Edit: Yep, if you paid attention to the last chapter, then you know this buddy is revised too. This chapter is definitely getting a larger overhaul than the last one. What I'm going to do is combine this with the old chapter 65's date (which is that entire chapter), so you're probably going to see that chapter's AN/s too.


Welp, I thought long. I thought hard. But I now have a (rather basic) outline on how events are going to unfold from now on. I really should've had this sooner given my habit of forgetting everything and then just going with the flow. Then again, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer…

Also, fuck… burn out really is hitting me hard. I don't even think it's this fic. I think it's Persona in general. I really should branch out one of these days…

Well, you certainly seem to be in a Warhammer 40k mood these days.

This is true. Pft, maybe I'll write DOW Soulstorm's campaign from Chaos' perspective with an actual competent commander… or rather (as DOW fans would say), the Sindri of Carron's crusade. Fitting how Sindri was in the Alpha legion like Carron too.

You know, that made no sense to everyone.

This is true. All you guys need to know is this: Carron's a lunatic obsessed with metal boxes, and his greatest rival is a guy who mispronounces the words "Space," "marines," "emperor," and "fury."

Clevernameeh: he's not okay… hell, I don't think any protag I've ever written is alright in the head. Maybe this says more about me than anything… huh.


Old 65 AN/s

Guest: So the angst is wangst then? Yo comprendo.

Don't you hate Spanish?

Uh… no me gusta español? Yo no comprendo español? Okay, I'm not good at Spanish! Don't blame me! Language is something that's learned through repeated daily use, and that's just not an advantage I have… it's why so many of my fellow Americans are cursed with being monolingual.

In light of that review though, I decided to change up this chapter a little. I mean, it's not really going to affect the overall plan for the fic as a whole, but it should be a nice little break from everything for a little bit… barred the beginning given last chapter's ending.


"So, you like playing chess?" Minato raised an eyebrow, looking at the board in front of him.

Ryoji shrugged, eyes closed with a slight little smirk on his face. "I just like board games, really. Why?"

"Nothing," Minato shook his head, looking down solemnly at the board and its pieces. Games like this brought back memories of someone else from a long time ago.

His opponent, however, took notice. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing," Minato shook his head, "just nostalgia, I guess."

"You guess?" Ryoji repeated.

"It's noth—"

"You say it's nothing again, and I might have to tie you in the chair until you talk." Ryoji was quick to make playful jokes and threats, not noticing the brief shiver that ran down the bluenette's spine at the mention.

Tie to down to a chair? He knew someone in a situation like that a few months ago; the smell of burning skin, the sound of bone-shattering from blunt force, and the screams that went unheard. Was Makoto always what he is now, or were that—and all the things he had done before—proof that the monster was always there, but Pharos just forced it out.

"Minato, you gotta tell me something," Ryoji asked, leaning forward, noticing the sudden paleness on the boy's face.

"It's noth—not something I'm comfortable sharing," Minato shook the memories out of his head. The dead should rest, and the monsters should be left undisturbed. "I just… remembered some things."

"Bad thing?"

"Terrible." Minato shivered. "Wait, what did you call me?"

"Makoto…?" Ryoji said slowly, taking a sip of the drink he had bought from café they were currently in.

"Right, right, right." Minato shook his head. He was going to have to find a way to deal with hearing that name for a very long time now. "Are you ever going to move your piece?"

"Fine, fine…"

It did not take long for Minato to remember why he hated boardgames.

Ryoji favored talking during the game, always dividing his attention away from the events transpiring. Minato might have been able to multitask at first, but the constant divides of attention led him to fall into his enemy's hands.

When he attempted to maintain silence, Ryoji simply stopped moving entirely, trapping them both in an infinite staring contest until he caved and started talking again.

It was a dirty tactic, one that he always had difficulty countering. Unsurprisingly, it was also one that was favored by…

By…

"Minato?"

Minato shook his head, "It's no—I'm fine. I just… remembered someone."

Someone—is that what he was going to refer to him now?

