*hums to self*

Are you humming Christmas songs?

T'is the season, don't you remember?

I see a time to be scammed and pretend you like people more than you actually do in order to get something.

To be fair, he's not exactly wrong.

No! You can ruin many things, but you can't ruin Christmas!

Can I ruin Christmas?

You do remember that's a shipping day, right?

Point taken.

RAX: Nope, Minato fell asleep on her lap.

Damn right I was unpredictable.

Nightlyy: Years of hatred, despair, and desire to kill doesn't exactly just fade away because of just one girl.

Challenge accepted!

Varangian Guard : Damn right we're adorable!

It never ends with you, does it?

blahblahblech : What does that make me? What does that make Makoto?

Hanae Kokoro-chan: Well, hey, even he isn't immune to panicking when he's put into a bad situation. Makoto is still human after all.

Wait... That name... Kokoro... Did you read Momento Umbrae or is that name just a coincidence? If you have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about, then it's just a coincidence.

Hmm... Perhaps I will have to remedy that some day.

Is that even possible?

Clevernameeh: Everyone has their soft spots... Pressing Yuki's just means that he's instantly jump to homicide.

I wonder who else did that.

Yes... But *I* am a monster

Don't worry, I'll watch my back! Besides, I have my husbando looking after me.

SolidShinji104: That may come... in time.

A shorter chapter this time folks, but uh... You'll be happy by the end, trust me...


Home

Minato softly groaned as his consciousness that had slipped away seemingly at the flip of a switch began to return again. The boy might've dismissed this and go back to sleep anyway, but then he felt fingers gently combing through his hair.

"Hmm..?" Minato opened his eyes and looked up to see a pair of red eyes looking down on him.

"Welcome back to the world of the living." Kotone greeted the boy with her usual warm smile on her face.

"Mm... How long was I out?" Minato asked as he rotated himself so that he was looking straight up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Just about every joint felt stiff, so he must've been there for quite awhile.

Kotone softly hummed to herself as she tried to ponder just how much time had passed since he'd first fallen asleep, "A few hours now." She answered, still running her fingers through his hair "Your hair is silky-smooth, you know that?"

"You've just admitted to basically petting me in my sleep for a few hours, you know that?" He shot back which caused both of them to laugh at the absurdity of their situation, along with just how embarrassing this would be if anyone else were to find out about this.

"Way to kill the calm mood!" Kotone laughed while lightly punching the boy's shoulder as 'punishment'. It was almost amazing to see the night and day difference between Minato and Makoto.

Still having a self-satisfied look of his face, Minato readjusted his head's position on the girl's lap "Hmm... Are all girls lap's this comfy?"

"Hey, be careful where you turn your head!" She teasingly warned him, even going so far as to hold up a fist to demonstrate what her reaction would be.

"Pf, please..." Minato mumbled as he closed his eyes "... You wear shorts anyway."

"Well, I guess that's-" Kotone froze for a moment as what he just said fully registered in her brain "... How do you know that."

Minato's eyes shot wide open as a bead of sweat fell down his face "U-Uh..." It was at this moment that Minato had realized... He had fucked up "... Believe it or not... I actually have a very good explanation."

"Do tell." She ordered, narrowing her eyes and watching him like a hawk. Was she wrong to let her guard down? Was his Minato side more of a pervert than she had originally thought?

"Well uh... You see... My friend took my phone and-" The moment he uttered that last word, Kotone pushed him off her screaming

"You have photos on your phone?!" She yelled with a fury that no force in hell itself could even dream of.

Minato rubbed the back of his neck in unease as he stood up "W-Well uh..."

Not even letting him finish his sentence, Kotone held out her hand in a demanding fashion "Phone. Give. NOW!"

Minato slowly gulped It's been nice knowing me... He thought as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and gave it to the redhead.

The moment she started going through the phone, her face went from angry to shocked to downright horrified from the sheer combination of the quantity and quality of the photos.

There were various girls at the mall.

A lot of girls from within the school's hallways.

There were even some from within the girls changing room with many looking in the camera's direction, but not noticing for some reason...

Wait...

...

...

...

She was one of those that were looking at the camera! Not only that... it was taken when she was already half naked! How?! How did he take these?!

Kotone slowly looked up from the phone and saw the boy with a very terrified look on his face.

"U-Uh..." Minato took a small step back, afraid of what punishment was about to head his way. Left with no means of defence and no way out, he could only say the first thing that came to his mind "Um... Apple sauce?"

Kotone's left eye slowly twitched as she put the phone down and slowly walked towards Minato; Her cheeks were about as red as she was angry at this one moment.

"Mako-kun, I'm giving you one chance..." She warned as she took another step forward, "Just this one chance to give me a reason not to kill you here and now..."

"Uh.." Minato took another step back, but then felt his back hit the wall while the girl was getting closer and closer "... I swear to god I didn't get off to any of those nor have I sold them! I didn't even take them! I swear!" He desperately pleaded his innocence

"Alright, I believe you." Kotone said, finally stopping and smiling sweetly at him.

