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Their relationship wasn’t the strangest thing, but it was peculiar.
There were many times when people would see Minato’s head draped across Aigis’ shoulder as he dozed off, or their fingers intertwined as they walked to school together, or the way that they smiled at each other as if every time they locked eyes was a blessing. And there were many times when people would remark, both internally and to each other, on how beautiful and romantic their relationship must be for the two of them to be as in love with each other as they seemed to be.
But they never kiss, one person said in a hushed voice. Isn’t that weird?
Some people don’t like to kiss at school, another person countered. And that would be a little gauche, anyway.
But everyone agreed that they must have kissed; such a deep and passionate relationship must mean that they want to touch their lips—and perhaps their tongues—together. No one could dispute the intense longing that positively oozed from the way that they looked into each other’s eyes. That was evidence enough.
And yet, unbeknownst to the Onlookers, they hadn’t. Not even once.
As Minato lay on her lap and felt her hands gently running through his hair and looked up to see her smiling down at him, the thought crossed his mind once or twice. He imagined cradling her cheeks in his hands as he slotted his lips against hers, his eyes fluttering closed as she tilted her head to the side to deepen the kiss—
A chill ran up his spine, and he shivered, squirming slightly in his seat.
“Are you alright, Minato-san?” Aigis asked, and her smile was replaced with furrowed brows and worried eyes.
He rubbed his face. “‘M fine. Just cold.”
And as he nuzzled further into her body and felt her soft laugh as much as he heard it, he tried to put the thought out of his mind.
But it made him curious, nonetheless.
It wasn’t that she didn’t love him.
She did. So, so much.
In fact, Aigis loved him so much that it sometimes scared her.
In class, the teacher would be talking, and every so often her thoughts would stray towards death.
His death.
His lifeless corpse, all of the light from his eyes and the color in his cheeks and the warmth in his body gone.
And she would find that her fingers had unconsciously clasped around the fabric of his blazer to stop herself from shaking. And she would feel him slip his hand out of his pocket and close it around hers underneath their desks, and his grip was strong, it was always so strong. And she would wipe the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes and try to focus on the lesson, holding onto him just as tightly.
They were each other’s strength. And that was love.
But maybe that wasn’t enough.
She watched Yukari lean in and kiss Mitsuru’s cheek before they went to class everyday, saw Shinjiro wrap Fuuka’s scarf around her neck and press his lips to the top of her head each morning.
“Why do you kiss each other?” Aigis blurted out before Yukari and Fuuka could enter their classrooms. “What is the purpose?”
They both glanced at each other and then back at Aigis before shrugging.
“It feels nice to kiss,” Fuuka said, her cheeks pinking.
“I guess to…show my love?” Yukari said, but she groaned, her face cringing. “Urgh, that was embarrassing. Never mind.”
But Aigis didn’t. She couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Kissing was what people do to show their love for each other.
So did she need to do that with Minato?
“Minato-san,” she began as they once again sat on the school rooftop, his body splayed out across her lap. “May I ask you a favor?”
“Mmm?” he murmured as he stirred awake, his eyes still closed against the brightness of the sun.
Aigis hesitated. “Can we—can we try to kiss?”
He opened his eyes and looked up at her, his expression neutral.
He sat up, slowly, and moved to the bench, turning his body towards her with a shaky nod.
They stared at each other.
Aigis wasn’t sure what to do. She knew from the extensive databases stored in her memory what the correct way to initiate a kiss was, the perfect angle to perform a kiss at, the specific amount of time—down to the milliseconds—that a kiss should take.
And yet, sitting in front of Minato, her mind was blank.
But she pressed on and leaned forward, her hands coming to rest on his arms, and his arms curling around her waist. When she got close enough to feel his breath, his eyes fluttered shut, and hers did the same as she pressed her lips against his.
Her mind was utterly silent.
She broke away earlier than the allotted time to perform a kiss at, and she stared at him, something she couldn’t quite place swirling in her gut.
He stared right back at her. “Um,” he mumbled, “so, how did it feel?”
Aigis paused and wiped her lips absent-mindedly. “Strange,” she said finally. “I do not know if I liked it.”
He nodded. “Me too.” He then tapped his cheek. “Maybe here?”
She leaned in and pecked his cheek, but she furrowed her eyebrows at the silence that continued in her mind. “Hm. I feel…nothing.”
Minato motioned for her to bend her head down, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “What about that?”
“That one is slightly better,” she said, but something still wasn’t quite right. “I am confused. I thought I would like to kiss you.”
“Why’s that?” he asked.
“I love you,” she said.
He didn’t look fazed. “I love you, too.”
“As such, we must kiss.”
“Mmm. But we don’t like it.”
“Indeed.”
“So, we don’t kiss,” he said.
She frowned. “But Yukari-san and Mitsuru-san do it. And Fuuka-san and Shinjiro-san, as well.”
Minato stretched himself out on her lap once again. “We’re different,” he said simply, closing his eyes, his voice gentle, tender. “You and me.”
“You and me,” Aigis repeated softly. She traced the features of his face, his eyelashes, his eyebrows, the small upward quirk to his lips, the faint rosiness of his cheeks.
She looked up to the sky with a smile, feeling at ease.
It was the two of them.
It was us, he thought.
And no one needed to know the exact nature of their relationship. Not even them.
And it was strange, and it was peculiar, and it was love.
It was always love.