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The common room of the dorms were abuzz with activity.
Junpei was loudly complaining about the cancellation of the school festival, lamenting at the loss of the opportunity to see Yukari in a maid outfit while she kicked him in response. Shinjiro was in the kitchen cooking food with Koromaru begging beside him. Akihiko and Ken were close by, Akihiko chatting with Shinjiro while Ken watched with a quiet curiosity. Fuuka sat on the couch with her laptop as usual, trying out a piece of code she had been writing for fun. Aigis was standing in the corner of the room, doing whatever robots do. Mitsuru was watching the weather outside, her expression slowly turning more and more into a frown.
The rain was pounding down on them. Even from the first floor, they could hear the sound of it banging down on the dorm building, and hitting the windows with an ever increasing force. It was only midday, but it was already dark outside, the only light coming from the flashes of lightning that accompanied the rhythmic crashes of thunder.
Aigis turned to Mitsuru, "Mitsuru-san. I fear something may have happened to Minato-kun. Perhaps we should send out a search team."
Mitsuru shook her head, "He's just coming home late as usual, I'm sure. Hopefully he'll be here soon, though. The weather might have shut down the train."
Almost like something out of a horror movie, right on queue, the doors to the dorm flew open just as another crash of thunder and lightning came from outside. Minato stood on the other side, appearing demonic for a moment before the lightning ceased. He walked in without any fanfare. Everyone stopped what they were doing to watch him. He was soaking wet, no umbrella to be seen. Every footstep squeaked on the dorm floor and left a puddle of water behind him. He grunted an apology before promptly sneezing. He sniffed and scratched his nose.
Koromaru barked and came over to Minato, wagging his tail. Minato pet the dog, already filling the air with the smell of wet dog.
Junpei was the first to speak, "Dude, you look like shit! Are you okay?"
"M'fine," Minato said, but he did, indeed, look like shit. He was pale as a ghost. His soaked blue hair was flattened against his head, and his uniform was muddy and entirely soaked through. He shivered, and sneezed once more, before nearly tripping over himself. He blinked a few times and steadied himself.
Aigis rushed to his side, "Your body temperature is quickly rising. You appear to have a fever."
Minato pushed her away, "M'fine," he repeated, "I'm just tired."
Mitsuru sighed, about to speak up, before Shinjiro came into view, a glare on his face, "This is why you should have taken an umbrella with you this morning. And why are you coming home so late? You should have known about the typhoon and come home immediately. Staying out was a dumbass move."
Everyone looked at Shinjiro with shock, even Minato. Minato blinked, "I didn't feel like running," was all he said, and Shinjiro opened his mouth to chastise him once more. Minato waved him off, "Again, I'm fine. I'm just gonna... go to... sleep a while," he finished, wobbling towards the staircase. Everyone watched with a certain fascination as the soaked, sick leader forced himself to crawl up the stairs, completely in defiance of everyone else. When he eventually made it out of their eye sight, Shinjiro huffed and headed back to the kitchen, muttering something about chicken noodle soup. Junpei went back to bantering with Yukari, Fuuka returned to her laptop with a worried glance towards the stairs, Akihiko and Ken walked over to Mitsuru, and Mitsuru sighed again.
Aigis turned to her, "I would like to volunteer to check on-"
"No," Mitsuru said, "Junpei, would you mind going upstairs to check on Arisato?"
"Sure," Junpei shrugged, racing upstairs and slipping on one of Minato's water puddles on the way.
The second floor was a sight to behold. More water puddles trailed all the way to Minato's room, soaking into the carpet. Minato's uniform jacket had been abandoned, along with his mp3 player, which was the real kicker. Junpei had never seen Minato without that thing. He picked up the discarded items and made his way to Minato's room, knocking loudly on the door.
"Minatoooo! It's me, Junpei! Can I come in?"
He heard a loud groan on the other side in response.
"I'm taking that as a yes!" Junpei said, "Sorry for this breach in privacy."
He opened the door, and saw Minato on his bed in the dark, still fully clothed in his uniform - besides the jacket, obviously. He hadn't even taken off his shoes. He was sweating profusely, and had his head buried into his pillow. He groaned again as light filtered in.
"Whoa," Junpei said, "You really are sick, huh?"
Minato growled at him.
