyes.

"D-déjà vu…!" Junpei looked at the boy in surprise before sighing. "Fine… I'll go to the supply room later…" The small group scattered as they returned to their work.

Kenji shook his head and sighed. "But yeah… it's a real shame the school festival fell through. There was some hilarious stuff planned. Like a cross-dressing pageant…" He smirked. "They said it would be open to everyone, so I was planning on jumping in."

Junpei's eyes grew wide. "Huh? You, cross-dressing!?" He shook his head. "Oh hell no…" He tried to get rid of the image from his mind. "Nah, no way…"

"You were just imagining it just now, huh?" Kenji laughed. "I must've been super cute."

"Where in the world does your confidence come from…?" Junpei sighed.

"Well, I'd be a lot better at it than you," Kenji put his hands on his hips. "You'd just look creepy."

"I don't think you needed to go that far," Junpei shook his head. "I mean, hey," he smirked as he looked over to the boy working beside them, "I'd be cuter than Kaz here, right?"

"Me?" Kaz looked up and frowned at the Magicians. "Why would I…?"

"You hear that, Kaz?" Kenji laughed. "He just said you'd lose. Are you gonna take that from him?"

"Wha…!?" Kaz immediately glared at Junpei. "There's no doubt that I'd be the cutest! I'd be the cutest one in school!"

Aigis shook her head. "I will not lose either at dressing up as a girl."

The SEES members tensed up as Kenji tilted his head and frowned at the robot. "Well, duh. You're…"

"I am a female type," Aigis continued, "so female clothes would be…"

"Okay, okay!" Junpei interrupted her. "Let's just stop there!"

Aigis turned towards a snickering Hamuko. "Hamuko-san, what do you think? Whose cross-dressing would be the most 'super-cute'?"

"Minato, of course!" the girl exclaimed.

The blue-haired boy's head shot up. "What!?"

"Oh," Junpei smirked at the quiet boy. "Now you're getting in on this too!?"

Kenji studied the blue-eyed boy carefully before giving him a nod of approval. "Well, there's no question that he would be 'super cute'."

"Shut up, Kenji," Minato looked away from them as he ducked behind a display to continue working.

"I dunno how you can say stuff like that so easily…" Junpei sighed at the fellow Magician.

Yukari had enough of their antics so shoved herself between them, forcing the group of boys to disperse. "Alright, you better move outta the way. You guys are holding everything up."

"S-sorry," Kaz muttered although he was doing most of the work for the two other boys.

"You know," Junpei smirked as he glanced at the archer. "If you judge just by appearance, Yuka-tan is already 'super cute'…"

Yukari gave him a glare. "What're you trying to say?"

"Uh, nothing…" Junpei quickly looked away.

"He is saying that your personality is not cute," Aigis bluntly answered.

"Yeah, I got that," Yukari nodded as her glare intensified.

"Ai-chan," Junpei shook his head as he ducked behind the robot to avoid the archer's wrath. "You gotta know when to speak up and when to stay quiet. If you don't learn, Yuka-tan's gonna give you the evil eye…" The brunette lunged for the capped boy. "See what I mean!? Noooo, stop choking me!" He flailed his arms and managed to grab someone. "K-Kaz! Say something!"

"Y-you gotta use your guts!" the runner shouted with determination.

"For what!?" the capped boy cried.

Minato sighed as he tore the juniors apart. "That's enough. Now split yourselves up before I resort to..." His eyes darted to his two friends not a part of SEES. "Dormitory punishments," he decided to say.

The two juniors tensed up but Yukari immediately let the capped boy go. "R-right, sorry." Yukari quickly got back to work.

Junpei shook his head. "Fine…"

Kenji shook his head. "Man, your dorm must be super strict. Makes sense if it's co-ed though." He shrugged as he continued holding conversation with them. "Anyways, besides the cross-dressing pageant, there were also a lot of cool events I was looking forward to, like a stand-up comedy show…" He smiled at his classmates. "They said it was going to be open mic, so I was planning on trying it out."

"Whoa, really?" Junpei turned to him. "With who?"

"You," Kenji sarcastically replied.

"Dang…" Junpei smirked as he was flattered. He blinked a few times before frowning. "Wait a sec, you gotta let me in on plans like that!"

"Dude, it was just a joke," Kenji laughed. "It was gonna be Kazushi," he nudged the runner beside him.

"Who, me?" Kaz looked at him in confusion. "Hell no," he shook his head.

"Geez, you guys are harsh…" Kenji sighed. "Can't any of you take a joke?" He looked over to the blue-haired boy who was smirking to himself as he worked. "Minato, then."

Hamuko laughed at this. "Minato in a comedy routine? That's a joke by itself!"

