Author's Note:

Replaying P3P and falling love with this pairing all over again. (And reminding myself why it's heartbreaking and the cause of my constant creasy.)

Ryurieri, Foresthunter, Luhlia, Namine23, and Guest - thank you for your reviews! I will get to all requests eventually, but this one will be based on Namine23's request for the involvement of Ryoji (who I also love and who also continues to break my heart). Please do review and let me know what you think~! :)

Twenty-Five Hours
a Persona 3/Portable (© ATLUS) fanfiction

The Ninth Hour

Opening Song: "Her Morning Elegance" - Oren Lavie

Akihiko hated that Ryoji kid.

It was one thing to hit on Yukari, Mitsuru, and Aigis (the first two have proven on numerous occasions that they could take care of themselves and the other was a robot), but it was another to constantly approach his girlfriend. "That's just the kind of guy he is, Akihiko-senpai," Junpei had said. "Yeah, he's smooth with the ladies, but it's not like he means it."

Akihiko had seen the way the blue-eyed cretin looked at Minako, though, and it wasn't altogether unlike the way he himself looked at her.

"Are you jealous, Senpai?" she asked teasingly when he voiced his concern. The way he snapped, "No!" so quickly brought a smile to her face and an embarrassed blush to his. "Ryoji and I are friends. He's a transfer student and I know how he feels to be the new kid, so I just wanna help him out a bit." She leaned in and pressed an affectionate kiss to his still red cheek. "Besides," she murmured, low and into his ear, "I've got you."

He went to bed pleased and relieved all at once, but these feelings evaporated the moment he stepped onto the train the next morning.

"Oh, Minako-san!" Minako greeted the devil with one of her friendly hugs ("I bet I could punch him through that window," Akihiko thought irritably when he saw his hands on her waist) before stepping back beside Akihiko. "Oh!" He looked at Akihiko, just having realized he was there. "You're…"

"Minako's boyfriend," was what he wanted to say, but she was quicker and good-naturedly answered, "Akihiko Sanada. The boxing champion!" He felt his heart soar at the introduction, grinned impishly while she nudged him playfully.

"Right, right," Ryoji replied, smiling in a friendly manner (that made Akihiko want to rip it off), "Akihiko-senpai. Junpei talks about you a lot. Well, and everyone else you two live with as well." He chuckled. "Ah! So you two are…"

"My girlfriend," he stated firmly, gripping her hand so suddenly that it draws a surprised "ah!" from her.

He looked momentarily startled, but a warm smile (that made Akihiko feel awfully cold) gradually spread across his face. "Is that so?" He looked to Minako for confirmation, and she bobbed her head. "Junpei must have told me so, but I guess it slipped my mind. Congratulations! How long have you two been…" Akihiko drifted out of the conversation between the brunette and her new friend (demon), focused only on the warmth and solidity of her hand clenched in his.

Later that night in the lounge, he had sensed that the others wanted to talk to him. "What?" he demanded brusquely, slurping up the noodles from his cup of ramen. He'd been on edge all day since the train ride, and apparently it hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Are you alright, Senpai?" Yukari asked, braving the task. "You've been…" He looked up at her sharply, causing her to startle back in her seat. "… kinda moody lately." She exchanged a look with Junpei and Fuuka, who silently urged her on. "Does this have something to do with Minako and Ryoji-ku-"

"I'm fine," he snapped, before she could finish saying his name.

The way his underclassmen kept exchanging looks made his blood boil. "Are you sure?" It was Junpei this time, though he looked like he wanted to crawl up in a ball on the other side of the room. "N-n-not that I'm questioning you or anything!" Yukari looked absolutely exasperated, but shrugged exaggeratedly. "It's just… You know, Mina-tan might get worried and… I mean-!" He squeaked when Akihiko directed his glare in his direction, then actually dove off the couch.

"We just want to help you, Senpai," said Yukari, trying to ignore her classmate's whimpering.

"I don't need help." Fuuka and Yukari looked at each other. "Will you stop that!"

"Jealousy is completely natural," she continued, trying not to look too terrified. He looked absolutely aghast (so that the noodles in his mouth slipped back into the styrofoam cup), but she quickly spoke to keep him from commenting: "It's the first time in your relationship you've had to deal with this! I mean, yeah, there's Hidetoshi-kun and Bebe, and that sick guy she meets on Sundays, and maybe Shinjiro-senpai (did they even have a thing?), but-" He was red in the face now but she'd gotten too far to stop. "- this is the first time you've ever felt really threatened."