He wasn't just someone.

For ten years, he was all he had. For ten years, he was the only person he could talk about the nightmares with, who understood him.

But then he…

Everything stopped. Their conversations, the strategies forming in his head, and any motion he was making completely ceasing in an instant.

"I'm sorry," Minato apologized, standing from his seat. "I just… I have to go."

"Wait, what?" Ryoji barely managed to get out, all too late it would seem as Minato was already dashing out the door, leaving him all by his lonesome.


The subject was hard to think about, yet impossible not to.

Even now, weeks after it happened, Minato could still feel everything that Pharos had done to him. Every hallucination he suffered was always on his mind in some way or another.

He remembered when he was forced to watch his sister burn again, complete with her always calling out for her brother to save her. One he will never forget was one of his parents cursing him, execrating him for the monster he had become, and how they were ashamed to have ever spawned him.

But even all of that paled to what he felt last: a piece of his soul dying. Makoto had gone into what could only be described as a state of dormancy, and Inheritor was just gone, leaving an indescribable void in his absence.

Now he always has the feeling that something missing. Despite this, he can never tell what is it that he's missing.

Was he missing his friend, only person he had for those ten long years where he was all alone? The same friend who had tortured him for reasons beyond him.

Was he missing the him that died, the only one that persevered everything they had endured with stride? The same version of him that was everything he couldn't be; that died to save someone they loved.

No matter how much he asked himself, he would never receive an answer. Both of them are either gone or dead, leaving him all alone.

"Not yet," he said mumbling. He's not alone. For now, Minato still has Kotone, and maybe that's all he'll need.

And now, he's brought himself back here—where he swore he'd never return to.

"So this is home, huh?" It was amazing how this place could be so familiar yet so foreign at the same time.

He could leave right now. Leave now to avoid the chains wrapping around him, trying to choke the life out him as he approached.

No, not now. He has to stay strong. He has to try... just try. He owed it to her and Kotone to try again.

The outside hardly looks any different than how he remembered it. This was the home of Minato Arisato before he lost everything and his other self swore to never return; too tempting and far too painful.

But Makoto was gone now. There was nothing left to keep Minato away from where he used to pull pranks on his sister, where they would yell at each other until their parents berated them both, causing them to reunite in their mutual disgruntlement.

There's only one here now. There's no Makoto or Pharos, but there's also no Minako, Mother, or Father.

Minato leans into the door, placing his head against the panel.

All it would take now is to insert the key and then turn the knob. If he opens the door, then all the memories would come flooding back in.

"No," he whispers. "That should be for Minato—the real one—not me."

Minato took a few steps back, never breaking eye contact with the building in front of him.

"But, I'm trying," Minat admitted, managing to force a gentle smile. "I don't know if I'll ever be him again. But I'll try, I swear."

The bluenette closed his eyes, remembering those who were dear to him. "Mom, dad, sis—I'll be back someday but not now."

Minato turned around, never looking back at building behind him. Just like before, he couldn't enter, no matter how much he wanted to.

Maybe one day he will. Maybe that day, he won't be alone.

As he left, Minato could almost swear he heard the wind whispering to him.

"Brother…"


The next day, Minato was greeted by something he most certainly did not expect the first thing in the morning.

"We are going on a date," Kotone said. She wasn't asking or demanding. She was informing him.

"What?" Minato let out a forced laugh in response, waiting for this to just be the set-up for some joke. But when no response came other than a rather fiery glare, he was quick to point out, "Um, you remember this is a school day, right?"

"Oh, my sweet, sweet, Minato," Kotone whispered his name, and for some reason, the smile she had on her face gave him the chills. "The morning after we spent our first night together, we said we'd have more kisses, more dates, you… probably spending all your money on me, and then more fun later on. Sorry hun, but I'm cashing that in."

"B-But… why now?"

"God, you're such an idiot!" Kotone groaned, nearly slamming her head into the wall. "No, it's okay Kotone. You don't need to get angry. Just explain yourself!"

