It's almost a throwback to spring with the group they have tonight, Akihiko remembers their first forays after his convalescence and it's so different yet more of the same. As they're walking toward Gekkoukan before the clock strikes midnight, he keeps at the rear and just takes it all in with a tinge of nostalgia and fresh new eyes. Some things did change, some stay constant.

Junpei's being loud, but that's never surprising. Initially he kept talking about some strange gothic girl drawing near the mall station, but now he's complaining to Minako about their last trip to the arcade and would she please explain how that passage in the song works again.

As for her, she's literally dancing. She's standing on tiptoes and tapping then down in a rapid pattern as she glides in front of her best friend, a coppery butterfly twirling on a stage made of concrete, making Yamagishi and Yukari laugh at her exuberant antics.

She's always a beacon of light when they're deploying to Tartarus, as if to shake everyone's unease before they step into a nightmare. After all, they're not all the same and their reasons to fight differ greatly. They're about to shed blood and the fire of their souls to quench the darkness that keeps encroaching on life around them, yet she acts as a living banner of what they're trying to preserve, uniting their resolve.

And sometimes he knows she's pretending, because she tries hard to be an inspiration and she takes the mantle of leader quite seriously. But tonight, there's an abandon to the way she moves that traps his gaze; she brims bright with happiness and it's quite genuine, the masks all gone.

She might be trying to explain something to Iori, but the few glances she gives him speak volumes about the source of her gaiety and he clenches his hands to keep the flustering to a minimum. There's not enough crowd for their usual handsy antics but her smiles are enough, he's still riding on a high from earlier this evening and Akihiko likes admiring her too.

« C'mon dude, look at my feet, I've shown you that song's pattern about 20 times, turn on yourself like this and it'll go just fine. Trust me!"

Iori tries, to his credit, but he's too stiff and he's overthinking it.

"Mina-tan, there's a screen for a reason, I need to look at it and I can't remember all that."

She flashes him a grin, shaking her head like he got it all wrong.

"Nah Junpei, music is feelings. It just flows, you just need to let it. Art is the same, next time you visit that girl, remember it. It's emotion, it doesn't need to make sense, it doesn't even need words."

He keeps trying to attach idioms to his fascination with her but perhaps she has it right. Sometimes, emotion doesn't need a label, it just is, and he's definitely feeling things about her. Distracted, he lowers his gaze because perhaps he's staring a bit too much her way and someone might see, and it falls on her twin. Strangely, Minato, lodged between the other two girls who both seem to be vying for his attention, is tip taping his fingers on his leg to the beat of his sister's pirouettes like he knows exactly how the tune goes. His eyes are on her, and he got an absent smile on his pale face too.

That's new.

Akihiko interacts with him almost every day, but he certainly never saw him drum to music before, despite his almost permanent relationship with his earphones. Minato just always moves in a very calculated, stoic way, a rock in the eye of his sister's tornado like nothing fazes him.

His fiery twin keeps talking to Iori, but she's subtly looking at her brother too, eyes alight with satisfaction like she achieved something important. That glistening red gaze rises to meet his and she offers him a grin dazzling with warmth. That one's clearly all for him and he can't help beaming back before she turns around.

You're beautiful when you smile like that.

Running a slightly larger group with both twins means efficiency, and nothing stands in their collective way as they rapidly climb up the floors of Tartarus, chaining groups into one another to keep the rhythm going. Akihiko's unwinding against shadows like there's no tomorrow, a tight smile on his lips, sometimes it just feels great to fight without any kind of restraint.

Admittedly, I have some… frustrations to purge out of my system.

With all the accumulated experience he has in the ever-changing labyrinth following her, he barely needs to think when he engages shadows because it's all instinct now. Minako's an orchestra conductor that knows exactly how the music goes and he follows the notes she requests like he knows them by heart.

They got quite a large group to clear out since they bundled the remaining floor denizens into a dead end. Her fingers brush his shoulder and Polydeuces rains lightning while he dives behind her weapon strikes, then it's a multi hit jab and cross combo that knocks a shadow down so Yukari can snipe it to oblivion when she raises her hand for the archer's support. Minato's dancing around the fray, slashing his sword like a dancer to cut into anything that turns an eye toward Takeba, letting Akihiko take the front next to his sister in full trust.

