training center/other|action

[heartlinks.livejournal.com]

[ Today, October 4th, finds Minako being more cheerful and lively than usual, if just the slightest bit forgetful -- appearing distracted and absorbed in her thoughts when not in conversation with anyone.

From evening to midnight, to finish off the day, she's tucked herself away in a corner of the Training Center, music blasting in her ears as she evades, spins and slashes down a Grat before finishing it off with a Fire magic.

Without breaking sweat and seemingly on auto-pilot, she immediately moves away from the defeated creature to seek another one.

Bother her now? During the day, during classes? Both? Go for it o/ ]

Comments

[heartlinks.livejournal.com]

Don't worry about it! I'm not hurt at all.

[ But she does take note of the axe on the ground. Curiously, ] You use an axe to fight, huh?

[zeroth-card.livejournal.com]

[Picks the axe back up.] Well, I'm better with swords, but I can use the other weapons fine. Besides, it fits the occassion. [He looks somber as he says this.]

1/2

[heartlinks.livejournal.com]

[ 'Fits the occasion'. Her gaze drops at this. Trying not to think about it was quite impossible, no matter how hard she tried. ]

[heartlinks.livejournal.com]

[ It's easier, slightly easier to believe. ]

I'm sure senpai will wake up! As long as we all don't stop hoping, senpai will wake up. That's why --

[ -- defeating Nyx was a priority. She swallows the second half of that sentence, feeling lost. ] That's why...

(1/2)

[zeroth-card.livejournal.com]

[Minato's eyes widen at her outburst. He knows Shinjiro-senpai won't wake up - even as he was dying, he'd made it a point to go on his own terms. But he had dreamed Minako's version of that night, and remembered that long stay in the hospital...]

(2/2)

[zeroth-card.livejournal.com]

[He places the axe down again, and puts his hands on Minako's shoulders reassuringly.]

...yeah, your senpai will wake up. You gave him a reason to stick around, didn't you?

[He feels his voice breaking as he says this.]

[heartlinks.livejournal.com]

[ The tone of his voice, the words he carefully chose to speak -- neither of it goes over her head. She has a feeling she knows, she should know, but it's too foggy for her to grasp at the moment. ]

...Minato-kun, what do you mean by 'your senpai'?

[zeroth-card.livejournal.com]

[Minato pauses as he wonders how to best say this.]

Last month, I dreamed the events of that night from your perspective. That's how I know things didn't happen the exact same way.

[He drops his gaze before continuing, not sure if he can say it.]

The Shinjiro-senpai of my world... will not wake up. He made it a point to leave on his own terms, even after getting shot fatally: he got back up, said some words of encouragement, and walked away... until he couldn't walk any more.

[heartlinks.livejournal.com]

[ She stays very still throughout his explanation. Shinjiro-senpai is dead, she thinks. Then -- Junpei, Minato-kun, Akihiko-senpai, Mitsuru-senpai... Even Ken-kun... All of them, all the members of SEES she had met here, had lost Shinjiro-senpai.

And here she was, worried over whether he would wake up.

Minako doesn't have to see Minato to know what he's feeling, how he's feeling. Without thinking so much, she closes the distance between them and wraps her arms around his neck in a hug. It's only seconds later that she wonders if it's to comfort him or comfort herself with the very thought of Shinjiro-senpai passing away. ]

I'm sorry...