Shall I introduce myself? I'm pleased to meet you!

[no_sausage_fest]

Characters: heartlinks and no-sausage-fest
Location: 0800 MAG 101 class, Backdated to Tuesday 21Sept
Rating: Aside from potential PG13 because Junpei is a pottymouth, prolly just G.
Open/Closed/Finished: Closed; maybe open to Minato later?
Summary: ALIEN CLONES FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION WHAT IS THIS I DON'T EVEN. Erhem. I mean... Junpei meets Minako. Hilarity ensues.

Comments

[no_sausage_fest]

He was engrossed in watching a couple of student play that Triple Triad game. He still didn't really get it. That pretty Quistis lady had tried to explain it to him, but he still didn't get it. Junpei wasn't very good at cards; this reminded him of those optional sidegames in the online RPGs he tended to play--they weren't really necessary, but they were fun to goof around with. And he was usually bad at them.

Pulled from his scrutiny of the game by a voice, he turned. Had someone called his name? It was a female voice, but not Mitsuru's. And not Akiela's or Quistis's. But... those were the only girls he really knew here, so how could someone--?

He met the girl's eyes, looking a little startled, and then something in the back of his head clicked. Brown hair, barrettes, red eyes... and cute. And knew his name. This was that Minako girl, the one who was apparently a parallel version of Minato. She even had headphones! She didn't really resemble him all that much--he'd almost been expecting a striking twinlike resemblance or something--but she... kinda felt like him. There was something familiar and comfortable about her, even though he'd never seen her before. It was a little odd, to be honest. Junpei certainly enjoyed the company of a cute girl, but he really genuinely felt like he had met this girl somewhere before--like a memory from a dream he'd had in a past life or something.

Very weird.

Realizing he'd been gawping at her, he clicked his mouth closed and shook his head to clear it, then smiled broadly.

"Hi," he said, and a little contrition bled into his expression. "Erm... you're Arisato Minako, right?" He shook his head. He almost didn't want to own up; it felt almost cruel to tell her he didn't actually know who she was, but Junpei was a terrible liar, and not being up front about it would only be worse in the long run. "I... 'm not the Junpei you know, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean I can't get there." He adjusted the bill on his cap, putting his hands in his pockets. "So... it's nice to meet you. Again. I guess."

There. That was a good way to put it. For once, Junpei felt like maybe he'd said something right instead of putting his foot in his mouth.

[heartlinks]

The startled look on Junpei's face reminded her fondly of the day they had first met and briefly she wondered if that was the same expression she had worn when he had startled her. In spite of the sudden disappointment she felt and then ignored seconds after her own surprise faded away, Minako grinned, then laughed. Even if this wasn't the Junpei she knew, she still felt relieved to see him.

It took her a few seconds to control her giggles, one finger wiping away the wetness in her right eye -- an unshed tear from her laughter, not because she was sad from not being recognised. "I see. Somebody told you about me, huh? Was it Minato-kun? Mitsuru-senpai? Ken-kun?" That made things easier, far more easier than it would be for her to explain the parallel worlds and... everything else. Ryoji had accepted it easily but that was Ryoji for you. "Yep, I'm Arisato Minako." She tilted her head to the side slightly, smiling to reassure him when she noticed his nervousness. "It's okay! Don't worry about it, Junpei!" When his name left her lips, she frowned for a bit, before belatedly adding "Ah... Junpei-kun."

"Although, I never expected to see you here," Minako continued thoughtfully. "Did you just get here?"

[no_sausage_fest]

Oh good, at least she was laughing and not upset. Junpei had a tendency to eat foot, this he knew, but he rarely tried to upset people, and even without his incurable mind-mouth disconnect this subject had the potential to be troublesome. He nodded then.

"Minato told me, yeah, and Ryoji mentioned it, too," he said, and then laughed helplessly. "I thought they were pullin' my leg, but... well, here you are."

He was really glad she wasn't upset about this. Junpei never knew what to do when girls were sad. Absently scratching his head through his hat, he shook his head quickly when she corrected herself, waving his other hand.

"It's okay," he said, grinning. "You can just call me Junpei. If that's what you called the other me, that's what you can call me me. Besides," he added, his grin turning a bit sly. "That means we're pretty good pals, right?"

It served to reason, he figured. If she was some sort of Alternate Minato, and Minato was Junpei's best friend, then logically the same pattern applied. He'd never really had any female friends until he'd gotten to know Yukari, and even then he never really knew just what she was thinking... And then there was Chidori, but that had been a different sort of story entirely. He wasn't quite sure what the procedure was for having a female BFF, but he was wiling to try. He'd wished for true friends who understood him, and he was never opposed to having a few more.

