Minako had never been much of a runner.
Well, not recreationally anyway.
It was true that she ran after some enemies and ran away from others. She ran in a vain attempt to get to school on time. And she ran whenever she heard her mother come thumping up the stairs, ranting about Artemis or some inconsequential exam.
But barring those and a few other instances, Minako didn't take to running like Haruka did. Wind was her element; speed was her vice. Let her have it, Minako said. It had never appealed to the lovelorn Aphrodite.
Yet there Minako was, feet pounding rapidly against the pavement and sweat dripping off her brow. She was moving at speeds that seemed to suggest to onlookers that she did this fairly often. They would never have known that this wasn't her gig.
Of course, had they looked a little closer, they would have noticed that Minako wasn't exactly partaking in this activity as a relaxing morning ritual. She was moving far too quickly for them to notice her furrowed brow, tense jaw, or that her hands were so tightly balled into fists that her palms were ravaged by her chipped fingernails. She wouldn't have let them notice even if she slowed down. She was, after all, quite the actress if she did say so herself.
She wasn't enjoying this by any stretch of the imagination. But Elsa Grey had told her that she'd be good at it. And what better time to test that theory then just before sunrise on the day after she had died for a few hours?
Minako grunted softly and picked up the pace. The point to this exercise was to avoid that unpleasantness, now wasn't it?
She and the others had dragged themselves off to their respective homes not too long ago, quietly promising to meet later that day. It went without saying that Seiya, Taiki, Yaten, and Princess Kakyuu would be leaving as soon as they were rested. And Minako supposed they were all meant to sleep late to make up for the battle.
The mere thought of sleeping had petrified her, so she'd fled. Simple as that.
Minako ran for a few more minutes, maintaining the breakneck pace with some amount of difficulty. Normally, it wouldn't have been a problem, but she was quite tired. Still, she refused to let up and ran into a nearby park. She passed a few other recreational joggers who seemed quite befuddled by her presence. She didn't give them much thought, save for the rather svelte man who preferred to run shirtless.
Well, she was traumatized. Not blind.
Finally, after sustaining that speed for nearly ten minutes, her lungs were screaming for relief too loudly for her to ignore. She was loathe to given in to her body's requests, but she did anyway, coming to a dead stop even though she knew it wasn't particularly healthy. Somehow, she had a feeling she'd survive.
She winced and coughed slightly, occupying her thoughts with her movements and nothing more. She stood there for a minute, hunched over. Minako had her hands on her kneecaps just to keep herself from totally collapsing to the ground. She was heaving, gasping for air and wiping off several rivulets of sweat that traced their way down her pale features. She wanted nothing more than to flop down on the cement, but she ignored her impulse. She was about to straighten up and start running once more, when someone interrupted her solitude.
"I'll never understand the appeal of sweating like a pig in July. Please, explain it to me."
Minako gasped and looked up at the sound of the all too familiar voice. She had known the owner of the tone that flirted with elements of masculinity and femininity instantly. But that didn't erase her surprise at its presence to begin with. She'd never exactly taken Kou Yaten to be a morning person.
She didn't want to see him. In fact, she'd wanted to run from the moment she'd identified him. She wanted to take off right then and there and never look back. She didn't think he'd come after her, but then Yaten was unpredictable when it came to their relationship, wasn't he? She'd certainly never expected him to slam her into a wall and save her life all in the same day.
Minako's mind was working in utter desperation to avoid spending any more time with the pompous idol. Granted, she didn't want to see anyone just then, but Yaten was at the very top of her list for various reasons. She knew she could handle this unfortunate happenstance with her usual casual bravado, but she didn't want to. For the first time in recent memory, she didn't want to pretend. She wanted to run. She even wanted to be Haruka who would never have stopped in the first place.
But she didn't run away. She wasn't that girl. She would never be that girl.
Yaten arched a silver brow in her direction, shoving his left hand into his pocket. "Don't stand there gaping, Minako. You could never pull off the fish look on a good day. Your face isn't long enough."