Is she talking to herself now? "Oh no," he thought. Now she's the one losing her mind.

"Minato, I just… I need this, okay?" Kotone pleaded, grasping the boy's hands. "Just for today, no shadows, no Dark Hour—nothing but you and me."

"I…" Minato wanted to protest, if only because he did not want to feel the wrath of their redheaded senior, but seeing his girlfriend's lips pucker and her eyes soften proved to just be too much for him. "Fine, but you're handling Kirijo."

"Yay!" the girl shouted, literally bouncing up into the air for joy. "Get dressed, we've got a long day ahead of us, darling!"

"Darling," Minato repeated when she left his room. He was never going to tell her how much he loved hearing that.


"So…" Minato looked around uncomfortably, pulling on his collar, "what're we supposed to do?"

"I dunno," Kotone shrugged, "whatever we want."

Minato just kept looking around as the two just continued walking around hand-in-hand aimlessly in the city. Dates weren't something he was experienced in, even during his time as Makoto. Then again, maybe Makoto wasn't the best role-model in that regard.

"You're doing it again!" Kotone yelled in his ear which instantly shook him back into reality.

"Huh, what?" Minato asked, literally shaking in surprise.

"You're thinking something negative again!" Kotone said frowning in either anger or irritation, "I've known you long enough to tell when you're spacing out."

"Sorry."

"Look, Blue," Kotone sighed, stopping to stand in front of her boyfriend. "Today's about us; no shadows, no Dark Hour, no SEES—nothing else but the two of us." She said, gently squeezing his hand, "just for today, we're going to act like kids our age."

"… kids our age that is skipping school." Minato chuckled whilst smiling wryly. How long has it been since he last felt… normal? Inheritor never had the chance, Makoto was too obsessed with revenge… it sounded nice to feel normal again.

"Yup," she giggled, "we're gonna go out, maybe make a regrettable or question choice or five, and then laugh about it for the next five years."

"Yes, ma'am," Minato wasn't about to raise any objections. Besides, she wasn't going to take no for an answer today.

Before she could respond in any form, a cool breeze suddenly blew causing both of them to shiver as it left like the air had managed to get through their clothes and directly touch their skin. Well, that was certainly one way to tell them what to do.

"Looks like we need to do some clothes shopping," Minato said, looking down at his own attire. His coat had been more or less ruined for a while now, ever since his... episode as Makoto. He'd been getting by so far just by wearing layers upon layers of clothing, but that didn't seem to be enough.

"No kidding," Kotone shivered, tightening the red scarf around her neck. "Good thing I have a lot of money from all the jobs I used to work, huh?"

Minato raised an eyebrow, "you used to work?"

"…" Kotone just stared blankly for several moments before coming up with, "where do you think I get my money?"

"I dunno," Minato shrugged, "most of mine are either from my foster family or I stole it."

"Minato…" Kotone said his name slowly and sternly, and he could just tell what was coming.

"… I plead not guilty on the account of insanity."

Smack

"Ow." Minato rubbed the back of his head where he'd just been struck. Looks like he was going to have to strike the word insanity from his dictionary… and keep more of Makoto's activities secret.


"How's this?" Kotone asked, pulling out a black coat in one hand and a dark blue one in the other. "Like 'em?"

Minato blinked before letting out a sigh, "you know, I do wear colors other than blue and black, right?"

"You don't say," she deadpanned before putting the clothes back where she had found them. "You're not exactly being helpful here!"

"Sorry," he apologized, "I'm just not that used to shopping. Not helped by that fact that I didn't like large crowds back then."

"You could at least tell me a color…" Kotone groaned, feeling like she was helping a child. He's lucky she's head over heels for him by now.

"I dunno, maybe we could wear matching clothes with contrasting colors?" Minato suggested with a slight shrug, "That's a thing that couples do, right?"

"Hmm…" Kotone hummed to herself. Was it something people did? Crap, she should've paid more attention when other girls bragged about their dates or something! Ah, screw it! It was their date; their rules.