Minato sighed in relief "Oh thank-"

"So I'm giving you a choice..." Kotone said with a glare of a thousands suns that caused Minato's skin to feel as if it were being burned off "... Do you want a few broken bones or to kicked. You do heal after all." she gave her ultimatum.

Minato's faced paled as he weighed all of his options. Getting kicked would obviously leave permanent mental scars on top of destroying whatever chances there were of him ever having children in the future, even with Pharos' healing.

Then, there was the simple option of her breaking a 'few' bones. Considering she knew that he'd heal and the extreme rage he was feeling just from her presence that was drawing ever closer, she'd break far more than just a 'few'. Even if he heals, it'd still hurt like hell.

Neither of those were a real option for him.

There was no way of getting out of this one.

There was no excuse for him to use.

He only had one means of surviving this one. It was time to perform his last resort.

Minato got down on his knees and took a prostration pose in desperation.

"Please don't hurt me!" He begged the redheaded girl in front of him to spare his life and soul "I'll even make you something right here and now!"

"Hmm..." With his eyes closed a the feeling of pure terror in his heart, Minato heard the devil herself hum in thought as she decided his fate "You better bring you A-game."

Minato stood up instantly as if he was a recruit who'd just been drafted "Yes, ma'am!" he agreed before darting into the kitchen as fast as he could, eager to do whatever it took to save his life from a punishment for a crime he didn't commit.

Kotone couldn't help but giggle at the bluenette who she had just scared into submission. Best part was that she wasn't even going to hurt him, after all, which was side was even the right one to hurt?

In a way, seeing him run around frantically in a desperate attempt to escape his theoretical punishment was kind of cute in its own way. He certainly was a completely different beast when dealing with people if one were to compare him to Makoto.

Just thinking about it made her start to feel warm and...

Damn, these feelings again. Kotone silently cursed as she placed a hand over her heart which was the source of the sensation. Why? Why wouldn't they just go away now?

She took everything that was said yesterday to heart. She knew that these feelings towards Makoto weren't genuine so-

Wait... This wasn't Makoto, though. No, this was his 'Minato' side who was almost a complete one-eighty from Makoto while keeping some of the core traits.

Makoto had said to her that she was just confused about her feelings because she was 'in love with broken things', but... Minato wasn't any of that. No, he seemed to be largely unaffected by whatever had permanently scarred him for life.

So... What did this mean? Did this mean that both of them were wrong?

Did... Did that mean she...

Kotone quickly shook her head along with all of those thoughts that were collectively gathering in her mind. She shouldn't be thinking any of this, not now. Whatever the case may be, now wasn't the time to settle it.

...

...

...

"W-Well..?" Minato hesitantly asked as he presented his latest work of culinary art; Some ramen with chicken teriyaki.

The girl who this was presented to in a desperate plea to save his life seemed disappointed, but decided to take a bite out of it... before sucking up the whole thing as if her mouth had suddenly become a vacuum cleaner.

Minato watched in complete shock/awe as the girl practically licked her plate clean to the point it was spotless and ready to be reused... had it not been for the fact that she -once again- practically licked it clean.

"A-Am I free to go?" Minato asked in a shaky voice while unconsciously taking a step back, afraid of just what this one girl could do to him.

Kotone hummed as she stood up and looked at the boy with a kittenish look on her face. He could tell just by looking at her that he wasn't going to like what was going on in her head.

"Hmm... If you saw me, maybe I should see you now?" She playfully suggested while she did her typical girlish giggle.

"W-Wha-" Minato took another step back, his face reddening with every second. Did she honestly just suggest that?

"Or maybe I can just tickle you to death?" She suggested another means of torture which caused the boy to take another step back in fear.

He just traded a moment of quick pain that'd heal for this? Was it too late to choose the last two options? Could he go back in time?

Wait, he wasn't cornered this time! He had a means of escape!

Out the door? No, the neighbors would think he was fucking insane... Besides, this is his home; Where the hell would he have to go?

Maybe he could try duping her into thinking he was running for the door and knock her out? Oh, who was he trying to kid? She was still the leader of SEES and wouldn't go down that easily... not to mention he wasn't sure how to do that without causing brain damage.

Maybe it would've been smarter to add sedatives to her food? No, he could've sworn he saw her take something earlier probably for a cold or something that wasn't any of his business so it wouldn't be a good idea to risk mixing anything... Or were they mints? Or did he just imagine it?

Crap, now he didn't know what was real and what wasn't because he was panicking now! He needed a way out and he needed it now!

There was one place he could run to, though it wasn't exactly a way 'out'.

Screw it! He was doomed if he didn't try it!

Minato turned around and was about to dash away, but was immediately pounced on from behind by Kotone which caused both of them onto fall to the floor.

"Goin' somewhere?" Kotone asked as she tried desperately to wrap her arms around him in an effort to halt his attempts to get away.