Junpei stepped back, "Sorry! Not sick, just tired, right? Well, do you need help with anything? Let me at least help you get changed into some dry clothes. You left this out there, too," he held up the mp3 player for Minato, but the boy didn't look at him. Junpei placed it on his desk. "...That'll be there for you. Now then, how about a warm bath? Maybe Akihiko-senpai will even let you use his shower... we'll get you feeling better in no time! What do you say?"
Minato slowly lifted his head from his pillow and squinted at Junpei. He blinked a few times. His eyes looked vacant. He swayed a little as he spoke, weakly, "Junpei... why’s your head so big? You look… chibi."
"Wh- what’s that s’posed to mean?!" Junpei responded.
~~
They all took turns taking care of Minato while he was sick.
The guy had a really bad immune system. He spent maybe two hours outside in the rain and ended up being delirious with a fever for three straight days. It was so bad, he wouldn’t remember anything that happened in those three days after they were over.
Which was good for everyone else, because Minato did some absolutely wild shit.
Exhibit A:
Mitsuru was reading in the lounge, late at night. She didn’t see the time, but the dark hour had already passed, so it was probably somewhere close to 1am. She found the rain peaceful, and the quiet lounge a good place to clear her thoughts, so she was quite content on the couch with her book. It was while doing this that she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of creaking steps on the staircase.
She looked up to see Minato staring at her with a vacant expression on his face. He was wet with sweat, his face pale, and in the dark of the night he could have been mistaken for a ghost. Thank goodness Yukari wasn’t in her shoes.
Mitsuru closed her book and nodded to Minato, “Arisato, what are you doing out of bed?”
Minato just blinked at her, slowly, before something apparently clicked in his brain, and he spoke, “The school festival…”
“That was cancelled, Arisato, remember? There’s a storm outside.”
Minato shook his head, “No, no… there’s… corndogs… and a bear…”
“Okay, Arisato, I think it’s time you get back to bed. I’ll bring you some water,” Mitsuru stood up, setting her book on the coffee table and quickly heading to the stairs to grab Minato before he fell down the stairs and hurt himself. She took him by the arm and felt his forehead, noting how hot it was and how wobbly he felt. He leaned into her, muttering nonsense. She carefully led him back up the stairs.
“Senpai…”
“Yes, Arisato?”
“I don’t wanna do a group date café. Don’t make me do it, Senpai…”
“Don’t worry, Arisato, you don’t have to do anything. Just rest.”
That satisfied Minato. He leaned closer into Mitsuru. He had never been so physically affectionate as he was in that moment, so she didn’t know how to handle it, but she led him back to his room without much fuss. She managed to get him to go into his bed, assuring him once again that no one was going to make him participate in any date cafés of any sort, and quickly ran out to fetch him some water. When she returned, he was asleep once again, hugging his pillow. She set the glass on his nightstand and tucked him in.
~~
Minato's sickness would only get worse before it got better.
He wasn't deathly ill, nothing of that sort, but his miserable groanings could be heard all throughout the dorms as he faded out of and into consciousness over the course of the storm. Everyone took turns pitching in to help him, of course, but how he was acting only made things more difficult on them. Someone had to run out and fetch him in the storm more than once as he had snuck out to go to Tartarus for "extra train..." he never got the chance to finish that sentence before he passed out. They were always the ramblings and wanderings of a delusional person - none of them thought Minato in his right mind would ever want to do extra work if he didn't have to, let alone in this crazy weather - but even so, it was alarming how much strength he still had in him despite being so weak from his sickness. Even more alarming when he had somehow found his evoker in his delusional state and started firing it off in the dorms themselves.
Yukari had to clean up that mess.
Speaking of, Yukari herself was absolutely sick... pun not intended... of Minato's sickness. His antics were getting on her nerves almost as much as the storm was, and while she sympathized with him she more so wanted to keep as far away from him as possible. It was bad enough that the school festival was cancelled, but she did not want to catch Minato's sickness and have to suffer alongside him. Not to mention the fact that the entire time Minato's been speaking nonsense, he's done nothing but insult Yukari.
He had come to complain to her each and every time she came into his room, whether it was saying that the food she brought him tasted as bland as she was, or telling her he would be better if she left him alone whenever she asked him how he was doing, or complaining that she had done a horrible job washing his sheets when it wasn't even her doing the washing, she was just bringing them up but noooo everything was her fault and-
Anyway.
