I'm going to just leave out Aigis's… foreboding concerning Ryoji, since it doesn't much pertain to the plot I'm trying to include, but it may pop up later. Sorry if it's confusing.

Words this Chapter: 3,180

"Tick-tock Goes the Glass Wristwatch"

Rikotsu-sama

Chapter 3

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once."

- The Fault in our Stars, John Green

Even having left before Akihiko, Minako was late to homeroom that morning. Or rather, she took the long route and waited in the girls' bathroom outside until homeroom ended to enter class. Luckily, they didn't call her to the office for ditching again.

11/9 M After School

"Hey, Minako! C'mere, over here!" Minako had been putting her notebooks back in her bag when Junpei's voice called to her from across the classroom.

Closing her bag, Minako wandered over to a beckoning Junpei. "What's up?" she asked.

"You know the new transfer student, right? Has he been introduced to you yet?" Junpei wondered, putting a hand on the shoulder of a tall, slender boy with a bright (almost too bright) yellow scarf around his neck. Minako shook her head. "Anyway, this is Minako," Junpei said to the boy.

"Hello," the boy greeted cheerily, smiling at her.

"She transferred here earlier this year," Junpei explained.

"Oh… I see. I'm Ryoji Mochizuki. Nice to meet you," he said, extending a hand.

Taking his hand tentatively, Minako shook it. "Nice to meet you, too," she returned. Their eyes met and there was something… familiar in his eyes.

Ryoji held her hand for an awkwardly long time before letting go, though he didn't really seem to notice.

"Hey, what's wrong? What're you gaping at?" Junpei asked, confused at the odd look the two were sharing.

"Huh?" Ryoji snapped out of it first, turning to Junpei. "Oh, um… I just got the strangest feeling when I looked at Minako… It's like… I don't know… nostalgia? Have we met before?" He asked her, a peculiar sincerity in his tone.

Junpei laughed, "Wow, that's one of the oldest pickup lines in the book!"

"Th-that's not how I meant it… Anyway, I hope we'll get along," Ryoji offered.

Minako hummed, offering a small smile.

"I get the feeling that we'll become good friends. I'm looking forward to chatting with you more," Ryoji flirted. The strangeness in his demeanor had disappeared, again replaced by the flirtatious confidence he wore like a second skin.

"Likewise," Minako returned, making him laugh.

11/12 Th Early Morning

Minako's mornings had dulled without working out with Akihiko. She had, reluctantly, admitted she missed his quiet companionship. She was beginning to think that all of those things she had said to him were one huge, terrible mistake. She wished she hadn't taken those drinks, not only because of the hangover that had ended days ago, but also because of the ache in her heart that seemed to grow day-by-day.

"Huh? Minako?" The voice woke Minako from her thoughts on the monorail ride to school. She looked away from the window to find Ryoji squeeze between a couple people and step beside her, grabbing a handle from the rod above. "G'morning!" he said, smiling down at her.

"What a coincidence," Minako replied, a curious smile tugging at her lips.

"Some people might call it 'destiny'."

She looked up into his criminally blue eyes and wondered where she had seen them before. Everything about this guy was startlingly familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on just where she knew him from.

"Look…" he beckoned, pointing out the window. Her eyes followed his outside. "The sun's shining of the ocean beautifully. This view really lifts my spirits…"

It was beautiful, as he said. The light danced on the surface of the ocean as the monorail passed near it. The bustle and roar of the people and the monorail seemed to fade away and give way to the quiet. "I think I understand," Minako answered.

"Huh? Really?" Ryoji seemed surprised, but chuckled happily. "I'm glad to hear that." Minako let her eyes linger on the ocean a few moments longer before looking back up at Ryoji. When she did, Ryoji was looking back at her intently. "I thought that the world was being especially dazzling today… Could that be because you're standing here with me?"

Minako felt the heat rise in her cheeks at his flirtation. Obviously noticing her blush, Ryoji laughed pleasantly.