A tense, uncomfortable silence settled over them before he adamantly replied, "I'm not jealous."

A shared groan sounded through the lounge, even startling Aigis, who just stepped down from the stairs. "I sense unease," she stated, looking from the underclassmen to a very uncomfortable Akihiko. "Is there a problem?"

"Akihiko-senpai hates Ryoji and he won't admit it," Junpei said from his hiding place.

Her eyes instantly narrowed at the use of his name. "He is dangerous."

When they looked over at Akihiko, they saw a pleased expression on his face. "See? Aigis understands." Even with the anti-Shadow weapon's agreement, the looks of weariness the others have stirred a feeling of fear in the pit of his stomach. He tried to ignore it as he slept, reminded himself that he and Minako had a week in Kyoto to themselves to enjoy, but at night he dreamt of icy-eyed imps strangling him with yellow scarfs and woke up in cold sweat.

The next day on the train, he was still glaring at everything and everyone when Mitsuru approached him. "Akihiko." She didn't even flinch when his hard-eyed gaze shifted to her. "I understand you and Arisato are…" she trailed off, unsure how to word it, "… together. But try not to be too conspicuous. It'd be bad for both you and her." He wanted to ask her what she meant, but at that moment he saw Ryoji approach Minako, and all he wanted to do was punch something that would break.

He relayed Mitsuru's message to her later that night, after they'd dropped off their things in their rooms. His throat tightened at the look of disappointment she wore. "Oh," she breathed. "I… I thought you wanted to spend some time together, but…" She bit down on her lower lip, debating with herself. "Well, maybe Mitsuru-senpai is right… I mean, we can still walk around together a bit; we don't have to spend the entire week together…"

Both their smiles were hesitant.

At the end of the week, they'd only managed to get some alone time at the shrine, and even that was difficult to enjoy because the girls wouldn't stop chattering around them. On one of their last free afternoons, he went looking for her, only to discover that she'd already gone out. "Sorry, Senpai," Junpei apologized wearily, obviously still afraid of her reaction. "She and, er, well, you know…"

While he was devising plans to kill Ryoji Mochizuki in his sleep, he had failed to notice that Junpei was still talking to him.

"… hot springs."

"What?"

Junpei blinked before answering, "We should go to the hot springs. Tonight, I mean. We still haven't managed to go in, you know, and maybe it'll get you to relax!"

Later that night, he began devising plans to kill Junpei Iori in his sleep. He had a tough time dividing his glower between Junpei (who was looking awfully sheepish) and Ryoji (who was smiling cluelessly) as they waded in the hot springs. "Junpei didn't tell me we were gonna have company," he said, trying to keep his voice level.

"It sorta just slipped my mind," Junpei muttered and coughed, focusing his gaze on a nearby rock.

"I haven't really gotten the chance to talk to you, so I thought this would be an excellent opportunity," Ryoji chirped, which only caused Akihiko to mistrust him even more. "I'll admit I'm a little jealous," he said, with Junpei gurgling in the water in the background. "She always talks about you. It's like you're her world."

Akihiko narrowed his eyes at him, sizing him up and trying to decide if he was sincere or not. "Who?" he decided to ask safely.

As if reading his thoughts, Ryoji chuckled. "Minako-san, of course. She's great, isn't she? Kind and pretty and thoughtful, all in one small package. If I had someone like that who loved me so much…" Akihiko was trying his best not to look too pleased, but the small twitch at the corner of Ryoji's lips told him he failed. "You're a lucky guy, Senpai."

That moment, in addition to the camaraderie build through running for their lives and being executed by Mitsuru, made him think that maybe Ryoji wasn't that bad of a guy after all.

"I told you he was a nice guy," Minako chirped the next morning, after the other girls had coldly shunned the offenders. "Also, there's nothing wrong with being a little jealous. It's kind of cute on you, Senpai." When he flushed, she lovingly held his hands and kissed him on the lips.

Closing Song: "Fairytale" - Alexander Rybak

I've got a month until school starts up again and I'm stuck between being super excited and just not wanting to go. fksdjfksdjf I will try to enjoy what's left, all the same, and hopefully I'll get some more of this story out before the beginning of my junior year of college kills me.

au revoir, mon amour,
der kapitan