Just for starters... no, I'm not yet on vacation... but soon... soon... T_T

Anyway, yeah, managed to make this up during the holidays a week ago, did finishing stuffs today... hopefully it's okay?

-Minato has just recently joined SEES (4/18/09) after getting discharged from the hospital (4/10/09-4/18/09) after the Magician's full moon (4/9/09).

-Joined clubs.

-Minato was hospitalized (5/10/09-5/17/09) after the Priestess full moon (5/9/09).

-Exams (5/18/09-5/23/09).

-Again, Minato is hospitalized (6/08/09-6/10/09) for the Hierophant incident (6/08/09).

-Depressed Minato (6/06/09-6/11/09).

Chapter 18: Emperor's Justice

5/30/09-Saturday

It has been almost two weeks since his discharge from the hospital, and three weeks since his awakening.

To think that within that short span of time, so much had happened, and yet, he had to worry about their exams right after. It wasn't easy, but he managed to top the tests despite his condition. Junpei's enmity towards him also somehow dwindled... though technically speaking, he actually never noticed until Minako and Yukari had pointed it out to him a few days later.

In any case, all those were now a thing of the past. Regular days have returned; studying late, sleeping in class, and enjoying after school activities... those were how the days were spent. Most of all, he's looking forward to spend quality time with his twin.

Minato was very thankful to Mitsuru for letting him join the Student Council- knowing that he'd be a member of the same organization as his sister.

That would mean extra time with her even after class. Honestly, he wanted to join the same clubs she joined... but it's not like he can join up in the tennis club for girls... right? Which meant that he was stuck with kendo, where he can at least make use of the techniques he learned from Tartarus.

But sometimes, he also regret joining the Student Council. This was because Minako wasn't always available to help out. For the most part, she's too busy in tennis club, and at times... she goes off on her own to do things she never talks to him about, which always worries him. In any case, whenever left alone in the Student Council without his female counterpart, Minato somehow found himself assisting this shy underclassman...

He flipped through the pages as he browsed around. It was pretty quiet since there was only him, the old couple and his new female friend in the store.

She was also browsing through the pile of dusty old books.

His silver-blue eyes gleamed with boredom as he sighed, setting one book down and picking up another.

"Um... sorry if I dragged you here..." the girl was the first to speak, though her eyes were still buried on the book she was holding. "You really didn't have to come with me here... if you're bored, you can go ahead now..." she added in a soft voice.

Minato didn't answer immediately, instead, he turned around and walked over by her side. "It's alright. I like the company" he said with a smile, "besides, it's not boring hanging out with you... I'm actually glad to spend my time here like this."

With those words, the girl blushed and scurried off with the books in the pile, causing them to topple over. Her face burned even redder. This time however, it was due to embarrassment of her clumsiness. "S-sorry, I'll get them-" she said crouching down to pick up the books.

Minato furrowed his brows in worry and bent down himself. "Here, let me help" the male told her as he assisted the girl.

Chihiro flinched for a moment and hid her face as the blue-haired boy came close into contact. Her mind was almost about to go blank when she suddenly took notice of a certain book. Her eyes widened and her nervousness was replaced by excitement the moment she laid her eyes on it. It was as if the earlier events never happened.

"O-oh my... This is...!" she said rather loudly which stole the boy's attention.

He tilted his head in confusion, though his face was still as blank as ever.

"I've been dying to read this!" the bespectacled girl continued with an enthusiastic expression, "This is a collection of illustrations from the shoujo manga I read!" She then paused and flipped the book, "... it even has short stories inside! I would never have expected this to be here..."

Minato scratched his head, still a bit confused, but then, the girl just continued.

"Each volume is 6,000 yen, so that means... 18,000 yen in total!?" the girl frowned, returning the book in the shelf. She turned back to the boy with a disappointed look, "w-what should I do...?"

"Hmm... well if you really want them, then go ahead" he said with a soft smile, "and don't worry, I can ask the store owners to save them for you."

"R-really...? Oh thank you senpai! I-I'll try to get enough money as soon as possible!" Chihiro smiled in delight. She paused and took out her phone to check the time, "um... so I'll be going ahead now. T-thanks for coming with me today..."

Minato simply nodded in response as he watched the girl disappear from his sight.

"Ohoho... You have quite a girlfriend there, eh Minato-chan?" the old man approached him.