The intercom announced their approach towards the last stop on the monorail, causing Ryoji to look out the window again and break their eye contact. Minako was grateful for the break from his eyes because the contact was… intense. She was left breathing a little harder and her heart beating a little faster.

"Oh, we're almost at school already. That's a shame…"

Minako was looking out the window again, but felt his eyes on her. "Is school fun?"

Ryoji's laugh filled the air around them again. "Yeah, it's a lot of fun." She could hear the smile behind his words and found herself smiling too. "You know… It's probably because I can see you there." Minako's heart skipped a beat, but there was a sense of something strange behind it. Something... foreboding. "Everything's glimmering there, just like the ocean…"

She knew he meant that everything glimmered at school, but somehow got the impression he intended it to mean something different. This Ryoji Mochizuki was complicated and he confused her. She laughed a little, thinking of how she had told Akihiko the same thing.

"You confuse me, Akihiko."

"I'm sorry."

The monorail whirred to a stop, Ryoji said something and steered her off the monorail alongside the sea of others heading off. As they walked to school together, Minako was more mixed up in her own thoughts than anything else.

11/15 Su Daytime

Minako had begun spending a large amount of the time with the new transfer student out of curiosity and to get a break from the other complications in her life.

Ryoji had called her up that day and they met up at the Paulownia Mall, browsed for a bit and then settled down with steaming cups of coffee in the Chagall Café.

"This place is interesting," Ryoji commented, setting his cup down on his coster after taking a sip.

"Are you going to say it's because I'm here with you?" she asked, running her finger along the edge of the full cup of coffee.

Ryoji laughed, "You knew what I was going to say." His smile was the same as it always was: loud and ever so slightly lopsided. Akihiko's smiles were never loud…

"You know, all these people around us… I'll bet they're all couples," Ryoji observed.

Minako pushed away her lingering thoughts of Akihiko and looked around. Now that he mentioned it, she saw pairs of lovers everywhere in the café… Some where holding hands across the table, some were laughing with each other, others were talking softly.

"Being lovers means that there's nobody else in the world that you care more for, right?" Minako nodded subconsciously. "That'd be wonderful, if it were really true."

"It really happens," she stated, her eyes glued to the surface of her coffee that she still had yet to touch.

"You're all I can think about, day and night…"

Ryoji chuckled amiably, "I see." He paused and sighed before speaking again. "You know, sometimes I think… I would still like you, no matter if you were a guy or a girl."

Minako had to forcibly push back the lump in her throat from the thought of Shinji with a large gulp of the steaming hot coffee. She coughed a little before asking, "Why 'would'?"

He laughed again. "Well, we did just meet fairly recently, after all." He smiled gently. He must think fondly of her even though they hadn't even known each other a week.

"Actually, I'm lying," Ryoji confessed, flicking up his eyes from the tablecloth to meet hers and laughing sadly. "I'm positive that I've seen you somewhere before. When I'm with you, I just get this feeling that I'll find out how I know you, and we'll become closer… But, for some reason, that makes me want to cry." He glanced away from her. "...I've never cried before."

A silence fell over them, settling in like a steady rainfall on an Autumn evening. This Ryoji character was truly curious. Every time they met she seemed to pull back a layer and find substance behind the outrageous flirt he normally was. Plus… she really wanted to know where she knew him from and why she felt a sickness deep in her stomach every time she looked him in the eyes.

"I…" he started, pausing as if he was searching for the right words, "want to spend time with you alone like this. If I'm not bothering you, would it be all right if I asked you out again?"

Minako nodded, "You're not a bother at all."

"I see… I'm happy to hear that," he murmured, smiling to himself. "Oh! That reminds me. That school trip's coming up soon, right? Let's find some time to go somewhere together while we're there. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it…" He laughed, this time his laugh filling the room unlike the sadness in it before.

