As if his return to the front line had opened a gate, his routine started to build on a budding camaraderie with the twins. They had impressive potential and his inner captain spark wanted to nurture that latent talent.
Minato, gifted but harder to read sometimes, eventually cracked a conversation with him about his struggles with kendo, where Akihiko was happy to advise him. As the captain of his own club, he was quite familiar with the brutal introduction of new members and their struggles. They bonded over some beef bowls, that is, Minato mumbled and nodded during the meal, but listened with attentiveness to his advice and potential training routines. They never directly talked about his sister, but a few loaded stares from Minato were heavy with allegory as to where he stood when it concerned her, Tartarus or no. Funny, how at a glance the dominant twin appeared to be her since she acted as the outspoken front of the duo, but behind the scenes it was quite the reverse.
Minako, their leader, he needed to get a better understanding of to support the team to the fullest. The more his thinking was in sync with her approach, the less he would struggle if he had to improvise. She was walking with purpose after class when he caught up to her.
"Oh, it's you. Are you going home?"
She stopped in her tracks, looked at him with a smile.
"Wanna walk home with me?" It was almost a teasing tone, yet he nodded.
"Do you mind if we stop somewhere on the way? There's something I was in the mood for. My treat."
Her eyes lit up at the mention and she nodded.
"Alright, let's go!"
There might have been some groupies around, yet again, but he saw none of them, just a vague outline of people he had to avoid and clear a path through, Minako close by.
Silver eyes gleam with admiration as she polishes her ramen, despite the size of the bowl. All her frantic activity, on top of Tartarus duties, must require quite a few calories to maintain her head straight with a decent level of energy, but it was still quite a large serving for such a slip of a girl.
He has seen what kind of food the juniors were wolfing down during the midterms, and it scared him to think it was a regular occurrence, hence the pitstop for decent nutrition. Proper fuel for proper results.
Akihiko feels like a tease when she tries to act like the extra-large special is nothing, he never thought she would even try to pretend anything around him, especially since he's been quite honest in his admiration of her skills. It's almost as if her mask had slipped for a second, showing a vulnerability for his approval and confidence and he doesn't know what to make of it.
She had nothing to prove in his eyes and the opening to admonish her for her slight deception surprises him. Perhaps some praise is required to lessen the sting she might be feeling, although with her cheerful disposition, he has a hard time to spot if she is flustered or good at hiding it. Minako remains a bubbly mystery still.
"You know, Mitsuru is the one who recommended you to be our leader, but I thought you would be the best in that position, too. Just keep doing your best, okay? And, of course, we'll do our best to back you up, as well."
She nods, lopsided grin in tow like a caught thief, as grey meets red. He pays for their meal, and they jog in silence to the dorm. His thoughts are churning as he watches her, eyes alight and a carefree step right next to him as if it's nothing demanding. He has been holding back to help them conserve energy for tonight's exploration, but she would make an excellent running partner. Perhaps he will ask her to join him the next morning they meet in the lobby at the crack of dawn, or after school if she is free.
An occasion presents itself a few days later, the sun is bright and there is a slight wind, filled with the perfume of spring. Akihiko is still in school uniform, but when he meets her near the stairs, he can't help but ask her to join him on an impromptu training session before he even thinks too deeply about it.
"Sure! Let's go!" She makes no comment and races him to the school gates playfully.
They run together with a more structured pace afterward and end up, quite a while later, near the shrine's playground close to the dorm. Huffing and holding his ribs, the teen brings his pacing down and puts his back to the jungle gym, closing his eyes. Breathing deeply, face caressed by the winds and a splash of tree shadows crisscrossing his cheeks, Akihiko enjoys the moment. He is drenched, but the moving air is refreshing after their exertions.
His eyelids open to a master's painting. Minako is outlined in fire, backlit by the setting sun, skirt and ponytail billowing in the breeze. Like a sculpture of life incarnate, her cheeks are tinged with pink, her red orbs alight with some inner blaze as she gazes absently at the park slide. Little beads of dew are dotting her brow like stars, in-between strands of copper, and she inhales with her whole body, taking in the smell of fresh flowers, closing her eyes in quiet contemplation.
He can feel some heat travel to his cheeks, and he gulps clumsily. It feels like he accidentally entered her dorm room in secret. Sparks are twitching under his flesh, and he clenches his hands back and forth. The creak of leather brings her fluttering eyelashes his way and he avert his stare, all sorts of confused, pretending he was taking in the view of the park.
"...This feels nice. I usually just train in the club room or alone at the dorm."
Minako smiles warmly, speaking somewhat absently, unfiltered.
"I'll train with you, if you want."
They did just run here after school, exactly like he wanted. If more moments like this can recreate the artwork he glimpsed earlier, he can't refuse.
"I could use a good running partner. But, if you join me, we're going to do more than just run every day, okay?"
He laughs while trying to air out his collar, doing this in uniform was the worst idea. Fishing for some distraction, wanting to stretch the quiet moment to digest the chaos in his brain from earlier, he points to the horizontal bar.
"Want to try that before we head back? You can't do a back hip circle, can you?"
She looks at the bar, then her skirt, and smirks as if the mere suggestion to try is an invitation to disaster.
"I would try, if I was… dressed for the occasion."
Replying with a smile of his own, he effortlessly taunts his forearms to hold himself aloft and spins around the bar like a gymnast before sitting on top of it.
"Everybody should be able to do this." He injects a little smugness to his words, not that he was trying to show off but…
She huffs in mock consternation, and he taps the bar right next to him.
"Can you at least sit up here?"
She takes a few steps toward said bar, and without waiting for an answer, he impulsively takes her hands and hoists her up next to him in one fluid pull. Despite his gloves, he can feel the heat from her palms and is reluctant to let them go once she is firmly seated next to him. She smiles, eyes to the sky, motionless for the first time in forever.
Like birds on a powerline, they watch the scenery of dusk falling over Port Island through the canopy of the park trees until the streetlights pop like so many tiny stars, then make their way back to the dorm in contemplative silence.
Akihiko almost tries to speak a few times, feeling obligated to fill up the quietude since this is so unlike her, but for once she seems content to stay silent while she bounces around on the way. Her energy is back and she paves the way with her senior in tow, while he is admiring her zeal like she's his own portable sun.