Mari-chan Wants to Hang Out!

Hours had passed in slow motion to Minato as he waited on his bed yet again, still unable to understand what anyone around him was thinking. It started with Saki Sato, who was an enigma from the very beginning. Never once could he nail down exactly what she was thinking or going to do next.

After that frustration, he thought of Mari. She flowed through so many emotions seemingly at random that Minato was unable to tell if she even knew what she was supposed to be feeling or even saying.

Minato felt as though he had a pretty good read on people. They were as simple as a book. Start with selfish desire, then keep a sharp ear and keen eye out for minor changes in the common path to guide you to their truest desires. But even now, that was failing him, causing him to rethink everything he thought he knew.

As things seemed to start to fall back into place for him mentally, by laying those two women to the side as outliers, he remembered the two cashiers at the convenience store. Those two and their strange behaviors caused his carefully constructed view of the world to come crashing down around him.

Maybe the whole world has gone mad in the last couple of years and I just haven’t noticed since I wasn’t outside long enough to catch on to it?

Frustrated with that conclusion, Minato grunted with his crumpled face and rolled over to his side. There was no way it could be that simple. Or maybe even that grandiose, depending on how you look at it.

As Minato stared at the open blinds of his window with his arms wrapped around his head, cradling it, he started to wish it was like most anime.

They were obvious. Characters were typically as thin as paper as the pages they were drawn on, and usually held no surprises to them. Minato prided himself on his ability to watch a series, and within a couple of minutes of the character or plot point being introduced he knew exactly how it was going to go with fairly impressive accuracy.

Even if most of them were generalizations, it was rare that Minato was truly surprised by how a character acted, how they spoke, their backstories, or even who would betray who.

And usually when there was a surprise to him, it was common for the community at large to say that it was dumb and made no sense in online forums. Further, vindicating Minato as a wealth of knowledge to himself.

Though there were the rare few that slipped through the cracks in that as well. Again outliers, and usual fan favorites for their complexity and ability to keep the watcher engaged, wondering what was next. And when those questions were answered, satisfying the viewer, making them believe, yes, that makes the most sense. How could they not see it coming?

Those were rare.

And now, Minato only saw people like that. Completely unreadable.

And it frustrated him.

Even through all of his frustration, the only thing he wanted to do was talk to Mari, the cause of such headaches he was suffering through. Why would a poison feel like a cure to him?

It took the entirety of his will not to march out of his room and into hers. Though he knew it would probably get him into too much trouble to deal with if he barged into her room without her permission. What with Saki seemingly having an eye on the house at all hours.

Plus, he had technically had done it once already that night. To a point, that is.

He had slipped out of his room, like he had done the night previously, but as he reached her door something prevented him from even touching the doorknob in the slightest. No matter how hard he mentally pushed himself forward, he was unable to get closer than an inch away from the metal surface.

And so, he silently slipped back to his room, more frustrated than he had been previously, chewing on his lip to try and regain composure.

At some point, he must have fallen asleep. The morning sun had risen, and he was stirred from his brief slumber by Mari’s singing voice. It took a second for him to remember where he was yet again, but as he did, he tried to question Mari about what happened the night before.

But as he began to raise his voice, Mari froze, causing Minato to catch himself. In that brief moment of hesitation, Mari threw up a deflection, skirting the issue and telling him to come down and eat breakfast. Without giving him a second to regain his ground, Mari exited his room in a sprint, slamming the door behind her. With that, he was left alone, having only the option to follow her to the kitchen and catch her at the breakfast table.

But as Minato made it to the kitchen, Mari was unable to be found.

At the table, right next to the dish prepared for him by her, was a note. It read that she was running late. She apologized for not staying for breakfast and promised to be home again that night.

Minato scoffed at those empty promises as he tossed the food down the garbage disposal before grabbing another cup of ramen for his new breakfast.

Finding nothing else better to do with his time, he began to clean yet again. Though this time, it took almost no time for him to finish the chores he set for himself.

Time dragged on indefinitely for Minato. The options were limited, and though he wanted to know more about what he found the other day, he decided more exploring would not yield answers. Only more questions. So to save himself from that, he flipped through television channels for hours on end.

He felt the need to run to the convenience store in order to get something to make for dinner. But he thought that it would be a waste if it was only for himself. Mari would not be home in time, and he already had plenty of ramen cups to keep him going for a few days.