Everything's careening every which way in a chaotic ballet of destruction and when Minako sidesteps in his back to shoot the Hare of Inaba out of her mind, ponytail brushing his spine, he shields her from the incoming assault rushing their way without hesitation. Adopting a guarding stance, he blocks the incoming hits and counters back with a resounding crack of his knuckles that knocks a statue-like being toward a grinning Iori, who's winding up for a cleaving slash on it.

She took two steps back to avoid a projectile and Akihiko immediately dives back in position next to her. Her eyes are leaking fire and ribbons of moonlight fly over his head to crisscross on the remaining targets closest to him, quickly accompanied by a flesh-rending tornado from Minato and a few well-placed potshots that dissolve the rest of the enemies into motes of darkness.

Minako's a bit disheveled from the wind and the exertion when he turns around, just to make sure she's okay, and he impulsively brushes out the hair from her brow absently before he realizes what he's doing. He always does this at the playground after they run and it's just a reflex now, it wasn't even a conscious move.

She bites her lip and replaces her evoker in her holster while looking sideways like it's all nothing, but Iori takes notice of his gesture and turns around to stare at him with an unspoken question.

Nothing happened, just drop it. There's nothing to see.

Minako dusts her skirt and cocks her head to talk with Yamagishi, all business.

"It's getting late, Fuuka says there's a teleporter this way. We should head back."

As they file to follow her, Minato just smirks his way with a knowing glance. He saw it too, but he's not asking any questions at least; he just claps him on the shoulder and joins his sister.

Of course, Junpei doesn't back down from what he suspects he saw at all when they trek back toward the dorm. The twins are discussing movie marathons with Yukari and Fuuka, looking at a Film Festival brochure together at the front, but the lanky swordsman just seems to hover near him with a smirk. Akihiko is trying his best to chase out the sparks of stress that creep up because he doesn't want to discuss any of it.

"So, uh… what was that, Sanada?"

Akihiko just deadpans him with a pointed stare, looking as bored as he can.

"What was what?"

Iori just narrows his eyes with amusement and lowly whistles as he looks his way, hands in his pocket.

"Don't think I didn't notice what you did there senpai. That was smooth."

Will you just drop it already ?

Frustrated at his slip up, he looks ahead and walks with purpose, trying to keep his voice as level as possible.

"There was something stuck in her hair. Just wanted to be helpful, that's all."

"Huh huh… I see how it is."

There's a cap angled close in his peripheral vision, as if Junpei is trying his hardest to get his attention and he ignores it.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Still fishing for a reaction, Iori chuckles and puts his hands behind his neck as he strolls.

"I don't see you going around and replacing Takeba's hair too. Although knowing her, she probably bites."

Oh no, you got the wrong girl there. She does, and it's very…

"You know… if you do want to... make a move on her… I could help you. I'm her best friend after all, I could be your wingman, even put in a good word too. Although I'm not sure that's needed, she thinks you're pretty fine already."

I got this covered, thank you. You're kind of late to the party.

"No."

Junpei pouts and throws his arms in the air in abject disappointment.

"Dude, you don't know what you're missing, she's such a bundle of fun. Also an evil gremlin sometimes, but she means well, she gets along with everybody. But maaaan does she eat a lot."

I know all of this, and more. She tastes like the fire that fills her soul and it's never enough.

Feeling that his face might betray something if he continues his thoughts Akihiko just raises his eyes upward toward the sky and flips the script around.

"Why don't you, Iori?"

And it's true, they're very close, it's a wonder he never even tried. He knows there's nothing to it, but he's still curious.

"I could never be worthy of someone like her, I'm not a great guy but she likes me as a friend still, and that's okay. She's damn easy on the eyes though, not complaining. In any case, Minato would kill me first, he's pretty nuts about his sister."

It didn't seem that way with me, I wonder why.