"Be right back!" Kotone said before hurrying off to some other part of the store. She could certainly move when she wanted to.

Minato still had his lips forming a slight smile when she ran off, "what does that girl see in me?"

Hating stores were one of the things Minato and Minako actually had in common back then, albeit for different reasons. Minato just hated being around so many people, while Minako just treaded being forced to get out against her will. Still, Mom always knew just how to convince the two of them—by promising them chocolate that they'd never get and forget about because they were too busy complaining to each other.

Mom really was crafty, wasn't she?

Shaking the unusually pleasant memory out of his head, Minato's attention was then drawn to some scarves that were up for grabs. The colors were red, blue, purple, green, and yellow. Hmm… was this where Ryoji got his? Nah, his was too long.

Still, Kotone's wearing a red scarf. If they're going to go with this whole matching thing, then he might as well commit to it, even if that means breaking his own rule by grabbing the blue one.

"Oh, Blue!" Minato looked back and saw Kotone running up to him with two coats in her hands, one being about his size and red and the other being both his usual navy blue and smaller than the other one—hers obviously. "How's this?"

"Red for me and blue for you, is it?" He asked rhetorically before lifting the scarf in his hand, "think this will be a nice little add-on? You know, with your scarf being red and everything."

"So yes then," Kotone smiled, both feeling somewhat proud of herself and thinking how cute the two of them would look. "And yes, I like the scarf too."

Well, that settled that.


"Ooh, over there!" Kotone stopped both of them to point to some seemingly random store. "Would you believe me if I told that's where Akihiko-senpai found Junpei?"

"Found Junpei?" Minato tilted his head.

"Yup, senpai found him in a ball crying and freaking out over the Dark Hour," Kotone explained, giggling all the way at the mental images. "Ah, what I would give to have been there."

Now Minato was the one snickering. Oh if she only knew what she just did, then he'd be breaking into a full belly laugh.

"It is funny," Kotone laughed, unaware of what was really going on in his head, "right?"

"It is," Minato admitted, "but I'm not laughing at that."

Suddenly, Kotone's giggling ceased and her smile became much fainter as she felt like she was walking into a trap suddenly, "w-wait what?"

"You just broke your own rule." Minato pointed out, smiling down on her cheekily, "you said we're normal, right? But then, you mentioned the Dark Hour."

Kotone's eyes widened as she realized her blunder, "B-B-B-But… But I… We… I…" she tried to conjure a response, but could only fumble between her words. Eventually, she figured it'd be better to admit defeat.

With a sigh, Kotone lowered her head, "All right, you win." She lamented, "you're not gonna hit me, are you?"

"Wait, so it's fine to hit me?" Minato was quick to point out the hypocrisy in that, giving her a cold glare. "Oh, so I just mean less, huh?"

"W-What?! N-No!" Kotone was quick to respond whilst shaking her head. "It was just a—I wasn't going to—I meant—"

"Pft," Minato's glare broke instantly as he snickered, finding more than just a little enjoyment at seeing his girlfriend fumble with her words that easily and quickly. "I'm just screwing with you."

"Wha—" Kotone was quick to put a sour look on her face and let out a "Hmph," as she turned away from him in anger. "You're still a meanie, even now!"

"Sorry, huh," Minato chuckled, still having a small grin on his face, "some things just don't change."

Kotone let out another sigh, wanting to drop the matter entirely. Why did she have to fall in love with such a jerk? Ah, who is she kidding? She can't stay mad at him.

"Remember when your justification for everything was, 'because I'm pretty'?" Minato asked, now thinking back to their earlier months during the school year.

"Oh right… that…" A hint of pink could be seen forming on Kotone's face at the memory. Apparently, those weren't her proudest moments.

"Where did that come from anyway?" Minato asked. "You don't seem like the bragging type."

"Oh, well…" Kotone scratched the back of her head and the pink in her cheeks was quickly becoming a bright shade of red, "it comes from something that used to happen when I was younger…"


Age – 5

"H-Have all my crayons!" A boy exclaimed rather loudly before handing a box of crayons to the surprised redheaded girl.