11/16 M Late Night

She found it comforting to sit outside Akihiko's room. She had no intention to knock and talk to him yet. She was still working through her emotions, but nevertheless she found it comforting to sit on the paper-thin carpet in the quiet hallway with her knees pulled up to her chest. Just knowing he was close to her was very calming to her.

Setting her head on top of her knees, she let her eyes drift close.

"I'm sorry I'm so damaged… but thank you for being so nice to me."

"You're welcome..."

It happened fast enough that she had little time to react. He leaned down and kissed her. Softly, curiously. It was barely a brushing of the lips, but meant so much more. His scent saturated her senses like laughing gas, leaving her stunned.

She sighed. She had relived that moment over and over in the last week or so.

"Dammit, this isn't how it's supposed to be…" she whispered.

She closed her eyes just before their lips touched. When it never came, she opened her eyes to Akihiko's gray eyes staring at her.

That look in his eyes haunted her. He was as confused about this, as torn, as her. Shinji was his best friend. She was his best friend's girl. It couldn't be easy for him to have her around when she was a constant reminder of Shinji.

She had been selfish.

"You have no right to shake me up like this!"

He had every right to shake her up especially since he wasn't trying to. Akihiko had never tried to do anything but help her. It wasn't his fault if it had gone too far. And she had been horrible to him.

She needed to apologize because the truth was…

She missed him like crazy.

She missed taking the long walk to school with him and she missed the small smile on his lips when she made a good hit on him when sparring. She missed his quiet presence with her while they ate lunch on the roof and she missed watching him at boxing practice.

She had been completely wrong to call into question the legitimacy of their friendship. It wasn't just about Shinji anymore. True, Shinji's untimely death brought them together. But they stayed together because of each other. Exactly what cemented that glue she might never know. But it didn't much matter because he was her dearest friend now, no matter the reason.

And he had every reason to hate her.

The thought was enough to make her want to cry. She had screwed up. Big time. And she needed to apologize.

Opening her eyes, she looked at his closed door.

Not tonight, she decided.

She needed to quit coming to his room so late with important talks. She was going to get a good night sleep and hopefully find him somewhere on the school trip the next day. Maybe then they could talk.

11/17 Tu Evening

It was dark and the stars glistened overhead, even though you couldn't see them from the middle of Kyoto. You could see a few here and there - more than Tokyo - but still not many. The rustic street lamps lit the courtyard of the Godaigo Inn nicely.

"We're finally here! Whoa, nice place!" Junpei exclaimed from Minako's side.

"It is an expensive area, after all," Yukari commented.

"Hey, what's that umbrella for?" Ryoji asked, stepping up on her other side.

Minako laughed, "Wanna get under it?"

"Doing anything together with you would be my pleasure," he flirted, "Say, why don't we go hang out somewhere together after we put our stuff away?"

Minako nodded, but Yukari cut her off, "What kind of reasoning is that?! Watch yourself around this guy, okay, leader? He'll go after any girl with a pulse."

Ryoji looked at her with an incredulous amusement. "Leader? That's no way to refer to someone so cute a name as Minako's." He turned to look Minako in the eyes and immediately that vague sickness spawned deep in her stomach. "Oh, and I don't just go for anyone. I want to get to know you better because… you're you. Though, I must say, we're getting along pretty well already." He chuckled, making Minako smile.

"Huh? What's with that chuckle? Wait don't tell me, are you two…?" Yukari's mouth was gaping.

Minako didn't notice though. Her eyes had drifted past Ryoji's blue eyes into the gray eyes of another who, though standing with a couple other guys, was also not paying attention to the conversation.

"Sorry…" Minako murmured as Aigis approached. "I'll see you guys later." She pushed past Junpei and walked up to him. "Akihiko, can we talk? Alone?"

He broke the gaze that they'd held all the way across the courtyard to say, "Excuse me guys. I'll catch up with you later."

