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Really Minato knows he shouldn’t be surprised when the mechanical voice ends and the spotlight flashes on him. The whole destined partner thing was a strange concept to him and really he’d never quite been interested in romance to begin with. not only that but...well...he and Souji...was that actually allowed?
The thought is cut short by the floor dropping from beneath his feet and the world goes black for a moment only to have him waking up in a place he's not familiar with. Confusion is rooted on his face over the fact his hand is practically glued to Souji’s but there’s not much of an opening to take in the rather romantic scenery before the voice picks up rather annoyingly again.
“So…” the Yaso leader’s voice catches Minato off guard and the small grin makes something flutter inside him for some reason he's aren’t even sure of himself. “Is this a date?”
“...No.”
Minato's first thought after the events at the Group Date Cafe are that Souji is probably going to avoid him like the plague. He knows that’s what he’d do himself anyways. After all, the situation was so forced (at least it felt forced to Minato) it was bound to make anything awkward. He's proven wrong all too quickly when Souji continues to go out of his way to hunt down the fellow wildcard from his general hiding spots away from the rest of the group.
“Come on. Let’s go get something to eat together. I feel like I haven’t seen you actually outside a classroom since our last trip into the labyrinth.” Sincerity rings in the silver haired boys voice and he's giving that smile again, the one that’s nearly impossible to say no to because it’d make Minato feel like they kicked a sad lost puppy.
A sigh escapes through Minato’s tightly knit lips and he crosses his arms indignantly, though get up from the desk he'd been seated at anyways. “Fine. This isn’t a date though.”
Kind laughter bubbles from Souji at Minato’s words and he threads his fingers through his silver hair. “Of course not.”
“Do you wanna try this stand next?”
A head of blue hair tilts to the side at the question and Minato directs a particularly blank look at the other.
“I don’t really care.”
It wasn’t a lie. He didn’t care (or rather he was doing a very good job convincing himself he didn’t care) if they were playing any of the cheap festival games in this fake school. Really he'd rather be sleeping or maybe getting in some extra weapon practice in private but the Yaso leader had practically made it his life duty to drag Minato around as much as possible. And really he wants to think it’s incredibly annoying and he wishes he wanted to sneak away but he didn’t and he still doesn’t quite understand why.
It's not like they were dating or anything like that after all.
Evil Spirit Club is hardly scary. It’s just like every cliche from every horror movie that he’d ever watched from his movie collection back in Iwatodai and it did nothing to really bring anything but exhaustion over the few scared girls who did nothing but make hindrances on the group’s progress in the labyrinth.
Seta falls into step next to the Gekkou leader and it’s something that he's come to expect at this point. It was almost unheard of for the two of them not to walk next to each other when trekking through labyrinths.
“Are you scared at all?”
The questions earns the other something that almost sounds like a snort of amusement.
“Of course not. What? Were you going to offer to hold my hand or something?” Sarcasm laces his voice as he gives Souji a knowing smirk. “This isn’t a date, you know. This is a battlefield.”
“Hey, um, I was wondering if I could listen to some of your music? If that’s alright with you.”
A brow is quirked at the sudden statement that breaks the comfortable silence the two fools had been holding and Minato says nothing at the words, just shrugs his shoulders and passes Souji an earphone as he lays comfortably on the ground next to the silver haired teen. They were close, close enough that their sides were only just touching. It was a strange sensation but he was starting to get used to feeling those whenever he was around the other teen like this.
“This song is pretty good.” Once again he takes the time to break the silence for Minato and he only hums slightly in response, twiddling his fingers as he stares at the classrooms decorated ceiling. “Not quite what I was expecting to hear though.”
“What were you expecting?”
“Haha. I’m not really sure.”
Something akin to a smile tugs at the ends of Minato’s lips as he sits up, looking down at Souji. The answer didn’t really surprise him that much at all and as he stretches out his arms the other follows suit, sitting up and handing the earphone back to it's owner.
“So-” Minato starts but he's quickly cut off with a soft chuckle from Souji that makes his face heat up.
“Don’t worry. It’s not a date. I know that already.”
Inaba Pride Exhibit proves to be entirely too exhausting. Between the sudden spike in the strength of the shadows and the fact a lot of the Gekkoukan kids pent up frustrations towards each other had started to collapse in on itself in the middle of exploring labyrinth. Too much happening all at once and Minato wishes it wasn’t because really he’d never been adept with dealing with other people's feelings even if his social links said otherwise.
It's the first time he actively seeks out Souji because really he needed the other leaders company right now. Finding the co-leader isn’t nearly as difficult as he imagined. Unlike the Gekkou leader, he was almost always with at least one of his friends. This time it’s Souji’s magician who’s with him and when Hanamura sees Minato making his way over he gets up, makes some excuse to walk off. Whether it was because of fear of him or giving the two leaders space, Minato wasn’t sure and didn’t really care.
“...Hey.”
“Hi.” the other wildcards smile is still as amiable as always and he watches as Minato rubs at the back of his neck in a manner of vague discomfort. “Are you alright…?”
Only offering a nod at the question, he shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his pants. There’s a few moments of some awkward silence but Souji’s patient with him, like he always is.
“So...uh...do you…” he's not used to asking anyone to spend time with them it’s always been the other way around and he has...no idea what he's doing in all honesty so he gazes down at his feet, hair falling in his face to cover his flush at his own incompetence. “Do you wanna do something together…?”
More silence fills the cafeteria and souji gives him a surprised look which turns into a smile as he leans forward, cheek resting on his hand.
“Minato...are you asking me on a date?” the sarcastic condescending tone is unappreciated and Minato let's it be known in the noncommittal noise he makes in response.
“It’s…it’s whatever you want it to be.”
There's a look of joy on Souji’s face that Minato doesn’t think he's seen before and it’s enough to have his heart skipping beats and suddenly he forgets why he was even exhausted to begin with.
“I’d be happy to." The other fool stands from his seat in the food court, takes the blue haired boys hand and threading their fingers. "In fact, you didn’t even need to ask.”