Minako instantly shut her mouth, immediately self conscious. He'd always been able to do that to her, and it was quite frustrating. She'd added an extra half hour to her morning routine specifically to avoid the scathing comments she'd heard him level on other girls in their class... Well, that was only part of the reason, but her motivations all rested with him.
She rid her forehead of perspiration as demurely as one could in this situation and then proceeded to fix her usual hairstyle sans bow. She pulled out the rubber band that was threatening to fall out anyway and proceeded to rake her hands through her impossibly thick hair. If she was stuck in this situation, she may as well look good, right?
"Good morning, Yaten," Minako said as cheerfully as possible.
Yaten frowned at her, though not in an altogether unpleasant manner. He nodded, returning the unnecessary pleasantry, and said, "I'm serious. Explain how people can find enjoyment in this activity. I don't get it."
Minako finished twisting her hair around the rubber band and grinned at him. She was still breathing hard, but not so that she couldn't carry on a decent conversation. She could only hope it was short so that she could continue on with what she was doing. "Some of us find physical activity relaxing."
Yaten ran his eyes up and down the length of her frame, sizing her up. He looked nonplussed. "You don't seem relaxed to me."
Well, that much was true. She unclenched her fist, flexing her aching fingers in response. She really was quite tense.
Minako tried to brush his assessment off, shrugging casually. "I didn't feel like sleeping."
Yaten blinked, clearly not following her train of thought. He looked at her strangely and questioned, "So you went running?"
She tried not to laugh at his utter bewilderment at her actions. She nodded, clearing her throat discreetly, and asked, "What about you? I didn't think you liked mornings."
Yaten paused, but not significantly. "I didn't much feel like sleeping either. I on the other hand preferred to move at a more casual pace."
In spite of his superior tone, Minako knew better than to take offense. She looked down at her left wrist, hoping to make some remark about the time, when she remembered that she'd forgotten her watch. She resisted the urge to curse or show any outward sign of frustration and continued the conversation. "I thought you, Seiya, and Taiki would be surgically attaching yourselves to Kakyuu-hime by now."
Yaten blinked at her, looking somewhat flustered. Minako realized she must have said something wrong again, though she couldn't think of what. Regardless of where she wanted to be, she knew she had to mend whatever damage she'd done and then hopefully exit on the premise of trying not to humiliate herself further.
She began gesturing without rhyme or reason, perhaps hoping to distract him so much with her movements that he couldn't focus on her words that much. "I just mean that the three of you were so devoted to finding her. I didn't expect to see you apart again. Well, maybe Seiya would go see Usagi. But you and Taiki were always so focused, that I-- Well, not to say that Seiya wasn't I just-- I... I didn't expect to see you alone is all," she finished lamely. She felt embarrassed even though she still had no idea what she had said that was so inappropriate. Then again, she never did.
He stared at her for a moment, wondering if maybe Taiki's relentless assessment of Minako's mental health was more spot on than he'd thought. Whatever the case, Yaten softened and said, "I wouldn't leave her, normally. We spent so long looking for her only to have her taken away so quickly. I didn't think I'd ever want to let her out of my sight again. Everything feels so strange when she isn't around, you know? It feels... wrong somehow."
Yaten paused for a moment, his leaf-like eyes growing distant. Minako couldn't even begin to venture a guess as to what he was thinking about. She assumed it was quite profound or at least deeply felt and private. It was best if she didn't speculate.
"But I didn't want to be there right now," Yaten admitted, pulling himself back from whatever reverie he had entered into. "Kakyuu-hime and Seiya are talking and Taiki fell asleep the minute we got home. Frankly, I don't want to listen to more of Seiya's pining for Usagi or Taiki's snoring. So, I left."
Minako smiled softly, recognizing Yaten's matter of fact humor. It was then that she realized for the first time that she had been unconsciously hopping from one foot to the other for some time. She briefly thought that it was rude of her, but she didn't really care. Yaten would be leaving soon, what did she care about what he thought of her?