Picking up his suitcase, they walked to the elevator together. It was packed with students heading up with bags and suitcases galore, and it took them a few minutes to reach the second floor. They exited last and she quietly followed him to a room down the long hallway. He swiped his keycard and she followed him inside. Luckily, it looked like all his roommates had already dropped off their stuff and gone elsewhere. She dropped her over-sized duffle bag by the door and watched him put his suitcase next to a set of bedding. He took off his shoes, balancing himself with one hand on the wall.

She couldn't help but admire the simple action because he looked… graceful. He didn't seem angry at her, more… reserved. Like whatever he was really feeling he was holding back. She swallowed. She really had missed being around him. All she wanted to do at that moment was hug him, hold him close. Feel his hands on her back, holding her in return.

Minako snapped herself out of her thoughts and refocused her eyes back on him. This time he was looking back at her. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She swallowed and, looking away from those calm slate eyes, tried again.

"I… miss you," she confessed, hands balled up at her sides.

He wanted to say the same, but he held back. He didn't know where this was going.

"...And I'm… sorry… so, so sorry, Akihiko," she apologized, tears in her eyes. "I said horrible things to you. And you've never done anything to deserve that. And I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I… I want to ask for it anyway because I miss you and I don't want to lose you too. I've already lost enough…"

He took a few steps forward without her looking up, but when he stepped up right in front of her, she looked up at him with sad crimson eyes through damp lashes. He lifted his thumb up to her cheek and wiped away a tear before pulling her close, letting her bury her face in his shoulder. One hand on the back of her neck, the other on the small of her back, he held her close.

Her heart pounded like a jackhammer against her ribcage. She pulled him taught against her with her arms that were linked around his shoulders. "Thank you…" she whispered.

They broke their embrace in a minute or two, but still stood only inches apart, just happy to be close.

But still… should he tell her? Should he apologize? It feel like he had done something wrong- something worth apologizing for when he kissed her.

Minako swallowed, pushing back her nervousness. "A—" she began, then stopped to clear her throat, "Akihiko, about the kiss—"

"Don't," he stated, cutting her off. "I- I'm sorry for that."

"That's not what I was going to say." She fiddled with the hem of his shirt and took another breath. "You're not Shinji."

He insisted, his eyes intense as he held contact, "I know I'm not… I never wanted to—"

"Shut up. Lemme say this:" She looked down at where their fingers now mingled. "You're not Shinji." She let her eyes slip back to his through wisps of her bangs. "But… That's okay. You don't need to replace him to have a special place in my heart. You shake me up like he never did."

"I don't follow."

Grasping his hands firmly, she stated, "That kiss was not a mistake. If you're feeling even a fraction of what I'm feeling now, that kiss was in no way a mistake." Minako pushed back the butterflies setting off firecrackers in her stomach one more time before leaning up into him, halting in the space where their breath danced together. Holding her eyes tight to his, she whispered delicately, "Now do you follow me?"

Akihiko swallowed the frog stuck in his throat, but the fog remained to cloud his head. "I— Uh— Yeah."

"This is how it's supposed to be."

The kiss was soft and intangible, but the rush of endorphins soon turned it rugged, feral. Akihiko pushed into her, backing her against the adjacent wall. They lost themselves in each other, in the delicious pressure of their skin separated only by their clothes, in the release of pent up emotion. They both surfaced unaware of themselves. Pushed flush together, arms tangled, they came to.

Breath hot on his neck, Minako laughed, "See? Definitely not a mistake."

"Uh, guys?"

The two snapped back to their surroundings at the sound of Junpei's voice. Peeling apart, they both blushed.

"Yeah. Hi, Junpei. Sorry," Minako stammered, glancing between Akihiko and Junpei awkwardly. "Uh— bye." She brushed past the intruder and, grabbing her bag, fled the scene.

….

TBC

Apologies for the immensely belated update. Life happens, and I re-wrote the last part more than once to get it just right.

Chapter four is… in the works. No promises when it might be up. Sorry!

-Rikotsu