Theoretically, she knew this was just Minato's sickness messing with his head that made him speak this way - normally he was far more quiet, and she was beginning to miss that, as much as it normally annoyed her. However, she was reaching the breaking point. If she had to step into his room one more time only to hear another nasty insult, she was going to put Minato out of commission for a reason completely separate from his sickness.
Of course, she would never catch a break, though. As she was about to head upstairs from the lounge area, Shinjiro spotted her from his place in the kitchen, and asked her if she would mind taking up Minato's dinner. If it were anyone else, Yukari would have told them no, and explained exactly why she never planned on going back into that virus-infected room for as long as she lived, but this was Shinjiro. And to be honest, Yukari had never gotten over her mild intimidation of Shinjiro after he had helped them out in that alley all those months ago. Out of everyone in the dorm, he was the only one she absolutely would not go against.
So, begrudgingly, she took the food up. To be fair, Shinjiro was the best cook in the dorms. The soup that she delicately carried smelled like heaven, and her mouth watered as she walked up to the second floor. Maybe Minato would appreciate this, and then he would have nothing to complain about.
Yukari took a good moment to mentally prepare herself before she knocked on Minato's door. Getting no answer, she sighed in relief and opened it, assuming Minato had fallen back asleep. Thankfully for her, he was a deep sleeper. Maybe she could get out of this quickly before the smell of food reached his nostrils and she wouldn't have to speak to him at all.
However, the moment she opened the door, Minato blearily opened his eyes and stared at Yukari. She froze.
The room smelled like death, which was to be expected. Bundled up clothes and discarded objects lay strewn about, which was to be expected. Minato was lying in his bed, his covers half on his body and half kicked off, which was to be expected. Minato looked pale as a ghost, and slick with sweat, which was to be expected.
What was not to be expected, however, was that Minato was not speaking, at all. He didn't even wrinkle his nose at the sight of her. He just laid there, staring at her, slight confusion in his eyes.
Okay. To be honest, Yukari didn't know how to react.
"Um..." she managed, "I brought you some food... Shinjiro made it," she said. She ventured further into the room, slowly, keeping a wide distance between herself and Minato. His head remained fixed on his pillow, but his eyes followed her, the confusion growing in his expression. Yukari placed the tray on the desk and made a quick retreat to the door. "Feel better soon," she quickly added, grabbing the handle and making to close it on her way out.
"Wait!" Minato suddenly bolted up, which startled Yukari. She turned back to him as he fell back down in his bed. He blinked at her a few times like he was trying to focus his vision. He went quiet again.
Yukari fiddled with her skirt, "What's the matter?" she asked, "Do you need me to get Mitsuru?"
Minato didn't answer, just continued to stare at her.
Yukari was starting to get frustrated, "Look, if you need something-"
"Koko? Is that you?" Minato interrupted.
"Huh?" Yukari asked, surprised. This must have been another one of Minato's delusions... Yukari had to set him straight, "No, no. It's me-"
"Koko. You came to visit me? Am I that sick?" Minato let out a raspy laugh, which freaked Yukari out more, "Why are you trying to leave so quickly, then?"
"Uh..." Yukari was at a loss. On the one hand, she had no idea who this Koko was, or why in the world Minato thought she was her. On the other hand, Minato seemed genuinely happy to see her, which Yukari had never seen before, and it was kind of nice.
"It's been so long since I've seen you..." Minato continued, "Did you dye your hair? It's lighter now. I guess you haven't seen me with my hair like this either, though. I like it. It's pretty."
Did... did Minato Arisato just call Yukari pretty?! Well... she could get used to this.
She laughed a little, tucking some of her hair behind her ear, "Well, thank you very much. Finally some appreciation."
Minato snorted, "Come on. I can be nice sometimes."
"Oh really? I haven't seen it," Yukari responded.
"Maybe you should stick around a little longer, then," Minato responded, "I missed you."
He looked at her with earnestness, and a sadness in his eyes, that caused Yukari's heart to sink. He held out his hand to her, never taking his eyes off of her. Yukari stared at it, biting her lip. She didn't want to ruin this.
She grabbed his hand, "I... missed you too."
He squeezed it, his smile growing ten-fold. Yukari had never seen him smile so genuinely before. She felt a little bad, like she was watching something extremely private that she was never meant to see, but it was too late for her to back out now. He wouldn't let go of her hand.
"You're really here..." he nearly whispered.
