A/N: Warning! An absent-minded Minako is on the loose...:p
"Hey Minako-kun. Are you even listening to me?" Hidetoshi said with an annoyed look on his face as he hit Minako's head lightly with a paper fan. Minako blinked and looked at him.
"Huh?"
"Figures you weren't really listening." Hidetoshi sighed. The other Student Council members only chuckled at them. Hidetoshi glared at them before turning back to Minako.
"I know you're all excited about the Kyoto trip, but don't forget about your duties too." Hidetoshi said sternly. Minako wondered why the people around her suddenly started to patronize her. First, it was Yukari. And now it's Hidetoshi.
"I'm sorry." Minako said. "But there's something that's troubling me."
"If it's not concerning the Council's problem, don't bring it here."
Minako frowned. "It has to do something WITH the Council."
Chihiro piped up. "What is it, Minako-san?"
"Have anyone seen Mitsuru-senpai?" Minako said. "She hasn't been attending the Council meetings..."
"Don't you two live in the same dorm?" the Vice President asked.
"Yeah, but I never run into her when I'm there." Minako replied. Hidetoshi looked troubled by this too. He stood up and strode to the door. Everyone, except for Minako, was looking at him when he called a random student.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Minako heard Ryoji's voice. She turned her head towards the door, half shocked, half confused. What was Ryoji still doing in school? Hasn't he left with his fangirls, who seem to rival Akihiko's own fangirls,who are so noisy as they flirt with him?
"You know Mitsuru Kirijo?" Hidetoshi asked Ryoji. "Tall girl, with red hair. You'd easily notice her because she has this air of authority."
Minako saw Ryoji frown slightly. "I might have seen her earlier."
"Good. I'd like you to find her since the Council cannot afford to send out a person in this room to go looking for her." Hidetoshi nodded to himself. "If she doesn't come to the meeting today, the school trip might get cancelled."
"What the hell is he talking about?" the Vice President said to the others. "Everything's in order already..."
"Probably making sure that he finds Mitsuru-senpai." Chihiro said. Minako didn't join their conversation. She was too stunned by the sight of Ryoji. And she could've sworn, before Hidetoshi close the door, that Ryoji had looked at her direction with his flirty smile.
The juniors and seniors of Gekkou High went on their way towards Kyoto. When they arrived at their hotel, Minako was the last one to disembark the bus for she had overslept.
"I thought you'd never leave the bus." Junpei said with a grin as Minako somewhat hurled her bag towards him.
"Why didn't any of you woke me up?" Minako said, annoyed.
"Well...Yuka-tan needed the CR badly." Junpei said. "And everyone knows that when we try to wake you up, you throw a punch or two."
Minako flushed. "Stupei."
"H-Hey! Not you too..." Junpei said resentfully. "Ryoji here considered waking you up, but I held him back just in case Yuka-tan come by."
"I was disappointed when he held me back." Ryoji admitted. "Seeing you sleep peacefully...You could rival Sleeping Beauty."
Ryoji took Minako's bag from Junpei. "My, you have such a heavy baggage. Do girls really travel like this?"
Minako scowled at him before snatching her bag away from him. "Thanks for nothing, Prince Charming." she said sarcastically before entering the hotel. Ryoji looked at Junpei with a confused look.
"...Does that mean she wanted me to kiss her to wake her up, like in the story of Sleeping Beauty?" he asked. Junpei rolled his eyes.
"Dude, don't bother with her sarcasm. She had spent a long time talking to the Chairman before he..." Junpei trailed off. Ryoji waited for him to continue but Junpei remained quiet.
"Before he what?" Ryoji prompted.
"Before he committed suicide." Junpei said, not bothering to look at him. "Come on, we'd better get inside."
The two of them entered the hotel and was engrosssed by the grandness of the place. Everything was in the right shade of red.
"Whoa, nice place." Junpei said as they stood beside Yukari and the others. Ryoji stood near Minako.
"Well, it is an expensive area." Yukari said.
Ryoji, whose curiousity is drawn to the tables with umbrellas, asked Minako. "What are those umbrellas for?"
"They're for decorations." Minako replied curtly. Ryoji gave a soft "Oh". When nothing else is forthcoming, Minako suddenly said, "Wanna get under it?"
Ryoji looked at her, somewhat surprised. Then he broke into a smile. "As long as I'm with you, anywhere's fine."
It was Minako's turn to be surprised. She only meant that inquiry for him to know what it feels like sitting there. But he took a different meaning. He thought she was flirting with him...In which the case she might be, but not to the point of sighing at the very sight of him. And for the first time, Minako was grateful to be saved by Yukari from Ryoji.
"This is the way to your rooms." Ms. Toriumi said as she led them to the second floor. Minako, who had been following Junpei and Ryoji, turned her head. For some reason, it reminded her of the Iwatodai Dorm. Junpei smiled sheepishly. "I want you all to rest tonight, for we're leaving early tomorrow." Ms. Toriumi said before leaving them on their own.
