Oh noes, MORE of this?!
Title: For The Maiden, A Bit o' Injury To My Person (Part 2/7 + SPECIAL CHAPTER)
Universe: Persona 3 PORTABLE
Pairings/Characters: Minako, Yukari, Junpei, Mitsuru, Akihiko, Ken, Koromaru, Aigis, Fuuka, SEKRIT CHARACTER (though I'm sure it's obvious who it is), and random Shadows
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Playing second banana has its...disadvantages, to say the least.
NOTES: Part 1 is located here if you've missed it. Feedback is encouraged! X-posted to gekkoukanhigh , persona_fics.
Minako, at times, wondered why she let Junpei tag along as often as she did. Because, really, the guy had a lot of things going against him----if he wasn't being reckless, he was trying to hit on her. Even worse, today she was doing double duty, filling in for both Mitsuru and Yukari with Garu and Bufu spells when needed. Yukari had gone to stay with her mother for the week, as the anniversary of her father's death loomed on the horizon. Mitsuru, on the other hand, wasn't available due to 'family business'. Minako wasn't sure what exactly that entailed; though, she noticed that Mitsuru appeared pale when she told her that----even a little angry, her dark eyes betraying only a sliver of fear. To top it all off, Minako wasn't feeling too well. Her stomach hurt like a bitch from the homemade onigiri Fuuka made her try, which didn't help her mood in the slightest.
Minako was worried about her two absent teammates----Yukari hated her mother, and Mitsuru had the tendency (and an annoying one at that) to internalize her problems----but she knew she'd find the chance for confrontation another time. She needed to stay in focus; Aigis was sensitive to electrical attacks (she's a robot, duh) and sometimes got a little too caught up in the game, and Ken, being a kid, was considerably more fragile than the rest.
Oh, and then you had Junpei.
"You know," Minako said pointedly to him, "I'd like to have most of our recovery items left by the time we're done training. Plus, I'm not going to exactly be made of magic today, without Mitsuru-senpai and Yukari around. Just so you know."
Junpei coughed nervously; behind him, Ken snickered. "Dude, I promise I'll be more careful today!" He stammered. "It-it's just, y'know...I get my game face on...and sometimes I get too riled up!"
"If by 'sometimes', you mean every waking day of your life." Ken himself remarked.
"Shut up!"
"Iori-san, I believe that what Minako-san is trying to get at is that not only can she not afford to continually heal you, you are also putting yourself at risk; you are every bit as part of this team as the rest of us." Aigis said.
Minako turned a little red. "Well, you didn't need to elaborate that much..." she mumbled, scouring the area for Shadows to get the jump on.
Ken rolled his eyes as Junpei quickly put on a smirk. "Ohhhh!" He exclaimed. "So Leader can't bear to see me get hurt because she cares about me? I can live with that."
He is an idiot, Skadi grumbled from within Minako's psyche. Even her Personae got exasperated with him.
"I can't wait for this night to be over..." she muttered, raising her spear to strike a Shadow that had spotted her.
They were promptly faced with a trio of Jotun Shadows. "Careful!" Fuuka warned. "These enemies have high physical attack power! Make sure to guard whenever you can!"
"Gotcha." Minako replied. "Analysis, please! And keep what she said in mind, Junpei!"
"Hey, no sweat!" He said brightly, readying his sword. "No use makin' you worry too much about me, right?"
"...Where's Akihiko-senpai when you need him...?" She groaned.
"Stop trying, Junpei-san." Ken said.
"If you do not refrain from making advances on Minako-san, Iori-san..." Aigis began, eyeing him dangerously, "...I will be forced to take the appropriated measures."
"What?! It's not my fault Leader likes me!"
"Kill me now, kill me now..." Minako grumbled, proceeding to summon Skadi and having her cast Mabufula on the enemy party. Unfortunately, the Jotuns absorbed it. "...Crap!"
Really, today just wasn't her day. She did still feel a bit dizzy from Fuuka's onigiri...
"Well, ice obviously doesn't work, so..." Ken said, taking up his own Evoker, "...let's try this! Come on, Nemesis!"
Said Persona unleashed a trio of lightning bolts to rain doom upon the opposition, only to have the attack completely nullified. "No dice?!"
"Brace yourselves!" Fuuka cried. "I'll have the data ready shortly!"
The Jotuns were prompt in taking advantage of their newfound opening; one unleashed a Deathbound attack while another cast Marakunda on the team. Aigis was up next, thank god. "I will make a counterattack now." She said.
"Take caution, Aigis...your defense has been lowered." Fuuka advised. "And that goes for the rest of you. Ah, Minako-chan? You look a little pale; are you feeling alright?"
Junpei looked over at Minako herself, who was wincing a little while clutching her stomach; yep it had to be that onigiri. Nevertheless, she didn't want to hurt Fuuka's feelings---the girl did try her best---so she forced a smile and replied, "uh...don't worry about it! I'm just kinda...hungry, that's all! I forgot to eat dinner before we left for here, silly me...heh, heh, heh..."
Ken raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure, Minako-san?" He inquired. "You look sorta...green. Come to think of i----"
A glare; he quickly gulped and shut up. "----I'm. Fine." Minako insisted through gritted teeth.
