10 December 2009. Gekkoukan High School Iwatodai Dormitory Lounge.
The sun was setting at the horizon from the bayside borough, and the time for the dreaded talk had finally come.
Just like usual, Minato was the last one to return to the dorm. He had to make a little stop after introducing Mitsuru to the world of fast food. Next on the list of things she would like to visit: the net cafe on the third floor of the Strip Mall. The reason: she wanted to try out a renowned online first-person shooter that he played on and off before whatever remained of Innocent Sin Online took up most of his gaming time over the past few months. He already scheduled it to take place the following day, should they survive the evening.
After dropping his bag in the room, he joined the group already sitting pretty around the coffee table. It had been a week since Ryoji dropped the bomb on them, shaking the foundations of what they had built on.
Since then, going to Tartarus had been out of the question, as much as Minato hated to admit it. Team morale was at the lowest, and Aigis had been unavailable for more than seven days, with no return date in sight. Elizabeth hadn't reported any incidents of people wandering into Tartarus so there was no rush to gather up at the school's main gate as the clock struck midnight.
Junpei couldn't find it in him to look at the guy sitting across the table as Mitsuru opened the meeting. Fuuka found it surprising that Yukari wasn't at all freaking out about the topic they were going to discuss. Ken was still in the dark, so he looked to Akihiko who stated he knew what he wanted to do. But, even doubt was creeping into his usually unshakable train of thought. The same went for Mitsuru as they found themselves staring at a fork in the road which would converge back to one point and one point only: their deaths.
When Yukari teased Junpei about his own indecisiveness, he snapped. He lashed at Yukari, then at Minato. Junpei even went as far as getting up and walking across the table, grabbing Minato by the scruff of his neck, pinning him to the nearby bookshelf. After what felt like months, Junpei thought he finally had a legitimate reason to antagonize the unflappable field leader. Although Yukari and Mitsuru came to Minato's defense, neither moved from their spots.
"I'm scared, too."
Minato admitted, turning his gaze away from Junpei's glare. Despite the sound of traffic rumbling outside, it was as if one could hear a pin drop. Junpei soon returned to his seat, leaving Minato to stare at the imaginary abyss forming around his feet.
Going into the meeting, Minato had intended to assert himself and possibly lay down a general outline to defeat Nyx, but his companions' dampened spirits had affected his resolve. Perhaps they were finally way in over their heads, he thought.
"I'm sorry."
Not caring about the rest of the discussion, and the cries stopping him from leaving, Minato turned away from the people he oh so looked forward to coming back to everyday and stepped out into the chilly December night. Snow was starting to fall overhead just like the weather forecast predicted in the morning.
At first, he treated it like a casual evening walk, like one of those he liked to do before catching a monorail to go to Paulownia Mall. Then as his eyes started glistening, his strides grew longer and quicker. The station came into and past his view in a flash, as was the shrine. Over time, he kept turning in 5-minute miles leading to God knows where like Hayase was challenging him on the spot, not giving a damn about the tears streaming down his face.
Like all things, Minato's legs finally gave out, and he realized Hayase was just in his head. He drew huge breaths, initially collapsing on all fours before turning his body over so he could lay down on his back. When his breathing – and heartbeat – slowed down, he pushed his body up against the concrete pavement and found the nearest metal railing to lean against. The sound of traffic soon became too much so he plugged his ears and played whatever music the MP3 player picked up when he left it off earlier in the day.
He balled his right hand and began punching at everything within reach. The sidewalk pavement, the metal railing, and even the crown of his own head wasn't spared from the onslaught. It only stopped when the stinging on his knuckles had weakened his punch considerably. Nobody seemed to even bat an eye when he repeatedly screamed bloody murder until he could hardly breathe.
Something in his pocket vibrated. He fished for the source, opened the lid, furiously pressed and held onto one of its buttons until the ringing went away. Then he put it back in his pocket and stared at whatever he found interesting past all the cars driving by.
He didn't notice the music mysteriously cutting out until minutes later, when the dark thoughts that clouded him – so strongly that they tuned out the music – began to recede. As he unplugged his ears, he could make out traces of blast marks and cracks on the road left by the skirmish between Aigis and Ryoji that weren't covered by cars that had come to a standstill underneath the green skies.
Minato remembered holding Aigis in his arms, ignoring the sparks coming out of the exposed circuitry that protruded out of what remained of her left arm. Both dread and comfort painted over her face as the shutdown protocol went ahead without a hitch.
It would be very understandable to blame Aigis for turning his life upside down at such a young age. But he just couldn't do it. Not only because he had grown to like having her around, but also because he had learned everything happened for a reason.
Coming back to his hometown, meeting new people, and actually looking forward to seeing them every single day had filled his soul with more vigor than since the event that started it all.
But as he looked at Tartarus in the distance and then the dorm – the only other building with visible illumination in the Dark Hour – he realized it was coming to an abrupt end.
He pushed up against the metal railing and climbed over it. And then, there was only the air of the Dark Hour between him and the waters below. One last deep breath, and Minato closed his eyes. In resignation over the fact that he would never see everyone again and the prospect of reunion with his parents – much to their dismay once they find out how he got there – he let himself fall off the ledge to be claimed and washed away.
Author's note:
For the longest, I'd been stuck in a writer's block. I asked a friend about how to get over it, and she said try writing something I'm not comfortable with, like my comfort character trying to off himself. And so I did, and it led to this. Although in truth, this has been something I've wanted to do for a while now. Despite this, I'm really just winging it!
The first chapter is coming up shortly, in which Minato will be thrown straight into action! Hope you enjoy it.