Minato frowned at her. "You don't think I can handle it?" He smirked and stepped forward to Kenji's side as he accepted her challenge. "Bring it on."

"Now that's the spirit!" Kenji nodded. "You wanna give it a little try right here?" He looked at everyone in the room and called for them to gather in the middle of the lab. He cleared his throat a few times before beginning their performance. "Hello out there, everyone. We're the famous comedy duo, 'Kenji Tomochika'!" He bowed.

"A duo of one?" Minato raised an eyebrow. Around them, their classmates laughed.

"Hey, this is going pretty well," Kenji winked at his friend. "Man, now I can't wait for the real school festival."

"It's already over, idiot!" Minato shrugged as more laughter erupted from their small audience.

"What, are you giving up already?" Kenji shook his head. "All you gotta do is sleep 360 more times, right?" He smiled at his comedy partner. "You know what they say… 'Early to bed, early to rise'…"

"Makes you an old geezer?" the blue-haired boy shook his head.

"There you go!" Kenji excitedly beamed. "A great gag like that ends on a high note. Are you related to some chairman I could mention!?" The entire audience, Yukari included, began to laugh. "Hey, speaking of jokes, here's a good one. 'What the? This key isn't working'."

"Key-p trying!" Minato smirked as he found himself having fun.

"That's the lamest joke I've heard in years," Kenji laughed. "You're a Gekkoukan student through and through—I mean, come on!" He triumphantly watched as their audience couldn't contain their laughter. He gave Minato a satisfied smile. "Well… I think that went pretty good, considering we didn't rehearse." He sighed. "Man… What a waste…" He looked over to Yukari and nudged Minato. "Hey, you know what else is a waste? We never got to see Yukari-san in her maid outfit!"

"Huh!?" Yukari stopped laughing and glared at the brunet. "Ughhh… So word got out about that." She sighed. "I'm relieved it never happened…"

"But I bet lotsa guys were really disappointed…" Kenji smirked at Kaz. "Right, Kazushi?"

"Huh?" Kaz looked up in confusion. "R-really?" He frowned. "Wait, what's a maid?"

Junpei jumped in surprise. "A pure soul…!"

"Oh, it's something that…" Kenji tried to explain it to the dense runner, "guys like Junpei dream about."

All eyes turned on the capped boy and Yukari shook her head as if she expected this from the pervert. "Junpei…"

"W-wait a sec," Junpei shook his head.

Hamuko sighed. "Junpei…"

"What's that look for? You act like I did something!" the capped boy frowned at his best friend.

"Junpei-san…" Aigis frowned at him too.

"You gotta be kidding!" he cried. "You too, Aigis!?"

Minato looked up when he sensed someone coming in. A girl's voice called out to them. "Excuse me… is Yukari-san here?"

Yukari turned around and smiled at who it was. "Oh, Yuko-san. What's up?"

"Hey, that tent on the school grounds—is it okay if we put it away in the archery club room?" the Track Team Manager asked.

"Oh, yeah, that's fine," Yukari nodded. "It belongs to us anyway… Hey, don't worry about it, our club will take care of it."

"Oh, it's not trouble," Yuko shook her head. "Our class just happens to be in charge of the grounds. We'll go put it away now. Thanks! See you—" The girl quickly spotted Minato in the back. "Ah!" She quickly walked up to the blue-haired boy. "Minato! Are you feeling better? You had a fever, right…?" she asked in worry. "I heard you were laid up in bed all through break… Are you okay now?"

"Yeah, just look at him," Kaz rolled his eyes. "He's fine."

"Yeah, good point," Yuko frowned. "Well, I'm glad to hear it…" Her eyes widened as she just realized the runner was also present. "Whoa, you're here too, Kaz? You better get to work—an ox like you has gotta pull his weight!"

"Shut up!" Kaz frowned at her. "Isn't it time you got back to the grounds?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know!" She pointed to Minato. "I haven't seen him in a while, so give us a minute."

Yukari looked at the blue-haired boy in confusion. Kenji and Junpei gave each other a sympathetic frown as another girl entered the room.

"E-excuse me! I-I'm sorry!" A younger girl with glasses nervously tried to get their attention. "Um… if you happen to have any masking tape… I-I need to borrow some… if…" Chihiro brightened when she saw Minato. "Oh, Minato-senpai… I'm so glad to see you…" she politely bowed to him. "I'm in charge of the classroom next door, but we're out of masking tape… I was nervous about asking, since I knew upperclassmen were in charge of this room… But it's a relief to see you here, Minato-senpai…" She blushed as she smiled at the older boy. She straightened up as she remembered something. "Um… I saw Mitsuru-senpai a moment ago, and she said… She said Minato-senpai had been sick in bed all this time… Did you… catch a cold?" She worriedly examined her school idol. "Oh, you shouldn't overstrain yourself. If you're not feeling well, don't feel like you have to come to Student Council. But I'm sad that I can't walk home with you for now…"

Minato nervously looked between the girls in the room while the guys gave him sympathetic expressions. When did it get so difficult to breathe in here? Minato thought to himself.