"Someone's cranky..." Junpei mumbled, looking awkwardly off to the side.
"What?!"
"N...nothing!"
"Please, cease agruing. Let us get this over with so Minako-san can get rest; my sensors indicate that she is in dire need of liquids." Aigis piped up, summoning Palladion, and unleashing a Heat Wave attack on the Jotuns; that swiped off about half of their stamina.
Minako felt her vision wavering a little, but shook her head to make the nausea wear off; Ken sighed. "Woot! My turn!" Junpei yelled excitedly, proceeding to call upon Hermes. "Here goes nothin'!"
Hermes performed Torrent Strike on one of the Jotuns and successfully vanquished it. "Aw, yeah! Who da man?!"
"...Great job..." Minako groaned, feeling another wave of nausea hit her like an 18-wheeler truck once her turn came up. She switched over to Fortuna. "...Now, let's try wind..."
"Oi, why don't you just guard?" Junpei suggested, looking a little worried. "You really don't look like you're feelin' too great, Leader."
"...Minako-chan..." Fuuka said, guilt tinging her voice.
Minako herself forced a grin again. "Aw, come on, don't sound so sad, Fuuka!" She said reassuringly. "Your cooking just needs more practice! And like I said, Junpei, I'm just hungry! Come forth, Fortuna!"
And with that she pulled the trigger of her Evoker. Fortuna cast Magarula on the Jotuns, but it did little damage. "No, wind-resistant...!" She seethed.
"E-er...oh! The enemy's weakness is light! Ken-kun, are you up for that?" Fuuka asked.
"Uh-huh." He replied, nodding.
The third Jotun quickly retaliated with a God's Hand attack directed at none other than Minako---no thanks to the combination of Marakunda and Fortuna's already woefully low defense, plus the added bonus of indigestion and quite possibly food poisoning---her stamina quickly plummeted mere inches away from being KO'ed. Though, she was thinking she might've been better off...
"Well..." she croaked, her body now feeling like lead, "...this sucks..."
"Minako-chan!" Fuuka exclaimed, as the next Jotun ambled its way over to her to land the finishing blow. And that's when Junpei heard the trumpets of justice.
Sort of, anyway. "I'm comin', Leader!" He yelled, basically hurdling toward Minako...and shoulder-charging her out of harm's way to take the hit, which entailed the Jotun sort of backhanding him to the floor.
Aigis just blinked. Ken facepalmed. "------OWWWW!" Junpei yelped.
Minako shook her head to regain focus once more. "...What the hell just happened?" She asked, using her spear to support herself as she struggled back to her feet.
Ken pointed to the sniveling Junpei, who was left writhing on the ground. "...He did." He grumbled, looking exasperated.
"He rescued you." Aigis supplied, tossing Minako a Medicine.
"GYAAAAAAAAH!!! AW, GAWD!!! I THINK MY ARM'S BROKEN!"
"...I see..." Minako said to herself, looking almost apologetic if it weren't for her stomach still hurting a little...
"Let's end this so someone can heal him..." Ken said, rolling his eyes and taking up his Evoker again. "Here goes!"
Nemesis cast Mahama and fortunately, it actually connected (Minako personally avoided using Light and Dark-based spells like the plague unless things got really desperate----she hated their low hit rate), adding yet another victory to S.E.E.S.' plate.
"Good job, everyone!" Fuuka said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Will you be returning now?"
"Yeah, as soon as we at least do something to help this guy." Minako responded, motioning over to Junpei, who was still wailing and carrying on. Clutching her stomach all the while, she made her way over to him and switched her Persona to Dis, who was of the Magician arcanum.
"Thanks for covering me." She said, kneeling in front of him. "Here, I'll heal your arm."
"...Ow! Heh, much appreciated, Leader." He answered, grinning in a pained fashion. "Though, you seriously owe me big-time."
Minako had Dis cast Diarama. "...Hm, yeah." She said furrowing her brow in thought. "What'll take to make it up to you, Prince Charming?"
Ken fake-gagged. Aigis looked vaguely disapproving. "Are you certain you should be taking him up on that, Minako-san?" She inquired, her voice dripping with suspicion. "You are feeling unwell, after all."
"....." Fuuka let out a whimper.
A laugh from Minako. "Fuuka, what'd I say earlier? And Aigis, trust me, the shock of getting tackled out of the way really gave me a second wind." She replied.
"Oi, I saved you! You could at least show some gratitude! And don't sound so sarcastic when you call me that!" Junpei retorted, pouting a bit.
Then he added, "...Buuuut...could you kiss my arm?"
Awkward. Silence. Minako turned pink; Ken and Aigis stared at her, almost expectantly...
"Junpei, don't be stupid." She said flatly, crossing her arms and quickly looking away.
A smirk. "...Or better yet, could you kiss me?" He asked.
More staring from Ken and Aigis. Minako's eye twitched and she got to standing back up to move away, but not before Junpei moved forward and gave her a small kiss on the corner of her mouth, causing her face to match the color of her hair.
"...You're not my boyfriend." Minako growled, embarrassed and still very much flushed.
"Not yet, you mean."
"...I do not comprehend." Aigis said, blinking.
"Trust me, Aigis-san. You don't want to." Ken muttered.