"I-I am," Yukari stuttered, "What- what do you want me to do?"
Minato stared at her, "Just stay here with me for a while, okay? I don't want you to leave again."
Yukari felt stiff, but she nodded, "Okay."
Minato never stopped smiling that night. The whole time Yukari stayed with him, he was more lively than she had ever seen him even when he wasn't sick. He animatedly told her about everything - school, his clubs, that video game he played, the latest Lotus Juice songs he was listening to, the movies he had seen in the theaters, the people he had met around town - to be honest, Yukari had no idea he had so many hobbies and responsibilities. She knew he had a habit of coming back to the dorms late, but he had never told her about this stuff in the past. Yukari guessed she just assumed he wandered around looking sullen and glaring at anyone who tried to speak to him. She didn't realize he actually liked things, like a normal person.
He even told her about his time in SEES, and the dark hour. How he had first summoned his personas and how he obtained more over time in a place called the Velvet Room. Yukari had known about that, at least, but he had never described it for her like he was doing now. He explained it as a huge elevator with doors leading to nowhere covered in tarps, everything the color of blue. A giant clock was hung far up on the wall, and no matter how long he stayed in there, its hands would not move, but the elevator would keep going up, and up, and up. He told her about the old man with a big nose who always spoke cryptically, which annoyed him apparently, and his assistant, Elizabeth, who occasionally would go out with Minato to explore the world, and who apparently was very definitely not a human being.
Then Minato spoke about another very-definitely-not-human-being, Pharos, a young boy in striped pajamas that would visit him one week before every full-moon to warn him of the ordeals they were about to face. Which, frankly, Yukari thought would have been nice to have known months ago, but who was she to tell dilusional sick Minato what he should and should not have mentioned months ago, when she wasn't even sure what he was saying was actually the truth at all? Mitsuru had mentioned him rambling on to her about a bear and corn dogs recently, so maybe this particular detail was like that. Let's hope it was that, because the idea of this place being haunted by a little ghost boy in striped pajamas was too disturbing to think about. She ignored the little tick in her brain that reminded her of Minato's first night in the dorms, when he asked her about whether or not "that boy" was staying there too. Just a coincidence there. No relation whatsoever, she was sure.
But what was definitely not real, was what Minato said about the rest of SEES. Because there was no way on earth that he actually thought anything positive about any of them, and yet, here he was.
"You'd love Mitsuru, definitely," he said, "Everyone in the school thinks she's intimidating, but that's really not the case. If you get to know her, you'd know she has no clue what she's doing. She's just trying to do her best, and she blames herself for too much. But you'd be fast friends with her. You'd see through all of that in an instant," Yukari frowned, thinking about how poorly she's treated Mitsuru in the past. Minato sighed, "She's tough, for sure, but I think she has to be that way. She has so much weighing her down, she has to be even stronger to keep it all from crushing her." Something twisted inside Yukari, something like guilt. She remembered Minato snapping at her when she tried speaking to him about how suspicious Mitsuru was acting, and just in general how she had spoken poorly about Mitsuru for so long. She felt differently, now, but she still didn't treat Mitsuru that well in retrospect. But she had no idea Minato had felt so strongly about her. What made him see all of that, when Yukari couldn't?
Minato's rambles continued on, "But Akihiko you'd love for sure," he said, "I know it. All the girls gawk at him, like he's some sort of unattainable god. I think he just doesn't notice," he laughed, "But I know you wouldn't be like that. You'd walk right up to him and treat him like a friend, and he'd eat that up. He's very clingy. He needs it, though. He acts like nothing's ever wrong, but he's hiding a lot of pain, and I think if he lost anyone else, he'd bust." Yukari continued to frown as Minato spoke. To be honest, she didn't know Akihiko all that well herself. But as far as she knew, Minato never bothered to really hang out with their senpai at all. How did he see so much in his character?
He moved on, "I think that's why he was so happy Shinjiro decided to join us, though. Oh, you'd like him, too. He's just joined us, and he acts all tough, but even I can tell he's a big softie. And you'd pull that out of him right away. He protects all of us as much as he can, and puts himself in the line of fire most of the time. Especially for Ken. I don't know what it is, but I think he blames himself for something, and is trying to make up for it somehow. If you were here, I know you'd be able to figure it out." Yukari blinked. Is that really what Minato saw in Shinjiro? To her, he was just grumpy and intimidating, if a good cook. But to Minato, he had a whole other side to him that she had never seen. He hadn't even been there that long, so how did Minato see that?