And so the hours ticked by in slow motion around him, until finally Mari stumbled home again. The sun had set before she made it home yet again. And as Minato rose from the couch to greet her and maybe finally be able to ask her some questions, she quickly disappeared up the stairs, ending with a slam of her door. He didn’t even get a chance to get a look at her, as she was gone before he could even see her around the corner.

She did not come down for the rest of the night.

Days continued like this with little change between them for the rest of the week.

Eventually, Mari came home quite early. Or at least compared to her previous schedule. The sun was still up, but a deep orange glow had since spread over the sky as she made her way through the door. She stood tall, almost defiant, as she took off her heels with a huff. Her eyebrows were furrowed, but Minato did not read that as anger but rather as focused. She was on a mission and nothing was going to distract her.

Before Minato greeted her, she cut him off. Grabbing him by the wrist, she pulled him to the kitchen and tossed him into one of the chairs. Surprised by this turn of events, he glanced around frantically, trying to figure out just what was happening.

Standing in front of the oven was Mari, who was putting on a pink apron over her work clothes, which Minato noticed were not as disheveled this time as they had been previously on her return. As she finished putting the apron on, she put a finger to her lip and began to think aloud.

“What to make for dinner…?”

“Uh, Mari?” Minato finally spoke up, slowly realizing what was about to happen and hoped to keep problems from arising as soon as possible. Especially problems in his stomach.

“Oh, Minato, sorry about this week, I don’t normally get home this late but…” She repeatedly bowed in apology after having spoken to him for the first time in days face to face. “I have no excuse. I am sorry, and I will do whatever I can to make up for it.”

“Uh, no, please let it go…” Minato began to worry about his life if she was planning on going over the top with feeding him. Though a small voice in the back of his head wondered where she was going to get food. Other than the bit that he had picked up from the convenience store, her cupboards were still mostly bare.

Mari looked up at him a little confused, her head tilting slightly to the side. “But I have been a terrible Host. I need to change that immediately.”

Realizing where her heart was, Minato collapsed further into his chair with his arms crossed his chest, clicking his tongue, “TCH, like I care about that…”

Mari’s bow perked up a bit from hearing that as she arched one brow at him, “Huh? Are you sure? I can do something to make up for… what happened the other night.”

She rose up as she spoke. But once she got to the part about her slapping his hand the other night, she became tense. Her arms slowly crossed over her trembling body while her face began to shine bright red. Gripping the sides of her blouse in clenched fists, she said, “I mean, I could…”

Mari’s quivering lips failed to get any words out further as she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for Minato’s answer.

“I don’t know what you are thinking, but I don’t need you to do anything to make anything up for me.”

Mari gasped. Her silver eyes sprung open and looked on at him in disbelief. “Wha…?” was all she said.

“Like I said, I don’t need you to make up anything. I don’t care what you did. Or even think you did, just don’t try to make things up. Let’s move on with our lives, alright?”

“I-I…” Mari tried to speak, but her shaky voice kept failing her, as tears began to well up in the corners. Finally, a smile broke over her face as she blinked the tears away.

“Yeah, let’s!” she nearly squealed with joy.

Finally able to breathe safely since Mari had grabbed him and threw him into the kitchen, Minato sighed in relief and relaxed his body. “Anyway, I have a lot to ask-”

Minato’s voice was cut off. Or more accurately, it had become muffled to the point that even he was unable to hear the words he spoke.

As he spoke, he slowly opened his eyes, and instantly regretted it. Before him was a chasm surrounded by the white cloth of a blouse collar, drawing increasingly closer. Without warning, his head made a crash landing into it, though it was softer and deeper than he had imagined. But that was short-lived as a crushing pressure wrapped around his skull and pushed him deeper into the cavern's depths.

As tight as it was around his entire face, no light entered this space, causing Minato to be temporarily blind. And soon after, he learned that it was also vacuum sealed, causing him to start to suffocate as he flailed his arms about to try and get free from Mari’s hug.

“Thank you Minato.” Mari cooed softly, while running her fingers through his hair as she squeezed him tighter against her. “You have no idea how much that means to me.”

As she finished saying those words, Minato’s frantic arm slowed for a moment before falling to his side. For what could have lasted forever for Mari, she kept hugging him. Then something felt off to her.