She stopped moving.
"I don't blame you," Minako said. "Tell you the truth, I'd probably think you were weird to want to be with them all the time, even now. I'm devoted to Usagi, but I couldn't imagine never leaving her side."
"Why would you want to torture yourself like that?" Yaten drawled.
Minako stuck her tongue out at him for lack of a better response. "Yaten! Don't be that way. I know you like her more than you let on."
Yaten merely shrugged, refusing to say one way or the other.
Minako was tempted to force him into admitting that he, like just about everyone else who had ever laid eyes on the once and future queen, loved Usagi for reasons they couldn't explain without waxing poetic. She resisted the urge easily enough and didn't speak for awhile, hoping he would take the silence as an awkward end to a rather awkward conversation.
"I'd do it though," Yaten told her suddenly, breaking the quiet they'd slipped into. He noted her puzzled look and continued, reminding her of what they'd been talking about. "Stay with her all the time. I'd do it if I had to."
Minako looked at him for a moment, not saying anything. After awhile, she felt the right corner of her mouth twitch slightly. "You would, wouldn't you?"
Yaten nodded, utterly serious. Then he looked right at her and asked, "Wouldn't you?"
The question gave Minako pause, although she guessed she should have been prepared for it given where their conversation was going. She didn't answer immediately, unsure of what to say. She knew what the right answer was, and that wasn't something she could say very often. She knew exactly how to say it as well. But she wasn't sure how true it would have been.
"I admire you," Minako finally responded, opting to shy away from the query. She looked up at leaves in the trees, pretending to study the late fall colors. She grew wistful and continued, barely paying attention to what she was saying but meaning every word of it. "You and Taiki and Seiya. You abandoned everything just to find Kakyuu-hime. You gave up your home, your way of life... everything. It's not easy. Making that sacrifice."
With the last word, she felt Yaten choke. She looked over to him, her head snapping so quickly that her neck ached for a moment. His face had darkened and stiffened, his eyes shut in a manner that looked painful. For a brief, terrifying instant she saw him vulnerable and unsure of himself. He shivered in spite of the fact that he was more prepared for the brisk autumn weather than she was. He opened his mouth slowly, and then closed it again. He looked as if he had something heavy on his chest and he was trying to figure out just how to go about unloading it.
Minako panicked, somehow knowing what it was he was trying to say.
"But let's not talk about things like that now," Minako said hoarsely, hurriedly. She didn't want to hear anything about that. She wanted to keep this light or just not be there.
Yaten nodded stiffly, letting his bangs fall in front of his eyes. "Yes. Perhaps you're right."
With that, they once again fell into a full silence, each holding the other's gaze with a variety of emotion. Minako kept looking away in a skittish manner more befitting a deer or some other animal more accustomed to fear. She swallowed and tried not to think about the things she'd rather forget, but standing with Yaten seemed to only bring them to the surface. The sounds of silence brought forth screams from her memory and she was fully prepared to leave when Yaten suddenly spoke, knowing just what to say to chase away her demons.
"You know, I thought you were pretty once."
Minako stared at Yaten for a minute, both because of the sudden switch and because now she was faced with the task of trying to decide whether or not that had actually been a compliment. Finally, she simply responded, saying, "Once? You... don't think I am anymore?"
"No, it isn't that," Yaten continued, leaning casually against a tree. "I mean there was one particular instance where I thought you were pretty. That's all."
Minako knew that her being confused wasn't exactly newsworthy, but she still felt like noting it to herself. She smiled sheepishly, blushing in spite of herself and said, "Thank you?"
"As well you should," Yaten told her. "I don't dole out compliments often."
On any other day, she probably would have laughed. But she didn't much feel like laughing even if he was relatively amusing.