But before Yukari could think to ask, he moved on, "Oh, Ken is this kid that joined a little sooner than Shinjiro. He's a twerp. But I guess I get it. He's got a lot of anger that he wants to get out, and he's trying to act like he's equal to the rest of us. He's fucking annoying but I would rather him be here than on his own. I can't expect him to just act like nothing's wrong, and neither can anyone else. But I don't know. I feel like I should do something to help him out, but it's not like I have any idea what. I don't think he likes me. That's mutual. He'd look up to you, though, I think." Yukari bit her lip. So, Minato actually cared about Ken of all people? Enough to want to help him, but not know how?
"Oh! I need to tell you about Koromaru, though," Minato grinned, "I take him out for walks sometimes. He's such a good dog. I love him. He's such a smart dog, too. He always knows exactly when I'm feeling down," Yukari nearly shook her head at that. Minato was always feeling down. "He knows what it's like to lose someone, too. I think that's why he spends so much time trying to be there for everyone else. He's just a dog, sure, but he understands me better than anyone besides you, probably."
That seemed likely. Minato was such a closed-off person, but he always acted different around Koromaru. Yukari always chalked it up to Minato liking animals better than people, but maybe they had a special bond she hadn't noticed. To her, Koromaru was just a dog. A cute one, sure, but just a dog.
Minato snorted, "But Aigis might be upset about me saying that. She wants to be the only one who understands me. I don't know why she latched onto me, specifically, but she won't ever leave me alone. The others nearly had to shut her down to give me some time to myself while I'm getting over this cold-" This was far worse than a cold, Minato. "-but it's whatever. I don't really care, even if it's annoying sometimes. She's harmless," Ah yes. The robot with guns for fingers made specifically for destroying shadows is completely harmless. Minato continued, "I know she's a robot, but she's so much more than that, too. I think she's trying hard to understand humans. If it were you instead of me, maybe she'd have an easier time doing that. In any case, I hope when this is all over, they don't decommission her. She doesn't deserve that." Yukari blinked. She hadn't really considered that they might shut down Aigis after this was all over. Would they really do that? Yukari shook her head. That was too far away to think about right now. And yet, Minato was thinking about it. So that's what he really thought of Aigis?
And he continued on, "Then there's Fuuka. To be honest, I don't know how you'd feel about her. She's kind of hard to understand, at first," Yukari chewed her cheek as she listened. "But you'd probably be better at it than me. I just didn't get why she would want to hang out with people who acted so mean to her all the time. She's way too nice of a person, she just took it without question, and told me it was because they were friends that she did it. I think that makes her a lot more resilient than anyone gives her credit for, though. I don't give her enough credit."
That's right. Fuuka put up with a lot, for so long, and never put up a fight. No one ever paid any attention to it, either. Least of all Yukari. But Minato... Minato noticed. It was probably what allowed him to trust her immediately when she unlocked her persona and discovered the weaknesses of those giant shadows. How on earth was Minato so good at seeing these things? And... Yukari never made time to thank Fuuka, either, for all of her hard work. But Fuuka never complained. She never demanded anything from anyone. She was just happy to be a part of the team. Yukari felt her guilt creep back up inside her.
Minato continued, "And... Junpei," Oh boy. Here we go. Yukari always saw how annoying Junpei acted towards Minato. How he always butted in to try to get Minato in on his antics, how he talked loudly and nonstop and Minato would just try to drown him out with his headphones, how Minato would look at him with a blank face whenever Junpei tried to make a 'joke,' how uninterested Minato would be whenever Junpei tried to get him to go on a 'babe hunt' with him, how- "He's my best friend." What. Minato smiled at Yukari, "You know he was the first person at this school that talked to me, who wasn't forced to? And even when I ignored him, he just kept trying. I didn't get it, but he was so persistent, I just got used to him being there. As much as I pushed him away, he never let me. Before him, everyone else I'd met just thought I was weird and gave up. Not him, though. He always included me in everything, and out of everyone in these dorms, I think he's the only one I'd actually be friends with if I wasn't a part of this secret special shadow-killing club. I don't know why everyone gives him a bad rep. Yeah, he's annoying and stupid and he acts like an idiot sometimes, but he really cares. I really think you and him would get along. You both have that same characteristic - persistence. Or stubbornness. Same thing."