“Minato, are you OK?” she asked cautiously as she pulled him away from her hug.

Minato slumped down unmoving, his eyes blank and vacant, as his head slouched back into a position a normal neck should be able to achieve. Mari swore at that moment a little wisp in the shape of him began to rise from his agape mouth.

“AHHHH!!!” She screamed and began to shake him around, terrified she had killed him, “Don’t die on me, Minato! Not now! Stay away from the light!!”

It took some time, but Minato did regain consciousness, choking and sputtering as he tried to catch his breath and spirit.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Mari cried out in joy as she pulled him back in for another hug, which caused his life to flash before his eyes once again, “You are alive. I would be so sad if you died for real!”

Pushing hard, Minato finally broke free from her death embrace. “Stop trying to kill me!” he roared in exasperation, barely able to keep his heart in a steady rhythm as it tried to beat its way out of his chest.

“I’m sorry, I am just really happy. Teehee~!” Mari giggled cutely as she tapped her head with her knuckles, causing her tongue to stick out with impact.

She’s an idiot. An incredibly strong one, but an idiot nonetheless…

Giving her the stink eye, Minato reminded himself this had to be one of the ways she seduced men to her will. An evil guise, but an effective one, as he felt his face burning hot.

“But wait a minute, Minato,” she spoke up again, this time a serious edge returning to her still mostly cheerful voice, “Aren’t you still wearing the same clothes you arrived in?”

“Huh?” Minato wondered what she was on about as he glanced down at his hoodie and sweats, “Yeah, that wench, Saki, has yet to bring any of my belongings, so I have been stuck in these clothes for the entirety of this week.”

“Really?” Mari questioned, grabbing onto the loose folds of his clothing, while Minato tried to escape. Unfortunately, he was unable to get far as he was still sitting in the chair at the table. Her face was inches from his as she asked, “They seem to be clean. You’ve been washing them each day, just to wear them?”

Minato nodded while trying to remove Mari’s hands from inspecting his clothes further and turning his head away to keep from looking deep into her silvery eyes. “Yeah, what about it?”

Though it was a lie, as he had only washed them on day one when Mari forced him to do so, and thankfully, that morning, out of convenience. It was purely perfect timing that he was able to say that.

“Oh, I wish I had known about this sooner, I would have let you borrow some of mine. Though I don’t think you would fit in any of them…” Mari began to blush at the idea.

Minato blush as well, for he did know what clothes she had, for the most part. He had done her laundry all this week. She really needed to thank him for everything he had done for her so far.

“It's fine, I have been dealing with it all this time anyway.”

“No can do,” Mari announced as she stood up straight wagging her finger trying to scold him for even thinking so, “You will wear them out that way. So it’s decided. We will just have to go shopping for new clothes for you tomorrow!”

“Huh?” What does she mean by that?

***

Yawning hard and barely being able to see from how tired he was, Minato stumbled down the empty sidewalk. The street itself was dyed purple from the still barely rising sun. He kept himself warm from the morning chill by shoving his hands as deep as possible into his hoodie’s front pocket.

Minato was unable to recall the last time he had been up this early. Well, up this early after having been woken up right beforehand. Several times he had gone to sleep at this time, but that was different from right now.

“Why did you have to wake me up this early?” he mumbled in his still half awake state, eyes fighting with everything they’ve got to stay open.

“‘Cause the best deals are at this time!” Mari, as chipper as ever, bounced around as she answered. She had sent him to bed early the night prior after eating some of the ramen he prepared for her, promising to get him more than enough clothes. It was now the weekend, and therefore, she did not have to go to work and had the day off to do whatever she wanted with him. “Plus, the stores are normally empty at this time. That should make it easier for you to feel comfortable, right?”

“I don’t know what you are trying to say, but I don’t have social anxiety.” He grumbled angrily, one eyebrow twitching from her insinuation.

He desperately wanted to ask her the questions that had bubbled up in his mind over the past week. But he was unable to do so the night previously and now being out in public, he knew causing a scene would cause him a larger headache than he was dealing with from keeping them all inside.

So he left his concerns to the side for now.

“Yes, yes, my bad.” Mari giggled again as she kept swinging her body side to side next to him as they walked together. Suddenly, she grabbed onto his arm and pressed her body tight against him, “I am really proud of you making it out in public, regardless.”