Unwilling to give up, Minato continued to resist and eventually managed to worm his way out of her iron grasp and run for his bedroom door.

As soon as he was in, Minato attempted to slam his door shut and lock it in order to form a safe haven of sorts.

This was rendered futile as Kotone rammed the door before it could shut and forced her way into his room and made any other methods of escape were now nothing but a dream.

Despite the slight pain she felt from ramming the door as hard as she did, Kotone still laughed as she grabbed onto Minato and pushed and pulled as hard as she could to destroy his balance.

"Ha ha, I win!" She declared as if this were nothing but a game. Finding that she was getting nowhere, she put as much force as possible when she pushed and tugged in various directions in order to knock the boy down who was now returning her hold as to make sure he already had a grip of her should he fall.

"No, no..." Minato denied, refusing to submit or admit defeat. However, the constant movement by Kotone was starting to get to him and he wanted to be sure that he was going to hit a spot that do the least amount of damage "H-Hey! You're going to make us-!"

Minato's sentence was cut off when his balance finally gave way and the two collapsed into the boy's bed with the owner in question having his back hit the cushion and the girl land on top of him.

"Ow..." He let out a low but dragged out groan as he felt the pressure of having a girl fall on him. Of all the things he expected to happen, this was certainly not one of them.

Kotone, however, was spared most of the pain that Minato had felt and could only laugh "Told ya I won." she declared, still crushing the boy who hadn't had any time to brace himself nor recover.

"That hurt..." Minato complained as he gently nudged the girl to get off of him.

"Hey, it was fun right?" Kotone asked as she began to lift herself "Isn't that all... that... matters..." Her voice trailed off as the two paused and took a moment to realize their close proximity and location.

Just like before, time seemed to completely freeze for the both of them as they were left staring into each other's eyes.

Kotone felt the same feelings she felt last time as her heart began pounding hard to the point she thought it was going to burst out of her chest.

From her chest she also felt the same warm and strange sensation that had been plaguing her, only now it was amplified to a much greater extent. No matter what she thought, even when she tried telling herself it was something as minor as a crush after Yakushima... It only came back stronger and stronger.

She remembered every word she had said before as if it was on constant replay. She remembered what Makoto had said and she took it to heart. Her feelings weren't for him, but for the idea of helping him...

Minato felt as if he was completely locked in place and unable to move; The only action he was capable of doing was gazing into those crimson eyes of hers.

He knew Makoto was beyond enraged at this point. Being touched alone was enough to upset him, but on top of him still panicking over her comment over Minako... He wanted this to stop.

Makoto wanted to push her off and send her out the door. This was wrong... More than wrong! It was something that should never even be conceived in their minds! Especially his with him knowing how this would end.

But Makoto wasn't here.

Kotone was told that her feelings were only because of her desire to help Makoto, but she was now dealing with the much more upbeat Minato who barely seemed bothered. Yet, her feelings remained the same- No... If anything, they were stronger than before! Much stronger! Whatever she was feeling, it had to be tied to something more than that... There was no way it could be this strong otherwise.

Minato was in control now and he could do whatever he wanted. He normally existed as nothing more than a voice in the Prince's head at most, but now he was here. Now, lying on top of him was the girl who'd set him free from his private prison. The person who he had admitted his feelings towards days ago.

Forgoing everything warning them, the two finally gave in to their inner feelings, closed their eyes and leaned into each other to share their first kiss.

Whatever voice Kotone had telling her to stop had completely ceased now as she cupped the boy's face and pressed her lips against his.

She couldn't stop, she never wanted this to end! She wanted this to go on for as long as she could.

Taking him by complete surprise, Kotone had decided to crank it up another notch as she slide in her tongue and allowed her hands to freely roam the bluenette before taking off the jacket that he was wearing and pressing more of her body against him.

While surprised, Minato was sure to return the favor by adding his own tongue into the mix. Neither of them were willing to let the other freely dominate and it quickly became a dual of tongues which caused both of them to softly moan into each others mouths.

Going by pure instinct alone, Minato let his hands snake up into Kotone's shirt and feel the soft normally hidden skin underneath.

Almost as if on autopilot, Kotone finally broke the kiss for a moment allowing both to take the opportunity to catch their breath and quickly discarded the to top and threw it somewhere behind her before kissing the boy again, now only having an orange bra to conceal her womanly assets.

Left with nothing else, Minato wrapped his arms around her waist. For this moment, Makoto was silent as if left unable to speak, and only one that was in his world was the girl in front of him.

Grabbing the boy's left hand and brought it to her chest, moaning softly again when she felt the unfamiliar sensation of someone else's hand on her body for the first time. Feeling as if she was in her own private world, Kotone pushed the boy flat onto his back as she continued kissing him.


Holy shit!

Holy shit!

Holy shit!

... Pineapples?

You... This motherfucker actually did it!

Oh my... Well, who needs a maiden virtue?

Um... Uh... W-Wow...

Uh... Good day!