Yukari couldn't believe her ears. That's really what Minato thought of Junpei? It was certainly not what Yukari saw in Junpei. But to think, he had that much of an effect on Minato. Junpei was definitely the first person that walked up to him in the classroom, but Yukari had taken him to school that day. Did he think she had been forced to do that? W-well, maybe she had, but... she didn't mean for it to look that way.
"And Yukari..." Yukari couldn't help but lean forward. If she were Koromaru, this is when her ears would perk up. After all of the things Minato had to say about everyone else, what sort of introspection did he have of her? What did he see in her that maybe not even she could see herself? What did he truly think of her, beyond all the insults and the aloofness and the veil of indifference? "Yukari..." he repeated, thinking to himself. He looked at her, his eyes staring directly into her soul as she was about to share the deepest and most thoughtful information she would ever hear about herself from him, "Yukari's a bitch."
Yukari deflated.
"I'm sorry?!" Yukari couldn't help it. She spoke up, "What do you mean 'Yukari's a bitch.' Is that all you have to say? Seriously?"
Minato shrugged, "She is. She just needs to learn to stop acting like she's better than everyone else and realize the world doesn't revolve around her. And stop butting into other people's business. Koko, not long after we first met, she was already trying to relate to me about our dead parents. That's weird, and extremely uncomfortable. And she acts like it's my fault I didn't immediately jump at the chance to be her friend right then and there. And she acts like she knows everything, too. She doesn't understand that she's not the only one in the world that has issues, and stop judging people for things she doesn't understand. I wish I could tell her that, but I just don't know how to talk to her without pissing her off. If only you were here instead, maybe you'd be able to do it. I know you wouldn't stand two seconds of her trying to talk bad about anyone else in SEES. You'd probably smack her," Minato snorted and laughed, "That would be a sight to see."
Yukari wanted to interject, wanted to yell at Minato for being so rude and storm out of there right that second. But, every time she opened her mouth, she ended up closing it again. After everything Minato had said... he had a point. Maybe Yukari was too focused on herself. Maybe she had gone too far when she had brought up Minato's personal business right after he had woken up from his persona-induced coma. He acted like he didn't care at the time, but thinking back, he might have been avoiding her a little more than he would have been if she hadn't said anything. And... maybe some of the things she had said about the other members of their team did more damage than good.
Maybe Minato was right.
"I'm sorry," Yukari finally said.
"Don't be sorry," Minato responded, "It's not your fault. Besides, I like Yukari."
Yukari's eyes widened, "You do?"
"Yeah," Minato responded, "Even if she is a bitch."
Yukari couldn't help it. She laughed. Minato laughed with her.
And Yukari vowed to be nicer, both to him and the others, from now on. She felt like she understood Minato a lot more than she had before. Maybe the reason he was so closed off was because she never bothered trying to get to know him. Judging from tonight, there was a lot more to him than she could have ever noticed before. And maybe this would all end when he recovered from his sickness and realized she wasn't this mysterious Koko, but she could live with that. She knew what to do now.
And she kind of deserved all of the shit he had given her, anyway.
Minato continued to ramble on to Yukari for a while after that. He spoke more to her then than she ever heard before, and more than she would ever hear in the future. He talked about little things, this and that, continuing on about how he missed her and how he felt like he was actually starting to feel alive again and how he wanted her to be there for that. He spoke about bonds, about what he had learned about people and how he had changed so much since they had last seen each other. Yukari knew he wasn't talking to her, but she took his words and locked them in her heart regardless. If she ever met this Koko, she would be sure to tell her everything he had told her.
Minato squeezed Yukari's hand, giving her a soft smile, "Koko, thanks for being here. I didn't think I'd see you again."
"Of course," Yukari squeezed back, "You must be tired, though. You've been talking an awfully long time. I'm sure your soup's gone cold. Do you want me to get you some water?"
"No, I'm fine," Minato said, "Please don't leave," he spoke firmly, but his eyes were getting droopier by the second, and Yukari knew it was a matter of time before he passed out from exhaustion.
"Alright, I won't leave," Yukari responded.
"Good," Minato said, still holding onto her hand. His eyes finally closed, but he continued to speak in a quiet voice, "I love you. I'm sorry about what happened. I wish you were here instead."
"I... I'm here, I promise."