"Um… thanks?" Kotone thanked, confused as to what brought this on. She didn't have a coloring book to color in. "Why are you givin' them to me?"

"B-Because your pretty!" The boy answered quickly, his face now being as red as an apple. He looked like he was about to say something else, but then he just turned tail and ran away as fast as he could.

Kotone was just left standing there, absolutely bewildered. He thought she was pretty? What'd that have to do with anything?


Age – 8

"I wanna sit next to her!"

"No, me!"

"No, I am!"

Kotone could only watch in silence as multiple boys fought over just which one of them would just sit next to her! This was ridiculous! It's just a seat!

Of course, a teacher was quick to take notice and settled the issue by having one of the girls in the class sit next to the redhead, visibly lowering all of the boys' spirits.

"Why were they fighting over the seat?" Kotone whispered to the girl next to her.

The girl shrugged, "maybe it's because they thought you were pretty?"

"Oh…" Kotone said, sinking back in her chair, "I get it." was that just going to be their excuse for everything?


Age – 12

"Hey, can you give Saki a hand in math class?" Kotone asked her male classmate. "I tried helping, but I guess I'm just not that great of a teacher."

"And why should I help her?" The pretentious boy asked, causing her to have to fight the urge to clock him then and there.

"… Because I'm pretty and I asked you to?" It got her through school this far, let's see how using that works now.

The boy seemed to think for a moment before shrugging, "Eh, why not? I don't have anything to do anyway."

Did… did that actually work?


Minato let out an empty, "Huh," after hearing that story. "And you've never had a boyfriend before?"

"Not until you," Kotone admitted with a blush still visible on her cheeks.

"Sounds like you were little miss heartbreaker when you were younger," he teased, "should I be worried?"

"Uh-uh," Kotone beamed back at him, "you're all mine, and I don't let go of things easily."

"Good, because neither do I." Truer words just might've never been spoken until today.

After a bit more of aimless walking around and minor sight-seeing, the two eventually found themselves in Paulownia mall. It was getting late into the day now, so it was smart to be somewhere they could find something to eat easily rather than having to call it a night early and returning home.

Of course, Minato spotted the same old crane machine that Kotone had spotted Makoto using months ago. Come to think of it, there was one thing that Kotone asked him to do once that he got too angry over.

"Wait here for a moment, sweetheart." He asked, leaving her a little peck on the lips before shelling out some of his money on the crane machine.

If there was one thing Minato could give himself credit for, it was the fact that he had so much practice with these things that it was pretty much child's play at this point. These were all plushies he already owned, but these weren't different—these were made to fulfill his love's wish, not to grieve.

One Jack Frost, Black Frost, Pyro Jack, and one King Frost; he really has gotten too good with these cranes. Eh, whatever, everyone has their own little quirks, right?

"Um… what're you doing?" Kotone asked, wondering how to react to him suddenly carrying four plushies for seemingly no reason. Of course, she knew why he normally collected them now, but… why was he smiling the entire time then?

"Pick a bench," Minato answered, "I do believe you asked for a puppet show once."

"… I did?"

"Just sit down…"


In a land of… uh… Ice…

Really?

I didn't plan this ahead of time! Cut me some slack!

In a frozen land—

Why don't you just say Antarctica or something?

Can I get past the first sentence?!

Sorry, sorry…

In a… place, there were two brothers, each named Jack.

What kind of parent would name both of their sons—

You are the worst audience ever!

Okay, there are two brothers! One is called Jack Frost, and the other known as the Jack O' Lantern but more commonly referred to by his friend as Pyro Jack.

One day, while the two were performing their usual duties—

Wait, they have duties? What? Do they need to eat or something?

Stop interrupting!

Anyway, the two brothers suddenly heard a loud cry!

"Help! Help!"

The two rushed to the source of the voice, only to find their lord and liege King Frost being confronted by a black daemon!

But he's just a black version of Jack Frost. Also, why is King so fat?

"Jack! Jack! I need your help!"

