Author's Note:

Mostly I'm just super lazy and inspiration is hard to come by sometimes, which is why this is so late, ha ha. School's about… three weeks or so in, I think, so I've got a routine down. Hopefully the next one will be out soon? I'm not good at making promises when it comes to writing. XD

Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/alerted - I can't believe I'm at 100 favorites! 8D It would mean the world to me if you guys left a review, though; hearing words of encouragement really is the best feeling in the world. That being said, thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Guest, Pathetic Apathy, Yosuke Hanamura, outofthesun, and Areless!

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

The Eleventh Hour

Opening Song: "Her Morning Elegance" - Oren Lavie

"Please help me, Mina-tan!"

Hearing Junpei cry at ten o' clock at night really wasn't anything new. The residents of the Iwatodai dorm had more or less gotten used to his flair for the theatrics, and ignoring the very conspicuous teen wasn't too difficult to do anymore. It was a little bothersome, though, when he began flailing about on the couch as he pleaded for attention.

"Iori," Mitsuru snapped, finally losing patience. "Stop acting like a child. And if you do anything to sully the material of that couch, you will be paying for it out of your own pocket."

With a defeated whimper, his arms and legs fell and he crawled into a small ball. Clearly pleased, Mitsuru went back to her reading.

"Ouch. Stung by the Kirijo whip of discipline," Minako snickered, earning a glare from her best friend. "I don't know what you want me to do, Junpei. Fighting Shadows and saving the world from sure destruction is one thing, but trying to salvage your love life…" He pouted, but she just laughed loudly in his face. (If that wasn't a sign of friendship, he wasn't sure what was.) "Ugh, c'mon Junpei, what do you want me to do!?"

"You're a miracle worker!" While she was admittedly a bit flattered, she still scoffed. "No, really! I mean, you taught Fuuka how to cook something without killing us," (she sighed in relief when she realized the mentioned girl wasn't present), "you got Shinjiro-senpai to open up and cook us awesome food, Rio quit being so uptight all the time, and even Odagiri stopped being such a dick when you joined Student Council…"

"And I brightened up your life, don't forget," she chirped. It was definitely mean to be a joke, but the starstruck look in his eyes made her wonder how much it was actually true. "Ugh, fine!" she gave in, throwing up her arms in defeat. "But you owe me big. At least five cups of coffee at Chagall." His jaw dropped at the proposition, but before he could even begin to argue, Akihiko walked in and she jumped up to greet him. "Senpai! Go out with me!"

A number of things happened in that moment: Junpei elicited this terrible excuse for a squeal, Mitsuru dropped her book, Koromaru yipped and began running around, Ken snapped his chopsticks in half, and Akihiko looked like he had been struck by lightening. In all this chaos, Minako did what she did best: smile.

"U-uh, um, well-" he stuttered.

"Junpei asked me to go on a group date with him, and I need a date," she explained, a little cheerily and with almost embarrassment. As Junpei gawked, he couldn't help but wish that some of her confidence would eventually rub off on him. "So, why not you?"

It almost sounded like an insult, or at the very least a last resort, but Akihiko didn't seem to notice. He was already a nice shade of red when he finally said, "Yeah, sure. Alright."

"Great!" she said, then turned around and bounced on the seat beside Junpei. "See? Easy."

On the other hand, he thought, this amount of confidence worked for Minako because she was cute and bubbly and for some reason, everyone was naturally inclined to like her. The last time he tried to be this forward, Yukari had stamped on his foot and smacked him so hard he could literally taste blood.

Some people were just blessed, he decided sullenly as he looked over at Minako, who remained oblivious to Mitsuru's heavy stare and Ken's longing expression.

Ushio Nagasuki was a delicate kind of pretty that usually scared off her potential suitors. Ushio Nagasuki was the kind of girl that turned away boys like Junpei Iori - so it was only natural that he went screaming down the hallways when she told him yes. "She said yes!" Junpei all but screeched when he found Minako outside the girls' bathroom. "She said yes, said yes, said yes! It's on this afternoon!"

Her eyes were still spinning when he finally released her hands and stopped twirling her around. "Great," she replied, grinning. "How'd you ask her?"

"Well, I told her we were going to Chagall and she said she loved coffee… I also mentioned that we'd be going together with you and Akihiko-senpai…" He might have noticed Minako frowning if he wasn't so completely elated. "I mean, she wasn't super excited or anything, but Ushio's not the kind of girl who shows that she's happy… Aw man, this is gonna be so great, Mina-tan! Thanks so much!" He gave her one large hug before he bounded down the hallway, singing and sharing his joy with others.

Junpei's happiness was her happiness, but while his smile was contagious, she couldn't help but feel a small sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.

Awkward couldn't even begin to describe the date. The first five minutes were fine, as they had been settling into it: they took their seats, Junpei ordered ("Because you owe me, anyway," Minako mouthed when he gawked at her), and they began with the usual small talk. Thirty minutes in, though, "How are you?" and "How was your day?" no longer cut it.

Junpei swore he could have cried from happiness when Akihiko finally broke the three minute and twenty second silence. "So, Nagasuki-san," (her eyes definitely lit up when she realized Akihiko was addressing her), "are you in Junpei and Minako's class?"