Minato fell asleep. Yukari felt his grip on her hand loosen. She stayed for a good few minutes longer, just to make sure he didn't suddenly wake up again, and slowly pulled her hand out of his grasp. She grabbed the uneaten soup from the desk and tip-toed out of the room, closing the door as quietly as she could. He mind clouded as she walked out. She felt lightheaded and in disbelief, the only thing keeping her from believing the entire thing wasn't a complete fabrication was the tray of food she held in her hands. But as she turned around to start walking towards the stairs, she saw Shinjiro staring at her from his bedroom doorway with one eyebrow raised.
"Was he not hungry?" he asked.
"Uh... n-nope! He wasn't hungry at all!" Yukari stuttered.
Shinjiro grunted, "He should eat. He needs to get his strength back up."
Even I can tell he's a big softie. Yukari suppressed a giggle.
"Something wrong?"
"Ah, nope! Nothing's wrong. Sorry, Minato's asleep now. I'll wrap up this food and bring it to him later," Yukari said.
Shinjiro nodded his approval, "Okay. Thanks for volunteering. By the way... you were in there an awfully long time. Did something happen?"
"Uh..." Yukari started, "...No. Just, talking, is all."
Shinjiro snorted, "I'm guessing he was having some new hallucinations, then?"
"Something like that," Yukari said, smiling at him, "I'd better take care of this."
Shinjiro nodded to her and disappeared into his room. She headed downstairs to put away the food, vowing to never tell anyone what Minato had told her that night - not until she could find Koko and pass on the message.
The next day, Yukari found a quiet spot and made sure no one was around before she made her call.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Ikutsuki-san? It's Yukari Takeba. I had a question, I was wondering if you could answer it for me."
The other end of the line became more energized, "Oh, certainly! How can I help?"
"I was wondering about Minato... how much do you know about him from before he came here?"
"Oh?" Ikutsuke sounded intrigued, "That's an interesting question. I thought you didn't want to pry into his life. Have you changed your tune?"
"No," Yukari said firmly, "The opposite, actually. I just need to know this one thing. I don't want to know anything else."
"And what thing would that be?"
"Do you know of anyone named Koko that he might have known? It might have been a nickname, too... I don't know, friends, girlfriends..."
"Ahh, I see now," Ikutsuki said, "If you're interested in his relationship status, you could just ask him."
"That's not it!" Yukari responded, "I just need to get in contact with her!"
Ikutsuki hummed, "If you say so. Unfortunately, however, I can't help you there. Arisato-kun was a loner from the moment his family died in that horrific explosion. As far as I know, he hardly ever spoke before he came to Gekkoukan, let alone made friends."
"Oh... I see..." Yukari responded.
"It truly is tragic," Ikutsuki said that, but he spoke nonchalantly, "The poor boy had quite the survivor's guilt. To think, not just his parents, but his sister, too."
Yukari's heart stopped, "His... what?"
Ikutsuke didn't catch onto her tone, "Oh, did I neglect to mention? He had a twin sister who died in the accident as well. I have the records near me, let me see what her name was... ah, there it is. Minako Arisato. 1992-1999. The poor girl. Hm, perhaps this is the Koko you're looking for?"
"I..." Yukari's words trailed off.
She was already trying to relate to me about our dead parents.
I don't want you to leave again.
I'm sorry about what happened. I wish you were here instead.
"Thank you, Ikutsuki. That's all I needed." She hung up the phone and held it close to her heart.
She once again had the realization that she had been a part of something extremely personal. Something that was never meant to be shared with anyone, and something that only happened because of the extremely unusual circumstances they had found themselves in. She wondered if she should talk to Minato about this, after he recovered and was in his right mind again. He had made himself extremely vulnerable to her, revealing far more than he probably ever wanted to reveal to anyone, and he had no idea. But... she thought back to what he told her, about how she needed to stop butting into business that wasn't her's. And she made a decision.
If Minato ever felt comfortable enough to talk to her about Minako, she would be there for him. But that was his decision. Until then, she would place this knowledge somewhere deep inside her mind, under lock and key, never to be opened. After those three days were over, when the storm finally subsided and Minato recovered from his sickness, he wouldn't remember any of their conversation, and things would go back to the way they were.
Still... it was nice, seeing Minato so happy. She hoped he could feel that way someday again. And that she could be a part of it when it happened. For real, this time.