The teenager shrugged, "Oh, were not like that... she's just a friend."

"We'll, in any case, why don't you just buy it to her as a gift? We'll even give you a discount" the old woman suddenly spoke from the back of the counter.

At first, the boy paused as if contemplating on it. He took out his wallet as if counting his money. In the end, he sighed and inserted it back in his pocket. "I appreciate the offer, and I do want to help... but I'm saving up for something myself..." he paused and turned to the old couple, "besides, I believe she'd want to earn it on her own."

6/04/09-Thursday

Sure he managed to pull off a short list of suspects; but they were only written down because of their reputation for being notorious delinquents. Of course, he knew that such was of judging was not fair.

His current progression in the investigation of the cigarette butt incident still hadn't helped lengthen it either. Clues? He had none. Leads? He had but one. However, that one who kept appearing on his head was no other than the blue-haired transfer student, Arisato Minato.

Somehow, all currently known facts led to him. To start, this was the first time in five years that such incident had occurred. Transfer students were rare in Gekkoukan Highschool, and most of them came from Gekkoukan Elementary.

Secondly, it was found on the boy's bathroom, and to top it off, it was the bathroom closest to the second year classrooms. That would mean that the most likely suspect would be a junior.

Finally, the poker-faced teenager was always subject of rumors. Some say he was secretly a delinquent who brawls on the streets, others claim he was a host... however, there was one thing for sure- whatever he was doing at night was no child's play. After all, he had been sent to the hospital twice already. So, knowing that, his place was meant to be on top of the list of delinquents in school, right next to a certain senior who never attended any class.

Despite all the glaring facts, somewhere at the back of his mind, he knew it couldn't be that boy... was it because of the concern he showed him? Or was it because of his sister's words? Either way, he knew that he just had to trust herwords to believe him and ask his opinion on the matter.

Thus, he found himself outside of class 2-F.

Generally, there was barely anyone in the campus at that time. Majority had already left home, and a few others were attending their respective clubs. He didn't really expect to find the one he was looking for inside... but lo and behold, there he was, all alone, sleeping on his chair.

Hidetoshi's face scrunched up. The school was no place for sleeping! How irresponsible...! He wonders why the President had chosen the boy... In the end, he just sighed to himself and walked over toward the young man.

"Oi. You're not home, get up!" he called out to Minato sternly.

Slowly, the blue-haired boy picked up and opened his silver-blue eyes. "Mmm... Yo. Hidetoshi" he greeted groggily as he rubbed his seemingly sleepy eyes. The teenager paused and looked around the room, "... uh. Where's everyone?"

The disciplinary officer massaged his forehead. "Classes are over. I believe you were asleep this whole time you moron." He replied.

Minato simply tilted his head, as if he was still processing what his friend had said. Suddenly, he planted his hand on his palm (coupled with a blank expression to boot). "Ah! Right" he paused, bending down to get something from his bag.

Hidetoshi stared at him, puzzled. What's with that guy? He thought, as he watched him rummage through his things.

"Here" said the blue-haired male, handing over a piece of paper which was filled with names of people. The handwriting was simple and neat.

"What's this?" he raised a brow, as he browsed through the list.

Minato yawned, stretching his arms, "a list of people."

"I could see that. Be more specific" Hidetoshi frowned.

"Cigarette butt incident suspects. I asked around with Minako on those who are into smoking around here..." he stopped for a moment and rubbed the back of his head, "we also asked around on those who frequent the bathroom which it was found. Then I tallied the list last night."

Those two... were truly stupid. They really asked such things around? That was so wrong in so many ways... surely, that will become a new subject for rumors!

The boy scrunched up his brows, "... you didn't have to do this. You won't gain anything from helping me."

"Well, I kinda promised you didn't I?"

"What?"

"That you can always come to us for help."

"... But I didn't."

"... But I figured you needed it anyway" he paused, and stood up, carrying his bag. "Well, I guess I'll just see you on the next Student Council meeting. Bye."

"... Alright. Thank you."

6/10/09-Wednesday

It's annoying whenever he's around. It's kinda sad when he's not. Somehow, his presence has become part of her daily life.

Maybe she should visit him later at the hospital? Yeah, that's a good idea. Maybe she'll even bring Mitsuru, Yukari and Junpei along as well, he'll surely feel better! Then again, it's not like his condition was bad... the doctor said he just lacked sleep, and pushed himself too much.