Hamuko covered her smirk as she tried to stop herself from laughing. Wow… Nii-san managed to get the attention of a lot of girls. They all have a crush on him and he never noticed! She noticed her older twin was starting to sweat. "Minato, you look a bit warm," she said with as much concern she could muster.

"Huh?" Yuko frowned at him. "Wait, does that mean—"

Junpei suddenly turned around. Sorry, Hamuko, but if I let this continue, it's gonna get ugly. "Uhhh… Whoa, that display over there looks like it could fall off any moment now! Someone's gonna get hurt if we don't fix it right now." He urgently turned to Minato. "Like, RIGHT now." He quickly grabbed Yukari by the arm. "Yuka-tan, c'mon and gimme a hand. I'll take it down if you hold it in place."

The girl looked at him in surprise. "Huh!? Oh, o-okay. Gotcha."

Kaz turned towards Yuko. "Uh… Um… O-oh yeah! Man, I almost forgot! There was something I had to tell the guys in our club. Hey Yuko, can you go tell 'em for me?" He quickly made up something. "Th-the message is… For our next practice… Uh…" He frowned as he said the first thing he came up with. "There'll be no towels allowed."

Yuko frowned. "Huh? No towels? Isn't that going to make things harder?"

"J-just tell them!" Kaz frowned. "It's special training! C'mon, move it!" Yuko shook her head as she left to deliver the boy's odd message.

Kenji nervously chuckled as that only left Chihiro. "Uhhh, we're all out of masking tape, sorry," he shrugged to the first-year student. "There's no more here, haha! Another classroom might have some… Like, next door, maybe…"

Chihiro looked at him in surprise. "Oh, I-I see! I'm sorry!" She gave Minato another polite bow. "Well then…"

Minato blinked as everyone dispersed once more. Kenji sighed in relief as the oppressing atmosphere of the room finally cleared. "Huh… I guess it's a good thing the school festival was canceled. You probably woulda been mauled no matter who you picked to go with…"

"But… I didn't do anything," Minato shook his head and crossed his arms, confused as to what just happened.

Hamuko giggled at how popular her brother was. "You didn't have to," she smirked at him. "I can't wait to tell Fuuka-chan."

"H-hey! Don't do that!" The blue-haired boy panicked.

"Then get back to work," Hamuko ordered. "You'd better help him too, Kenji-san, or I'm telling Rio you're slacking off!"

"Hey!" Kenji frowned before sighing. "Well… We are stuck here until we're finished."

~B*O*N*U*S~S*C*E*N*E~

"Ah, yes," Minato smirked at his new armor set. "Finally, a classy outfit for a classy team." He fixed his striped navy tie into a Truelove knot before tucking it under his blue silk vest. Once satisfied with his appearance, the leader elegantly bowed to the rest of SEES. "What do you all think?"

"I ain't wearing this to Tartarus," Shinjiro scowled as he tugged at his stiff collar.

"But you look so handsome," Hamuko pouted.

Junpei played with his top hat. "I feel pretty swanky," he laughed as he launched it off the crook of his arm and onto his head.

"You know, you were fine until you opened your mouth," Yukari sighed. She smirked as she looked over towards Akihiko. "At least, Senpai is fully clothed this time," she said in relief.

"Come on," Akihiko complained as Mitsuru was busy adjusting his tie. "It's just a simple knot, right?"

"Akihiko," Mitsuru sternly frowned at him. "A proper tie needs a proper knot. Now hold still!"

Aigis carefully watched her work. "Perhaps instead of the Eldredge knot, a simple Half-Windsor will suffice."

"I have no idea what that even means," Akihiko frowned as he was finally freed from the Empress' grasp.

Ken frowned at the older boys. "How come I'm the only one wearing a bowtie?"

"Koro-chan's wearing a bowtie," Fuuka pointed out, resulting in a happy bark from the albino dog.

Minato sternly looked at the elementary school student. "You wouldn't look good in a tie." He frowned as he straightened the boy's black bowtie. "If you stand up straight, you'll look a little taller."

"O-oh," the young brunet nodded as he also noticed the leader seemed taller than normal. "I see." After fixing his posture, he nervously smiled at the girls. "Is this better?"

Fuuka giggled at the lineup of young men. "You all look dashing," she complimented them.

"So are the boys the only one dressing up today?" Yukari asked.