Minako rocked back onto her heels and sighed quietly. She tilted her head to the side in a way more than one male admirer had told her was quite cute and said, "So, why are you engaging me in conversation, Kou Yaten?"
He blinked and looked over at her, his mouth slightly agape. Now she did laugh, though it wasn't real. He probably couldn't tell though.
"You can't pull off the fish look either, Yaten. Don't try and show me up."
Yaten stared at her for a moment and then complied with her request, chuckling smugly. "So, my own criticisms are turned against me? Huh. I knew there was a reason I liked you."
Minako looked up, not all that put off by his announcement, but it was still a bit out of the ordinary. Yaten wasn't exactly the soul bearing type. Not that he was confessing his deepest, darkest secrets to her. He knew as well as she did that they'd probably end up on the cover of the trendiest teen magazine if he did that. Still, that was saying a lot for the notoriously callous member of the Three Lights.
"You like me?" Minako asked. "And you're admitting it?"
Yaten let his shoulders rise and fall casually. He looked away from her, tipping his head up slightly and shutting his eyes. "I see no danger in it seeing as I'm leaving later."
Minako's own gaze fell along with her heart. She'd known it all along of course, but there was something about hearing it aloud that made it real. Perhaps that was why they had never discussed it until that point. "You're really leaving then?"
"Yes," Yaten admitted, sounding a little sad himself. "We have to rebuild what's left of Kinmoku. Galaxia did a lot of damage. Now that Kakyuu-hime's all right, we can return. That was always the plan."
Minako raised an eyebrow. "If you all agreed to it, why do you sound so sad now?"
Yaten gave her a half smile, but he still didn't look at her. "You weren't part of the plan."
Minako gasped and felt her cheeks color. Of course, she had no idea if he meant her specifically or if he was referring to the Sailor Senshi as a whole, but it was still quite flattering. Especially coming from him. Still, to save herself from potential embarrassment, Minako decided it really was time to go now.
"Umm... Thanks again I guess," Minako said hurriedly, coughing slightly. "I should probably go now. It's not healthy to stop and start like this. I'll see you--"
"Don't go," Yaten commanded, his voice so forceful that it stopped her in her tracks. For what felt like the thousandth time, Yaten's emotions did a complete 180. He had been easy going and perhaps even flirtatious one minute, and now he was... dark and intense. His eyes once shut gently were now forming creases on his forehead and his eyebrows were quaking.
She stared at him openly, feeling no danger in it since he couldn't see her. She swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat and said, "Wh-Why?"
"I..." Yaten forced out, clenching his fist tightly. "I have to ask you something."
Minako broke out in a cold sweat. "I don't think I want to answer you," she murmured hurriedly.
"I've been trying to ask you since I first saw you running. I followed you for awhile, trying to figure out how to go about it," Yaten admitted quietly, his voice tight with emotions he was having a hard time suppressing. "That's why I've been acting so strangely. Every time I looked at you, I just wanted to scream, but I knew I'd scare you."
"You're scaring me now, Yaten," Minako told him harshly. "Stop this now while you still can. Once you say it, you can't take it back."
"I won't want to," Yaten insisted.
"I'll want you to!" Minako snapped. "I don't want to talk about this now."
"Don't be so emotional," he scolded, not really meaning it.
"I'm not," Minako countered. "I'm just... tired, so I--"
Yaten pounded his fist against the tree, making her jump. "Stop it!"
Several birds flew out of the branches of the tree that he had disturbed, their cries filling the stunned quiet that fell over the pair. Her right hand was clasped over her heart. She could feel it pounding in her chest as if its aim was to fly out of it and this was the only way to keep it in its place. He just stood there, his jaw clenched painfully.
"God, I hate it when you do that..." Yaten muttered.
Minako narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Do what?"
"Nothing. Forget it." Yaten took a deep breath, mulling over what he was about to say to her for what might have been two seconds or two lifetimes. He wasn't used to being unsure of himself, but then he'd never had to ask a question like this before.