"This way, Minako-chan." Junpei said in his perverted way. Ryoji smiled at Minako.
"I'm looking forward to seeing the rooms." he said, looking at Minako's eyes. Minako, who's oblivious to Ryoji's pervertedness, only stared at him.
"I thought-"
"Ok, that's it." Yukari snapped. She grabbed Minako's wrist, while glaring at the two boys.
"Minako you're sleeping with us in the girls' rooms. Junpei and Ryoji, to the boys' rooms."
Junpei hung his head low at disappointment. Even Ryoji scowled in disappointment.
"Dude, we have this afternoon free." Junpei said in a bored tone. "What should we do now? It's like as if there's something better for us to do...Hey, why are you all fidgety?"
"Huh?" Ryoji said, distracted. "Oh well, I'm kind of looking for any sign of Minako-chan."
"You're still at it?" Junpei said. "But didn't she reject you over and over?"
Ryoji shook his head and smiled. "That may look like it, but I guess she's just confused about her feelings."
"Man, you sure do have some confidence. No wonder the other boys Minako-tan had rejected doesn't like you."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Jealousy." Junpei said shortly. "Oh look, here comes your princess."
Ryoji turned and saw Minako walking towards them. Ryoji smiled at her sweetly.
"I thought you might have forgotten about our date." he said. Minako looked at him with a poker face expression, but Junpei saw her blush. Ryoji seems to be really making a progress softening her up.
"Well, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." Junpei said, feeling left out. He walked away from them and started bugging Yukari. Ryoji, as his usual, offered his hand towards Minako.
"Shall we get going then?"
"If you don't mind me asking," Ryoji said as they sat down by the river bank. "Why did you pick that green crepe?"
"Don't you find it interesting?" Minako replied. "Tasting different kinds of food is fun. Even if...sometimes it tastes weird." She remembered the takoyaki back at Iwatodai.
"Yeah, but green is such an off-putting color." Ryoji agreed as he took a bite from his crepe. He watched Minako bite into hers, saw her frown as she analyzed the food.
"It's not that bad." she finally said. "Actually, it tastes quite good."
"Really?" Ryoji said as he watched her took another bite. He bent low to her crepe, saying, "You don't mind if I take a bite then?" And, without waiting for her response, took a bite from it. Passersby, whom Minako never notices whenever she's with Ryoji, giggled at their sweetness and closeness. Minako didn't even scold Ryoji for stealing a portion of her crepe. Instead, she also stole a part of his. Ryoji looked at her, surprised.
"Just to be fair." she said with a shrug to his questioning look. Ryoji chuckled and Minako turned to look at the river. The two of them resumed talking about random stuff, until Ryoji piped up, "This place is filled with couples too huh?"
Minako blushed furiously as she ate the last piece of her crepe. Why does he keeps on voicing something she tries to ignore all this time? Ryoji, oblivious to her sudden discomfort, kept on talking.
"I wonder what couples talk about?"
"No idea." Minako quickly replied as she thinks of a different topic to discuss. An intimate relationship never really crossed her mind. But lately, she found herself thinking about Ryoji instead of thinking about her brother, who seems to be really pissed off the last time they talked on the phone.
"Really?" Ryoji looked at her with a smile. "So you've never had a boyfriend?"
"Nope." Minako replied warily. Why does Ryoji seems to have cheered up considerably when she said that? She was going to ask him about it when he pointedly changed the subject and started flirting with her seriously.
As the two of them walked back to their hotel, Ryoji was deep in his thought. Junpei had given him this mission to woo her heart which he took at the drop of the hat. At first, he felt kind of guilty for wooing Minako just because Junpei asked him to. But as he gradually spend time with her, no matter how short that time is, he felt he needed to be sincere and honest. That he wants her to know that he really care for her. He jerked back to reality when Minako's soft hand left his.
"Oh, we're here already?" Ryoji said, disappointed as he looked up at the hotel door.
"Dinner is about to be served." Minako said as she entered the hotel. Ryoji sighed. He followed Minako, caught up with her and held her back by lightly reaching out for her hand. She turned to look at him.
"Is something the matter?" she asked.
"I was wondering if...you'd like to go on a date with me again a day after we get back."
She looked at him for a while, holding his hand loosely. "I'm game with that." she replied. Ryoji brightened up.
"Oh thank goodness you agreed. I don't know what to do if you said no..."
"Hey, you two." Ms. Toriumi called from a distance. They both looked at her. "If you lovebirds still want to have dinner, you should get going. Junpei is already on his third plate. If he keeps at it, there won't be anything left."
Ryoji smiled at Minako as he led her into the dining area, holding hands. A few people looked at their direction, but did not confront them. The two of them sat together on a table with the red umbrella Ryoji had taken fascination of on their first day there.