Fic Duel. A day early?! What madness is this?
Title: That One Memory
Theme: “Kiss Me” - Sixpence None the Richer
Fandom: Persona 3
Pairing: Akihiko/Mitsuru
Rating: PG
****
“Mitsuru.” His voice was a mixture of both surprise and more knowing than condemnation as he emerged onto the high school rooftop. “Shouldn’t you be in class?” She didn’t move and she certainly didn’t turn around. But somehow he could easily picture the lidded eyes and knowing smirk that probably formed itself on her face. True to his knowledge of her, the reply was absolutely no surprise.
“I could say the same thing about you, Akihiko. Something about the wonders of calculus bore you?” He knew she wasn’t as calm as she sounded, but he smiled to himself anyway. Unfortunately it was a smile that was half-hearted and very short lived.
“What’s the point? It’s not like I’m going to live long enough to actually use it. Would you want to spend your last days learning the joys of derivatives?” She chuckled, but the noise was not a happy one. He took a seat next to her on the bench- staring at the outside world beyond the rooftop fence that still kept going completely ignorant of its impending doom.
“We have to decide soon.” She had her eyes closed as if to shut out that world that had so little time left. “To suffer unimaginable pain at the world’s ending or to sever all the ties that bind us and relinquish all the memories we share.”
“Not much of a choice, is it?” Akihiko answered with a huff. “Have you decided what you’re going to tell him yet?” At his question, Mitsuru balled her hand resting on the cold stone of the bench into a tight fist.
“Does it make me a coward, Akihiko, if I would just rather not know?” The question came in a whisper- a sign that she was ashamed of this so-called cowardice. The fact that Mitsuru was visibly ashamed of anything made him want to wrap his arms around her in comfort more than anything else ever had. He didn’t, of course. Fear of death, after all, was only one of many forms of cowardice.
“You have never been a coward. Not for as long as I’ve known you. It’s an unnatural situation- nobody should have to make this choice at all.”
“And you?” She finally looked at him. The bloodshot tint to her normally fearless eyes was a stab to his heart. Or rather, the fact that he could have done nothing to stop those tears was the real source of pain. “What have you decided?”
Akihiko paused- sure of his answer, but not sure how to phrase the rationale behind it. “You know I’m a fighter, Mitsuru. There are memories- and people- that I’m nowhere near ready to give up. I won’t let this Nix have that satisfaction.”
“You would only be giving up memories of the Dark Hour. Could that really be so bad compared to the alternative?” His eyebrows knit together and his face fell downward into a doubtful frown at these words.
“Are you really that willing to forget me?” It wasn’t so much of a question as it was a statement. However, the list of realization that graced her face caused confusion as soon as he felt he had everything figured out. She looked as if she had been slapped in the face. It was fair enough- he felt like he had been slapped in the face. In that moment, Mitsuru Kirijo was the most vulnerable he had ever seen her. “Don’t look at me like that.” It was his turn to turn away from her. “Please stop pretending that you never knew. You’re smarter than that.”
She didn’t speak, and as he was turned away from her, he couldn’t see the resulting look on her face. But she didn’t leave either- so he wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I guess,” she started very quietly. “I guess it had never really occurred to me. Life without you, I mean. You’ve always been there, so maybe…” Mitsuru placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. “The reality of a life without you in it was harder for me to wrap my head around than my own death.” Akihiko looked at her again ,but when he still didn’t speak, she continued. “And I didn’t know. Please believe me when I say that. But I…” She trailed off and took back her hand from his shoulder. With a swift motion, he caught her wrist before the hand could be fully retracted.
“You what, Mitsuru?”
“Hoped.”
It occurred to Akihiko while looking at her in that moment that if Mitsuru could fear but still face the source of that fear, he owed it to her to do the same. After all- the world was ending. He could no longer sit around wishing some things could be- hoping somethings would change. He needed to make those things change.
One hand already on her wrist, he slipped the other behind her head- calloused fingers tracing their way through silky, ember-red hair. Gently, and with a shyness and uncertainty uncharacteristic of the confident boxing champion, he pulled her closer and closer until finally his lips touched hers. For just one moment, the end of the world was a distant memory in the back of their minds. That moment eventually ended, but the consequences of that small action did not.
“I want to fight with you.” She whispered- her resolution clear in her eyes.
“Mitsuru?” She silenced him with a finger to the lips and a shadow of the first real smile on her face he had seen in so long.
“It took a looming apocalypse for you to finally kiss me, Akihko. I’d fight death incarnate to keep that memory. And I intend to.”