"Yeah, I just got here yesterday," he said then, giving an exaggerated sigh and slumping his shoulders almost comically. "Maaaan, I never thought I'd have to be The New Guy again..."

[heartlinks]

Ryoji-kun, too? Hearing his name surprised her, if only because Junpei and Ryoji were getting along. A second later, she understood, remembering that Minato and Ryoji had come from different times -- that the same applied to Junpei as well. She wondered curiously for a moment but decided it was not her place to ask, nor was it her place to spoil the future.

"Junpei it is! Then you should just call me Minako, too." She recognised that sly expression, having seen it once before Fuuka had joined them. And then again on Yakushima and then again-- "We definitely are! Best friends and comrades, through thick and thin." Minako would never forget the black eye Junpei received for finding and outing her stalker or those times in Tartarus when she had been tired and careless and he had protected her. Again, it felt like cheating, that she knew so much about Junpei, Ryoji and Mitsuru -- while they barely knew her.

In response to his answer, Minako giggled again. "C'mon, I bet you'll be one of the old students in no time if Time Compression keeps bringing in new students. But, yesterday, huh? How are you settling in so far?"

[no_sausage_fest]

"Ah, just 'Minako' doesn't sound quite right, though," he said, wagging a finger at her. "If we're best friends and comrades to the end, then you need at least one cute nickname. I mean, Yuka-tan has two, and she doesn't even like me all that much, heh." He adjusted the brim of his hat again, then rubbed his chin. "I'll have to think about this," he said, grinning. "A nickname is not to be given lightly, after all!"

She was a lot like Minato, even if it didn't seem quite like it on the surface. She was a bit more animated than he was, and giggled and effervesced where Minato just tended to regard things coolly with his hands in his pockets, but he could see how they'd gotten to be friends in her parallel universe. Whatever the hell that was all about. He liked her already. Yes, he would definitely have to find a good nickname for her.

Junpei laughed then. "I guess I'm settling as well as can be expected. I mean, it's not every day you get yanked out of orbit and plunked into military school, but a guy makes do." He quirked his mouth. "I ain't met my roommate yet," he said. "I know there's another guy in the dorm, but I haven't seen him yet." He rolled his shoulders backward, then leaned against the wall. "How long have you been here, anyway?" he asked.

[heartlinks]

That was unexpected, though it did brought up the question of why Junpei never gave her one. Looking back on the year, she realised it was probably due to how they had met and how quickly things had moved on after that -- her hospitalization after her first summoning and Junpei's own discovery of the dark hour. "I'm looking forward to it," Minako chimed in, teasing, "and I'm holding you to giving me a good one!"

"I never met my first roommate either," she said. "There was a time where a lot of the students here disappeared and then a bunch of us switched rooms after that."

At his question, she paused and tried to remember the date. Today was September, the 21st. That made... "Nearly two months now," she answered, a little in disbelief herself. September was over and October so close -- it was January back home before she had found her way here. "It'll be a full two months in a few more days." Saying that, she shifted the weight of her bag on her shoulder. "It feels surreal to remember I've been here that long."

[no_sausage_fest]

"Oh, I will," he promised, giving her a fierce grin. "So look forward to it, okay? It'll be the best nickname ever." He was going to have to be creative. Yuka-tan and even Yukaricchi were relatively run of the mill as far as suffix-type nicknames went, so he would have to find something really good. If they had been that close in her world that they'd actually been on a first-name basis, that was pretty serious.

"Wow, two months, huh..." He folded his arms. "Man, like I wonder what's going on at home right now, you know? This whole time paradox thing is just crazy. Mitsuru-senpai and Minato and Ryoji have all been here for a while now, but I just saw 'em all two days ago back home. It just kinda makes no sense."

Well, Junpei's never one to think too hard about things; it just gives him a headache.

[no_sausage_fest]

Time to change the subject!

"So... what is there to do around this place, anyhow?" he asked. "Like, I've been to the training center and stuff, but I was told there's a town nearby, too. Have you ever been there?" His eyes widen suddenly. "And--is it true there's no ramen here??"

That was a very important question.

[heartlinks]

Minako's almost freezes for a brief moment as Junpei wonders aloud of what has happened back in his world but quickly recovers to reply, pushing away thoughts of Nyx for now. Focus, she told herself mentally and then aloud she spoke. "Yep! The town's a good place to explore with lots of interesting things to see. The fish they serve in town is real good too!" And definitely one of her most favourite here. When Junpei mentioned ramen, her face dropped. "I haven't seen any on sale here." And here she was trying not to think about the dishes back home, whether it was Hagakure, Octopia or Wild Duck. Or Wakatsu. Or the sweets--

"Maybe we could try making ramen from scratch...?" Minako was, however, pretty sure that anything she couldn't buy, she could probably make from scratch through experimentation, with the right ingredients. If only Fuuka was here! Minako was sure it would be easier, with Fuuka's ability to keep notes and analyze food so thoroughly.