On her way out, Minako suddenly heard some yelling from the faculty. In fact, she almost dropped her books while passing by. Curiously, she leaned closer to the door.

"Don't be stubborn! Just add his name on the list!" an adult shouted. "That boy's up to no good. Going out at nights... I even heard he gets himself involved at fights! I mean look, how many times has he been sent to the hospital already?"

It was a voice very familiar to her... their PE teacher?

"Minato-kun was chosen by the President herself. He may be subject of baseless rumors, but I do know for myself how responsible he is" another voice protested sternly.

It sounded like Hidetoshi.

"I believe in him, and I know he couldn't have done it" the same voice continued.

Minako nodded to herself in appreciation of her friend. She was proud of him. He defended her brother the way he defended her back then in her original timeline. Somehow, it felt good.

"I thought you were smarter than that Hidetoshi... forget our deal" the teacher continued, sounding rather annoyed. "You'll regret this..." he added.

"... If you'll excuse me then" Hidetoshi replied confidently.

Footsteps began to move closer toward her direction. So, she backed away, as to not get hit by the door or the person coming out for that matter. The red-eyed girl waited until it opened... and as expected, out came the familiar face- Hidetoshi.

The moment he laid his eyes on her, the boy blinked as his face flushed into a soft tint of red, "... you were listening?" he blinked uncomfortably.

"Weeell... sorta" the girl answered awkwardly. For a moment, she shifted her eyes downward and fidgeted with her fingers, "... thanks for sticking up to him."

Hidetoshi averted his gaze as if feeling embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his head as he spoke. "Please don't tell him though. He'll probably be all over me if he gets wind of this."

"Sure! Your secret's safe, you can trust me!" She nodded enthusiastically. "Though you sound like you know him very well already~" she teased, poking his forehead.

The flustered male brushed away her hand, "s-stop that!" he pouted. Hidetoshi shrugged and turned his back on her, ready to leave. However, without looking back at her, he continued, "be careful around that teacher... I think he's got his eye on you."

She didn't reply. Instead, Minako just watched as her friend walked away. Perhaps she missed some details from the conversation? Most likely, it was something before she passed by at the scene... Well, she never really understood what he meant, even before she ended up back in time. In the end, she just shrugged it off and headed home.

6/15/09-Monday

She let out a yawn as her bright-red eyes followed her classmates walk out of the classroom.

Recently, the rumors on Minato's nightly activities had been dwindling, as rumors about ghost appearances and its victims surfaced.

Of course, she knew what that was all about, after all it was connected to the recent full moon incident. She wanted to forget about it, especially considering what happened to Natsuki... what if she messes something up again? And to think that she didn't even have a direct contribution for the event to happen! Perhaps that the butterfly effect she was told about before...?

Immediately, Minako shook off those thoughts and grabbed her bag. "So, shall we go?" she walked over to her sleepy-eyed twin.

"Mmm... sorry Minako, but I don't think I can accompany you today... I have to meet with Chihiro" Minato replied, picking up his own bag. "I'll make up with this some other time. Be careful on your way home, bring Yukari or Junpei with you... preferably Yukari. Let's just see each other at dinner tonight, bye..." he continued before walking out.

Minako was left in the classroom, wide-eyed. Did Minato just ditch her for someone else? She blinked... that was rather unusual of him to do. In the end, she sighed and brushed it off...

"Oh well, guess I'm just glad onii-chan found a new friend!" she exclaimed to herself, feeling proud of her introvert brother's accomplishment. The cheery teen was about to jump out of the room when two students who were chatting caught her attention.

"Ah, yes... I heard about that! That sophomore stole the money... I just know it!"

"I know right? I heard she was poor or somethin'... to think she's using her position as treasurer for this... uh... what was her name again?"

"... I think it was Chihiro Fushimi."

We haven't had any action lately huh? ^^"

Err... hopefully, things will heat up for the next chapter? I dunno...

Clue: No, it will not

Gin Nanashi- *throws Minato at you* "I'm wasn't jealous. Not. At. All."

ps. Ikr? But just thinking that even after release, we still have to wait for subs/dub D8... on the side note, it makes me wonder if they plan to release yet another P3 game... /not that I mind cause I've only played P3P anyway XD

-I do not own Persona 3 or any of its characters-