He supposed the only thing he could do was just say it and hope for the best.
"Why did you save me?" Yaten finally asked her softly, opening his eyes but not making eye contact with her. "Why... Why did you--"
'Die for me.' That's what he was about to say. That's what she didn't let him say. She stiffened and walked forward, moving past him. She wouldn't stay no matter what he said or how he looked at her. She didn't want to face this. Not now and maybe not ever. She spoke coldly, but her voice was trembling. "I already told you. I don't want to talk about this. Now good-bye."
Yaten was surprised by her callous tone, but not so much that he didn't pursue her. He caught up to her in a few long strides and reached out, gently grasping Minako's forearm. She stopped for that, though she didn't know why.
"Minako, please," Yaten whispered gravely. "I want to know why... Why you..." He stopped, shutting his eyes. He wasn't used to being at a loss for words. He always knew what to say, and now he found himself stumbling over his own words. This, a crucial moment in his existence as far as he was concerned. It was maddening.
He took a deep breath and finished, choosing the simplest terms he could come up with. "Why me?"
Minako felt her throat dry up and her back become rigid again. She'd been waiting for their conversation to take this turn since it had begun, but hearing the words still took her back. Her hands shook briefly, so she balled them up into fists again. She shut her eyes tightly and turned her head, overcompensating. She took a deep breath and said the first thing that popped into her head.
"Why not you?" she muttered. "I couldn't make it to Usagi in time... Besides, it was Rei's job to die for her. That's just the way it is. We'd all die for her, but it will always be Rei in the end and I... I just jumped. I didn't know it was you until it was over."
"Liar," Yaten countered instantly, his voice so forceful and brusque that it made her look up, eyes wide.
"What?"
"You're lying," Yaten repeated. "I saw you, Minako. I saw every move you made before it happened." He was shaking now, actually trembling with emotion. His eyes were so wide that she could see the whites all around his iris. He was seeing it all over again, right before his eyes. He was reviewing her last moments in some kind of sick red wheel.
"You jumped in front of me. Not Seiya. Not Taiki. Not Usagi - your princess. You chose me."
Minako shook her head and took a great deal of interest in the bark of a tree. "You're delusional. I would have done the same for the others. And I would have died for Usagi if I could have. I told you, it had to be Rei. It was the way it was meant to be."
"But you weren't meant to save me?" Yaten asked, his voice tight with feeling. "It just happened that way?"
"Yes!" Minako snapped, sounding harsher than she intended.
"So, you'd die for just anyone?" Yaten countered.
"Yes!" Minako hissed, quickly regretting her hasty reaction. "No! I... I don't know. You've got me all mixed up."
"Why, Minako?" Yaten repeated, dropping his voice again. "Why did you pick me?"
"I didn't!" Minako nearly shouted, catching herself and lowering her voice. It was never a good idea to stand around in the middle of Tokyo and scream about reincarnation and near-apocalypses. "You were just... there, and I didn't want any of you to get hurt. Rei was already running for Usagi and I knew I couldn't let you... or Seiya or Taiki die. So, I jumped and... And I..."
Minako trailed off, the events of the past few hours running before her eyes. But she wasn't just seeing it, she felt it. She felt the chilling breath of the Grim Reaper on her neck as she looked and saw Yaten - Healer and the gold comet streaking towards the Sailor Soldier. She didn't think about it. She knew what was going to happen as she threw herself in front of the aloof Light just as Galaxia's attack hit her heart.
Minako winced as she felt it all over again. The burning pain as she the wind was knocked out of her. It was as if Galaxia's hand had penetrated her chest, taken a firm grip on her heart, twisting, pulling, wrenching it free from her body. And then she was cold and empty. She fell, aware of every cell and every portion of her body as it shut down. She tingled painfully as she faded and then...
Then nothing.