"Yes," she answered, just before taking a delicate sip of her coffee. "And the three of you… ah, you all live together? In the same dorm?"

"Yeah."

"Interesting." Though Minako couldn't really see what was so interesting about living in a dorm, she did see the way Ushio's eyes scanned over the three of them disapprovingly. "The three of you are close, then. Well, I'm just guessing, of course." She smiled thinly. "I know Junpei-san and Minako-san are close, in any event. The best of friends, aren't you?"

"Yup," Minako replied, as coolly as she could. "He's a bit whiny but he's a great guy." She flashed a smile at the male sitting across from her, earning a small thankful nod in reply.

"Hm." Her long, thin fingers wrapped around the porcelain cup as she wore a contemplative look. "You know, a lot of people in class seem to think that it's something more than friendship. Of course, I would never believe a rumor without seeing it for myself, but… Well, you two certainly suit each other. You're very much alike."

"Not true!" the duo shouted, with so much veracity that Ushio just smiled and Akihiko looked absolutely bewildered.

"We're friends," Minako stated plainly, since Junpei was in a state of choking on his own saliva.

Ushio chuckled softly, in a way that was almost mocking to Minako. "I understand, of course. However, you must think of how this would affect others - like Akihiko-senpai." Upon hearing his name, Akihiko snapped out of his confused stupor. "I'd think you were stringing him along, the way you spend so much time with Junpei-san and Akihiko-senpai. It's very unladylike, Minako-san, to do something so juvenile."

When Junpei saw that look - the look that Minako adopted only when she was about to tear Shadow to shreds - he quickly turned to Akihiko for help. Their silver-haired upperclassman, however, now bore a curious, slightly hurt countenance. He couldn't possibly believe what this girl was saying, could he? "T-that's not true!" Junpei persisted, looking from Ushio to Akihiko. "Mina-tan and I are just friends! I-I mean, you know, Senpai!"

"Well, you do spend a lot of time together," Akihiko replied, brow furrowed. "Even Mitsuru's mentioned in a couple of times…"

"Oh come on, Senpai!" Minako exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "We've been through this!"

"It's not like you're going to admit it right on the spot, though," said Akihiko.

Ushio's eyes flashed. "Oh? You've had this conversation before?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Stay out of this!" Minako hissed, cutting off her senpai. "I should have pegged you as one of his fangirls!"

Gasping, Ushio stood up in her seat. "'Fangirl'!? I most certainly am not! And even if I were, anyone would be better suited to be with Akihiko-senpai than you, you… you heathen."

"What!?"

"Mina-tan," Junpei pleaded, "come on, calm down-"

"Girls," Akihiko joined in, "let's just-"

"Don't you dare touch me, you filthy-"

"Hey!"

In a tangle of slapping hands and unnecessary tugging, the entire tablecloth - coffee, sugar cubes, milk, and all - went flying to the ground. The entire café paused in silence to stare at the offending table, and in the end, the group date had been relocated outside. Ushio, glowering at Minako and completely ignoring Junpei, paused to smile kindly at Akihiko before storming off.

Minako lightly patted Junpei's back in comfort. "It's alright, Junpei. You can do better." Even if it was supposed to make him feel better, he still hung his head low. "I mean, you've gotta break your streak at some point, right?"

"Thanks for trying, Mina-tan," he replied, shoulders drooped. He glanced at Akihiko, who was still apologizing to the café owner. "So… about you and Akihiko-senpai." She just gave him a stern look, at which he chuckled nervously. "Yeah, yeah alright… Well, I'm gonna go conduct some video game rehab now… See you later, Mina-tan." She made sure to give him a comforting (and slightly pitying) hug before sending him off with a wave.

Akihiko joined her as she began ringing the coffee out of her school jacket; she could feel him shift awkwardly beside her. "You and Junpei…"

She looked up at him with such intensity that he actually took a step backwards. "Friends," she stated firmly. "Junpei and I are friends, Senpai. Friends."

It appeared as though he wanted to say something more, but her gaze was too fierce and he ended up giving in with a weak simper. "Right, friends." He fiddled with the hem of his vest. "So… What do we do now?"

Minako casually glanced at the watch she wore around her left wrist - the watch Shinji had given to her, Akihiko realized - before moving closer to him. "Well, it's still light outside, and we have time before curfew, so…" She beamed up at him, while he flushed. "… maybe we can finish our date?"

He tried to swallow the pounding heart that jumped to his throat. "Ah, but…" He looked around. "It's just… us."

She sighed as she slapped a hand to her forehead. "You only need two for a date, Senpai." To his embarrassment (and elation), she hooked her arm through his and lightly tugged. "Besides, I need some takoyaki and good company. Since I've already got half of that, it's only right that I get the right accompaniment, right?"

Spilled tea and public humiliation might have been the price for an unruly group date, but maybe, Akihiko thought, the means justified the end.

Closing Song: "Fairytale" - Alexander Rybak

Junpei's a little bitch sometimes in the game, but his friendship with Minako is my favorite, and I wish they'd expanded that more into Minato's story. Also, I really like requests, so send them in and I'll continue to do my best to make you happy! :D

forever yours,
der kapitan