[no_sausage_fest]

"Ooh, is there sushi?" He vaguely recalled being told he gets some kind of stipend from his sponsor here, and since he didn't have to pay to live in the dorms, that was all pocket money. Sweet! But that sucked there was no ramen.

Well, Ryu had suggested getting ingredients from town, too, but Junpei was pretty sure he couldn't cook.

"You know how to cook?" he asked, remembering mentions of Minato's close encounters with Fuuka's food from time to time. Fuuka was a sweet person, a good friend, and invaluable in battle, but apparently she was pretty deadly in the kitchen. He smiled a little. "Well, if you know the town, maybe you could show me around sometime," he said, amused by the general backwardness of the request. Usually he was the one offering to take the girl around. But the ends still justified the means, if she accepted.

Junpei felt genuinely bad that apparently none of Minako's old friends actually knew her. Akihiko, Mitsuru, Ryoji, and Minato all came from his universe, and not a one of them seemed to come from hers. He hadn't heard one way or the other regarding Ken, but either way, it was too sad. He was pretty sure that if he were in her position, he wouldn't be handling it so well, and so while it was a little strange to talk to such a new acquaintance so casually and familiarly, he was determined to become the good friend to Minako that his double had been in her world.

"So whaddya say?" he asked, smiling broadly. "Wanna go scope out the town after school today?"

> Spend some time after school with Junpei?
Meet with Junpei
Check Social Link rank
Decline the offer

[heartlinks]

"Yes, there is," Minako answered, suddenly craving the aforementioned food. Sushi sounded good for dinner, sushi and maybe whatever else she could get her hands on. She quickly jerked back into attention when her cooking skills were suddenly called into question. Pouting, Minako said, "Geez, I can cook! Not as good as senpai, of course, but good enough!" Definitely good enough, if the things she baked were welcomed by her friends and most of her SEES friends.

Making a mental note to gift Junpei with some food and preferably soon, she dropped the pout and smiled to show that she wasn't offended at all. Though... Right now she was curious if Minato could cook, if Fuuka had pulled Minato into her cooking club, if Shinjiro-senpai had taught him as well.

It didn't take more than a second for her to make her mind up. "Sure, I was just thinking of heading out today. I'll show you around town and we can have dinner together!" After all, food did always taste better when eating with a friend.

[no_sausage_fest]

He laughed and waved his hands. "I was just askin'!" he assured her. He hadn't been questioning her cooking ability so much as asking if she did cook. Dammit, he was apparently having foot for breakfast again.

Then he gave her a big grin, and nodded.

"That sounds awesome," he said; "I'll look forward to it. I don't think I've been given whatever allowance I get as a student here yet, but I had about ¥3000 on me when I got here, and they swapped it out for me to ah..." What was it again? "Grill? Whatever the currency here is. I dunno how much it's worth."

He glanced up at the clock, then watched as a few students walked past them and headed into the classroom.

"Well, guess we'd better get going," he said, catching the door and holding it a moment. "What's your last class today? We can meet up in the first floor lobby or somethin'."

[heartlinks]

Money? Money was no problem, especially not when she was the one in charge of the finances for Tartarus exploration. Sure, she had splurged a lot the day before ascending to the top, but what Theodore had given her for that one request was more than enough and she hadn't exchanged everything here -- not when there was still a chance of returning home.

"It's called gil," Minako said, "and that amount should be fine!" Even if it wasn't, she would offer to pay for the both of them, no matter what Junpei would say.

Waving a little as a passing classmate, she looked back at him and nodded before she tried to recall her timetable. Aerobics, which would probably make her all sweaty afterwards. "My last class ends at 4 but I'm going to need to shower after that. What about yours, Junpei?"

[no_sausage_fest]

"Gil, right," he said, snapping his fingers, and then blew out a sigh. "Man, this place is gonna take some real getting used to." The school part was familiar enough, but the rest of the culture shock was going to be a bit harder to swallow.

"Oh, no prob," he said then; "I've got English til five, so you can go shower and do whatever you need, and we can meet up then." Waiting for her to walk through the doorway, he followed then, moving to take an open seat. "I'll look forward to it!"

Now if he could just make it through this class without setting anything on fire, he'd be in good shape.

[heartlinks]

"If you can face the Dark Hour and Shadows, you can do this, Junpei!" Minako encouraged as she stepped inside the classroom. As he moved to take a seat, she followed, her seat being in the same direction.

She nodded to his words. "Sounds great to me! I'm looking forward to it too!" Just like how they would hang out back home, except it was -- starting all over again. Minako stepped past him and took her usual seat, in front of and slightly to the side of Junpei's seat, and then waited for class to start.