Minako shuddered in revulsion pulled away from Yaten, her strength clearly taking him off guard. She looked up at him, panting just to reassure herself that she was still breathing. She clasped her hands behind her back because they were suddenly shaking again. She took several deep breaths and pushed the sensory memories away. There was a reason why she didn't revisit this. And it was a damn good reason.
She wanted to scream at Yaten for making her face it all too soon. She wanted to slap him. Maybe she even wanted to blast him with a couple Crescent Beams just to make her point crystal clear...
But she wasn't that girl either.
"Are you all right?" Yaten asked. Minako wasn't sure if his concern was feigned, but his premature skepticism certainly was. Even before she had a chance to lie and say she was--
"Fine," Minako muttered curtly. "I'm fine."
He raised an eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest again. "You have a funny way of demonstrating your mental competency, Minako."
"I'm just tired," Minako continued, doing her best to force a smile into her voice. As she heard herself speak, she knew it was quite convincing by itself. Coupled with her previous behavior, probably not. But it wasn't as if she hadn't acted as if her whole world was crumbling before, only to alleviate her friends' concern with a quick smile and a false but convincing diatribe on her emotional state. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get upset. I guess I'm just cranky when I don't get enough sleep. But really, I didn't realize it was you. I didn't want any of you to get hurt. I'm glad... I'm glad all of you were around to help Usagi. I'm glad all of you are all right."
She slipped into silence, brushing her bangs out of her eyes as a sudden breeze blew over the nearby lake. For some reason, she didn't want to look directly at Yaten anymore and let her eyes drift down to a nearby leaf at his feet. She wondered if it had been the same color as his eyes before it had died and turned to sullen brown.
"You do this a lot," Yaten remarked. "But usually you're better at it. Maybe you really are tired."
"Excuse me?" Minako asked, put ill at ease by his tone. Once again, she felt like running.
Yaten walked forward, his brow furrowed slightly. Much to her surprise, his appropriately delicate fingers found their way underneath her chin, tipping her head up slightly. She blinked and thought that she should have blushed in this situation, but didn't. If anything she paled at the realization that she felt utterly naked and exposed when he looked at her like that. His eyes bored into her with full intensity, breaking through all of her plastic smiles and empty laughter that could fool her closest friends as if they were paper. It left her shivering even though she wasn't cold.
"You pretend," Yaten told her quietly. "You act like everything's all right. You smile when you want to scream. You do it a lot. More than you know."
Minako stared at him, openly shocked. No one called her on this. No one knew she did this. No one. She even fooled Artemis more often than not. And if he did realize what she did, he never talked to her about it. It was an unspoken rule with them.
Her closest friends were blissfully ignorant of her facades. How could he know?
Yaten smiled mirthlessly and with some degree of bitterness. "Let's just say I'm more in tune than most people, shall we?"
Minako would have liked to pull away and start to walk off for the cinematic quality it would have given the scene, but Yaten's eyes were holding her more firmly than his arms would have. "Another psychic?" She was surprised by the scorn in her voice.
Yaten didn't seem to be put off by it. "It's a bit closer to empathy actually. I feel what other people are feeling. I always knew when Star Seeds were taken... And I always knew what you were really going through underneath all of your masks."
His face conveyed what might have been sympathy as he ran a predictably smooth finger over her chapped lips. "It scared me sometimes. How you could smile so brightly and be so torn up within."
"Stop it," Minako whispered, his thumb still resting on her mouth. "I don't want to--"
"I know you don't," Yaten replied softly. "But you have to face this some time, Minako. You can't keep running for as long as you want to escape it. This island isn't big enough."
"Why now?" Minako continued, shutting her eyes as they began to burn. "It's too soon. It's still too fresh. I can't... I can't now."
"You have to," Yaten pressed, resting both of his hands on her shoulders. He wasn't that much taller than her, but she felt his shadow move. He had dipped his head to look at her more directly even if she was refusing to look at him at all.
"Why?"
"Because..." Yaten said, his voice trailing off as though he knew his reasons were feeble. "I might not see you again. And I have to know... I have to know before I leave."