Was he calling out to both? One of them? A-Are you even listening to me!

"Mwahahaha!" The daemon laughed! "I am Black Jack and imma destroy everything!"

"Oh no!" Jack cried out, "He's going to destroy our homes!"

Wait, which Jack? … You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?

"I'll stop him!" Jack declared before tossing a fireball at his enemy, only for it to do nothing.

"Mwahaha!" Black Frost laughed, "I won't be vanquished by a little fire! Soon, Imma smash this whole place!"

Wait, so is this like our personas or something? Answer me!

"No!" Jack refused, freezing Black Frost into a giant cube of ice.

Shouldn't his King have been able to do that!

Suspension of disbelief!

More like suspension of bullshit!

However, the giant ice cube was almost immediately shattered and Black Frost returned to dancing in place with a grin on his face.

He was dancing the entire time!?

"Mwahaha! You can't beat me!" Black Frost laughed, "None of you can!"

"What do we do?!" Jack asked Jack.

Oh, come on! You know this is confusing!

"I have an idea!" Jack perked up, "Let's challenge him to a dance-off!"

Okay, now you're not even trying.

What? Yes, I am!

Sure you are. I'm going to go and get us a table in that restaurant over there. Feel free to join me when you're ready.

What?! You can't just—but I… ah fuck! What do I do now? Ah, screw it! I'm finishing if it's the last thing I do.

Black Frost gasped, "A-A dance-off?! NO!" The very idea proved to be too much for the daemon who then spontaneously combusted for absolutely no reason.

With that settled the two Jacks each gave their king the finger for being a whiny bitch and then lived happily ever after.

Sir, what are you doing?

Ugh, goddammit…


"So yeah," Minato groaned, "explaining that to an officer was awkward."

"Is that why he sat two tables away from us?" Kotone asked, laughing.

"Yup," Minato let out an exasperated sigh, "he must've thought I was a nutcase or something. He made the entire dinner uncomfortable as hell!"

"Well," Kotone up and saw that the day's blue sky had been replaced with night's numerous stars, "we have a few more hours to ourselves. Anything you want to do to enjoy the nightlife?"

"Hmm," Minato thought to himself for a moment before asking, "can we be clichéd as hell?"

Kotone laughed, "Kidding me? Go for it! Whatever we say goes!"

"Follow me then…" Minato said, taking lead.

It was nice to see him smiling and laughing again. Ever since everything with Pharos, he always seemed to be in a somber mood but now here he was doing a complete one-eighty.

Maybe it really wasn't all for nothing after all, like she had feared when she first laid eyes on him after he woke up.

Maybe, despite what even he might think, that boy named Minato Arisato is still in there. He might not be the same, but he's still there and he's not leaving any time soon.

After a quick monorail trip and some more walking, Kotone recognized that he was bringing her back the shrine. Wouldn't this be the last place he'd want to go?

"Wait, Minato," she called out to him causing him to stop in his tracks, "why did you bring us here?"

"Well, three reasons." Minato answered shrugging, "Technically, this is where we had our first date right? I thought it'd be a good place to end it off too."

"O-Oh, really?" Kotone blinked rapidly in surprise. Whenever she thinks of this place, she always thinks of him grieving over his family now. If she didn't hear it from Minato himself, she might've assumed this being the spot of their first official date was the last thing on his mind (even with her reminding him not too long ago).

"Second, not that many other people like to come here this late, which means we're safe from both interruptions and many…" Minato paused for a moment to search for a polite word, "unfortunate souls."

"And the third?"

"There's a lot of grass by the playground," Minato answered, earning a confused look from his girlfriend. But that look only lasted for a few moments until she understood what he was doing.

And within the span of a few minutes, the two were doing what both of them considered the most clichéd thing for couples to ever do—lie down and watch the stars.

"I think that one is…" Minato pointed at the sky and let out a long pause, "e-err…"

"You have no idea, do you?" Kotone laughed.

"I-I did…" Minato muttered, "I just… changed my mind last second is all."