"I only had enough money to purchase our tuxedos," Minato frowned. "I was thinking it'd be a boys' night in Tartarus." He picked up his sword and pointed to the warp pad. "That being said, let's move out, gentlemen."

Yukari chuckled to herself once the boys were gone. "I think your brother's letting this get to his head."

"That's fine," Hamuko smirked. "I had the same idea anyways." She disappeared behind the stairs and returned with a shopping bag of her own. "I got us all new armor, too! Get changed, girls!"

Mitsuru blinked at the outfit she was given. "Um… I've never worn anything like this before…"

"Yukari can help you," Hamuko nodded.

"B-but…" Yukari frowned at her own set. "Just when I thought I lucked out during the Culture Festival…" she groaned.

Aigis examined the uniform. "If Hamuko-san has ordered this from us, we must."

"Fuuka-chan, I got you a set too!" Hamuko beamed at them. "No one gets left out tonight!" she cheered.

"E-eh!?" the teal-haired girl's face went red.

When the boys finally returned from their adventure in Tartarus, Minato took in a deep breath. "Not bad," he shrugged as he stepped into the lobby. He froze when the girls, dressed as maids, assembled into a semicircle before him.

"Welcome back, Master!" They greeted him with mixed enthusiasm. Mitsuru looked away from the junior as her face turned as red as her hair. Yukari wanted to strangle Junpei as he was gawking at them. Hamuko was too busy holding in her laughter while Aigis completely played along with the co-leader's antics. Fuuka blushed as Minato continued to stare at them.

"W-wow," Junpei finally said. "So, uh…" He turned towards Minato and noticed the boy's eye twitching. "You okay, dude?"

Minato took another deep breath. "It's fine," he said through a forced smile. "I should have known something like this was going to happen."

Hamuko rocked back and forth as she her devilish smile grew. "Nii-san, why don't I take everyone up while you play butler with Fuuka-chan?" she teased him.

Fuuka gasped as Minato looked over towards her. She tried to cover the dress she wore with her arms. Minato gulped and quickly turned his head away. Dammit… Why do you have to be so cute!?

"It looks like nii-san thinks you look adorable in that, Fuuka-chan!" Hamuko laughed, resulting in Minato trying to escape into the changing area. "Nii-san! No!" She quickly grabbed the boy by his jacket. "You can't back out now! We're all so classy-looking! Just like you wanted!"

"This is not how I imagined tonight's expedition to go," the older twin roughly responded, fixing his coat.

"C'mon, dude! Enjoy it!" Junpei smirked at the sight in front of him. "All of the girls in maid outfits! It's like a dream come true!"

"Pervert," Yukari shook her head at him.

"You can't really be saying that when you've been staring at the boys too," Hamuko giggled. "I mean, just look at Shinjiro-san…" she swooned and purposefully fell into the tall boy's arms.

"H-hey… This ain't funny," the brunet frowned at her.

Uncomfortable with the boxer staring at her, Mitsuru crossed her arms with a slight frown. "Akihiko, is something wrong?"

The boxer coughed into his gloved hand as he quickly turned his head away from her. "N-no. It's just… Uh…" He shook his head. "Can we just get back to training in Tartarus?"

Ken nodded. "I don't really see what the big idea is. We all look nice, right, Koromaru?" The dog jumped up and yipped in agreement.

Aigis tried to explain it to the young boy. "We had a discussion like this earlier at school. Maids are something guys like Junpei—"

"Ai-chan!" Junpei shook his head. "What did I say about knowing when to stay quiet?"

"But Ken-san—"

Minato groaned as things were getting too loud. "You know what? Just take them all and go, Hamuko. Anymore of this and I'm going to get a headache."

"You heard him!" the red-eyed maid triumphantly called out. "Up Tartarus we go!"

When the lobby finally settled down, Minato dusted off his tuxedo. "Finally some peace and quiet." He paused when he realized it was just Fuuka left with him on the ground floor. Damn you, Hamuko…

Fuuka blushed as she also realized they were alone. "U-um… Minato-kun?"

The boy shook his head as he lifted his sword over his shoulder. "Don't mind me," he told her with a nervous smile. "Keep an eye on everyone. I'll handle the rogue Shadows myself." He paused for a second before putting on a confident smirk and bowing. "Milady…" He inwardly laughed as the girl's blush intensified. I guess this isn't so bad after all…

Final Notes: So why isn't there an option for Minato to wear a butler suit? It'd suit him... Also, I know Koro doesn't have a bowtie, but imagine if he did. It'd be adorable... Complete filler today because the next chapter, it's an Operation. There's still also some more prep work needed to be done, but... I'm satisfied with how it turned out. Well... See you next week. Time for me to get back to uncovering contradictions!