Minako laughed bitterly. "You really are selfish."
He shrugged, but not casually. "From one camera, yes. From another I'm... desperate."
Minako's eyes flew open, widening in shock. Her gaze softened further when she saw the look in his eyes. Yaten wasn't one to reveal much either, though his reasons had been different from her own. But he wasn't hiding anymore, baring it all in hopes of drawing her out as well. He looked as his own words revealed - desperate. She had never thought of him as being fragile in spite of his looks, but now she suddenly feared that he would break if she so much as breathed in his direction.
"I've always said that I'd die for Kakyuu-hime," Yaten explained to her. "It was ingrained in me since I was born. That I was meant to protect her with my life. So much so that... That I never really considered just how much of a sacrifice that was.
"I had never... seen anyone die before. No one I cared about anyway. And when I saw you... knowing that it was for my sake I..." he trailed off, sounding about as broken as he would ever allow himself to be. "It felt horrible. Like guilt and sorrow and rage all mixed up and just so... helpless. I've never felt like I couldn't do anything before... like I did when I watched you..."
He winced along with her. Neither of them could say it.
"And so, I have to know," Yaten finished, knowing his explanation had been most inadequate. "Why me?"
She blinked and felt a tear fall from her eye, landing on his sinewy hands. She sniffed and spoke, still too cautious to say the words. She croaked slightly before she finally managed to say the only thing she'd dare to.
"You know why," Minako whispered. "You must. If you know how I pretend... then you must be able to see why."
Yaten just looked at her blankly for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes as if in extreme concentration. She gasped quietly as his eyes bored right through her, tearing through all of her layers and masks and everything else. And she knew that he hadn't just guessed. He really could see everything about her, down to the core that she hid from everyone else with such ease.
And there, Yaten found his answer.
He blinked, breaking off the connection abruptly. He was looking at her still, but not nearly so deeply. He didn't need to anymore.
Without so much as a twitch to indicate what he was about to do, Yaten's arms snaked around Minako's lithe body and pulled her to him. Before she could fully register what was happening, his lips crashed into hers, literally stealing her breath. She briefly thought of gasping or perhaps even pulling away, but as one hand tipped her head back and the other slipped under the bottom of her shirt to caress her skin, she felt no impulse to even feign resisted. She clung to his chest, all but melting into him. They never once noticed the curious squirrels or the outraged joggers, several of whom recognized Yaten as a pop idol, but not enough to stop. Even so, Minako would have quite a lot to explain to her friends and family the next day when the trendiest of teen magazines ran a story about how that same girl they'd been running pictures of was seen kissing the missing idol, Kou Yaten.
After a blissful portion of eternity passed, Yaten and Minako broke apart. Flushed and slightly deprived of oxygen, they held on to each other for a long moment. Yaten didn't need empathy to gauge what Minako was thinking. After all, it was the same thing he was thinking.
Nothing would come of this.
They let go of each other, both feeling oddly fulfilled and somewhat unfulfilled. Neither one could think of anything appropriate to say to the other for quite awhile. Minako passed much of the time twirling her hair and shifting from one foot to the other.
At last, Yaten spoke after clearing his throat and trying to mask the fact that he was blushing.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Yaten announced with an air of finality.
Minako had to admit, it wasn't a bad way to end an awkward moment. She smiled, somewhat genuinely, and nodded. "All right then."
With that, the two bid each other hasty good byes and went their separate ways. Yaten moved quickly, anxious to return to Kakyuu's side after resolving that with himself. Of course, he had hardly expected that outcome, but it certainly wasn't objectionable.
He smiled somewhat smugly at that thought.
He was about to completely depart from her company when he stopped and listened. Yaten was surprised that he didn't hear the sound of her footsteps pounding against the pavement. Surely she hadn't been able to run that quickly. He turned around just to be certain that everything was all right.
He smiled when he saw that she wasn't running anymore.