Theme: “Kiss Me” - Sixpence None the Richer
Fandom: Persona 3
Pairing: Akihiko/Mitsuru
Rating: PG
****
“Mitsuru.” His voice was a mixture of both surprise and more knowing than condemnation as he emerged onto the high school rooftop. “Shouldn’t you be in class?” She didn’t move and she certainly didn’t turn around. But somehow he could easily picture the lidded eyes and knowing smirk that probably formed itself on her face. True to his knowledge of her, the reply was absolutely no surprise.
“I could say the same thing about you, Akihiko. Something about the wonders of calculus bore you?” He knew she wasn’t as calm as she sounded, but he smiled to himself anyway. Unfortunately it was a smile that was half-hearted and very short lived.
“What’s the point? It’s not like I’m going to live long enough to actually use it. Would you want to spend your last days learning the joys of derivatives?” She chuckled, but the noise was not a happy one. He took a seat next to her on the bench- staring at the outside world beyond the rooftop fence that still kept going completely ignorant of its impending doom.
“We have to decide soon.” She had her eyes closed as if to shut out that world that had so little time left. “To suffer unimaginable pain at the world’s ending or to sever all the ties that bind us and relinquish all the memories we share.”
“Not much of a choice, is it?” Akihiko answered with a huff. “Have you decided what you’re going to tell him yet?” At his question, Mitsuru balled her hand resting on the cold stone of the bench into a tight fist.
“Does it make me a coward, Akihiko, if I would just rather not know?” The question came in a whisper- a sign that she was ashamed of this so-called cowardice. The fact that Mitsuru was visibly ashamed of anything made him want to wrap his arms around her in comfort more than anything else ever had. He didn’t, of course. Fear of death, after all, was only one of many forms of cowardice.
“You have never been a coward. Not for as long as I’ve known you. It’s an unnatural situation- nobody should have to make this choice at all.”
“And you?” She finally looked at him. The bloodshot tint to her normally fearless eyes was a stab to his heart. Or rather, the fact that he could have done nothing to stop those tears was the real source of pain. “What have you decided?”
Akihiko paused- sure of his answer, but not sure how to phrase the rationale behind it. “You know I’m a fighter, Mitsuru. There are memories- and people- that I’m nowhere near ready to give up. I won’t let this Nix have that satisfaction.”
“You would only be giving up memories of the Dark Hour. Could that really be so bad compared to the alternative?” His eyebrows knit together and his face fell downward into a doubtful frown at these words.
“Are you really that willing to forget me?” It wasn’t so much of a question as it was a statement. However, the list of realization that graced her face caused confusion as soon as he felt he had everything figured out. She looked as if she had been slapped in the face. It was fair enough- he felt like he had been slapped in the face. In that moment, Mitsuru Kirijo was the most vulnerable he had ever seen her. “Don’t look at me like that.” It was his turn to turn away from her. “Please stop pretending that you never knew. You’re smarter than that.”
She didn’t speak, and as he was turned away from her, he couldn’t see the resulting look on her face. But she didn’t leave either- so he wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I guess,” she started very quietly. “I guess it had never really occurred to me. Life without you, I mean. You’ve always been there, so maybe…” Mitsuru placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. “The reality of a life without you in it was harder for me to wrap my head around than my own death.” Akihiko looked at her again ,but when he still didn’t speak, she continued. “And I didn’t know. Please believe me when I say that. But I…” She trailed off and took back her hand from his shoulder. With a swift motion, he caught her wrist before the hand could be fully retracted.
“You what, Mitsuru?”
“Hoped.”
It occurred to Akihiko while looking at her in that moment that if Mitsuru could fear but still face the source of that fear, he owed it to her to do the same. After all- the world was ending. He could no longer sit around wishing some things could be- hoping somethings would change. He needed to make those things change.
One hand already on her wrist, he slipped the other behind her head- calloused fingers tracing their way through silky, ember-red hair. Gently, and with a shyness and uncertainty uncharacteristic of the confident boxing champion, he pulled her closer and closer until finally his lips touched hers. For just one moment, the end of the world was a distant memory in the back of their minds. That moment eventually ended, but the consequences of that small action did not.
“I want to fight with you.” She whispered- her resolution clear in her eyes.
“Mitsuru?” She silenced him with a finger to the lips and a shadow of the first real smile on her face he had seen in so long.
“It took a looming apocalypse for you to finally kiss me, Akihko. I’d fight death incarnate to keep that memory. And I intend to.”