"Sure, sure," Kotone giggled before pointing to another part set of stars, "Ooh, that one look like a fox!"

Minato followed her finger to the stars and bobbed his head left and right, "A very… unique fox."

"Oh, quiet! It's a fox." Kotone waved his comment off, still laughing. "You know, I'm really glad we had the day to ourselves."

"Me too," Minato agreed. "It's… weird. It's been a really long time since I've had the chance to feel normal again."

"Same," Kotone nodded before her voice suddenly lowered, "although, the wait was a lot longer for you."

"Hey, not tonight, remember?"

"Sorry." Kotone playfully hit herself on the head, "how is it I keep breaking my own rules?"

"I dunno," Minato shrugged. "Here, I'll keep it even: you know, despite everything that happens to me… in a way, I'm glad things happened the way they did."

"Hmm?"

"Well, where do you think we'd be now?" Minato asked.

"In either one of our houses making love right about now," Kotone answered with a deviant smirk on her face.

Minato blushed at the thought, "You certainly have a lot of optimism."

"We balance each other out." Kotone shrugged before sitting up with Minato following suit. "Minato, even if you were just a normal person… I'd still fall for you."

"Sure about that?" Minato asked, his voice has gotten a lot softer than usual suddenly.

"Completely," she answered, without a hint of doubt. "Even if you're mean at times, you're still a nice person with an equally good heart," she said scooting closer, "besides, if nothing else, I'd marry you just to have you cook for me every day."

Minato was barely able to stifle a laugh, "you ass."

"I love you," Kotone said, brushing his fringe out of the way of his right eye.

"I love you too." Minato returned, placing his own hand on the one that was now placed on the right side of his face.

Another grin slowly crept up Kotone's face, "wanna do another cliché?"

"Hmm…" Minato hummed for a moment, "the moon's not full, so it's not a complete cliché. Ah, what the hell? Who cares?"

With that, the two leaned into each other and pressed their lips against one another under the faint illumination of the moonlight.

Turns out, some things are clichéd for a reason.


"Hehe," Kotone giggled, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend and hugging him from behind. "Is it bad I was looking forward to that?"

"Maybe," Minato shrugged with his eyes scanning the room. "You have a lot of pink here."

"My room, my tastes, sweetie," Kotone replied, leaving a kiss on his neck.

"You do remember I'm a person, right?" Minato whined. "I'm starting to wonder if you'll chain me to the bed at this rate."

"I was innocent before I met you. You corrupted me." Kotone leaned further in, pressing her chest against his back when she planted another kiss on him.

"Did you say that you seduced me?"

"Shut up," Kotone gently whispered into his ear, gently nipping his ear lobe.

Just another night of feeling normal.

Just another to feel happy.

Maybe Minato isn't gone; not yet.


Edit: Nope, the fic ain't dead yet. Shocking, I know. But hey, with me being a busy high school student, what can you do? Before, people (rightfully) made it clear that Minato's misery made everything feel pretty pointless. So, I went for something different. Doesn't feel like he's really Minato (as in, who he was before his family died despite being the same personality), but he's still trying, and most importantly, has not given up yet. No more goddamn angst, at least, not until it's appropriate.

I kept the date mostly the same because, well, that was pretty much ship fan-service that I didn't really feel ashamed of, unlike the other chapters.


Someone got to use the punk as a piñata, that's what happened.

That, and his brain just… shut down or something. He's really not doing well.

Nope, and this time, Minato's responsive enough to actually react to what the hell just happened. I'm just saying, what I said in the last chapter still applies. I was just in the mood to write something, got sick of reading 40k lore, couldn't think of any one-shots, so I made this. Hope you enjoy… because I wrote this really fucking late at night (which is a terrible idea), so there's probably a lot of errors I'm too sleepy to notice.


Old 65 AN/s

That's finally over with. So, I decided to cut down on the angst a bit, and I do think it's better off that way. That being said, I still wouldn't call Minato normal yet. There's a reason he was puking his guts out before, even if it takes him a while to realize it.