Her grin was enough to send fire up over his eyes as he felt his cheeks rage with blushes. But it was her fluttering silver eyes that sent his head to become foggy first. “Whatever, get off already.” He could feel how small and soft her body was compared to his, and it made his heart race and his mind slip into a primal protective mode. Plus, there was a sizable, but still soft, feeling of her chest that caused blood to rush into other places than just his cheeks.

“No can do!” She giggled again and dragged him onward. Down to the local shopping district with a glass overhang to allow the shoppers to wander around outside and window-shop without fear of being rained on.

Their first stop of the morning was a clothing store. The establishment itself was opening with one of the clerks, a young woman in stylish clothes and short hair, unlocking the entrance as they approached.

“Ah, Mari-chan! Good morning, how are you?” The clerk greeted Mari as if she was a long time friend. “Time for some new outfits already? Hm?” She paused for a moment and turned to see who Mari was still clinging to. Her gaze followed Minato from the mess of hair on his head to the soles of his slippers at his feet, and then back up to his dark-ringed, sleep-deprived eyes.

“Oh~ho, who is this now?” The clerk stifled a laugh with a hand covering her uncontrollable smile, “You finally got a boyfriend? He sure looks like… something, alright.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

Minato felt a vein about to burst in his head and wanted to yell at this woman for her accusations against his character.

How dare she think we are dating! The nerve!

But before he uttered a single sound other than a thin growl of annoyance, Mari spoke up over him, “No, no, Miko-chan,” she laughed at the thought, setting the record straight while waving a hand to push the idea away, “This is Minato. He’s the Housemate I was telling you about. Not my boyfriend, understand?”

Minato breathed a sigh of relief, knowing the air had been cleared to his satisfaction. Though, he was wondering why her cheeks had suddenly turned very red. And she was trying to hide her face now. What’s with her?

“Hmm…” the clerk, Miko apparently, mulled the excuse over in her head for a moment, sizing the two of them up for a second longer, “Alright, I’ll believe you this time. So what are you here for? Getting new clothes for yourself? Maybe getting matching outfits for the two of you? Or maybe even you are here for the lingerie I told you about the last time you were here, hm?”

With those last two questions, Mari’s face became more flushed, with even steam seemingly pouring out of her ears from embarrassment at the thought of the last one.

“Ah! Miko-chan!” Mari left hiss arm to throw weak punches at her chest, who in turn laughed at the extremeness of Mari’s reaction, “Don’t say such embarrassing things! Not in front of Minato!”

Minato on one hand at that moment was glad to finally have Mari no longer clinging to him so tightly. But on the other hand, he could feel that as things were going, he was not going to enjoy the day as much as he thought he would. Which is not much from the start.

“Alright, alright,” Miko laughed while trying her best to usher Mari into her shop, “I give. Come on in. It’s what you are here for, right?”

After a few seconds, Minato realized that after they had entered, he was essentially left by himself outside the store. Looking around, no one else on the market’s street was giving him any notice, so he weighed his chances of being able to walk away uninterrupted.

But before he had a chance to even turn away from the storefront, both Mari and Miko reached out and pulled him in so quickly, he was unable to fight back.

The inside of the store stood quite unremarkable to Minato. Several mannequins lined up above racks showing the fashion of the day. Some were basic shirts and pants, others more decorative with designs covering their fronts and sequins going down their sides. In the end, it looked like a basic clothing store, and he still wanted nothing to do with it.

Mari, on the other hand, was busy digging through racks of shirts trying to find gold. Occasionally, she held up a shirt or two to get a better look at them. But continuously, she would shake her head no and keep searching deeper.

Minato, bored out of his mind, kept scanning the store for something to keep his interest, but happened to fall upon Miko, who was sitting behind the front counter. She was propping her head up with her elbows on the counter, just watching Mari get excited looking through the clothes. She rolled her eyes over at him and winked, mouthing what he translated to mean ‘Good Luck’.

Wondering what she meant by that, he cocked an eyebrow at her. But before he tried to decipher her motions further, he was pulled over by Mari, grabbing his wrist.

“Hold still,” she said like a mother talking to her child, “I want to see how these look on you.” She held up two shirts in front of him, flipping between the two. One was a polo half neon pink and half sky blue split down the middle. The other was a gaudy tie-dye shirt with a growling tiger’s head embroidered in the center.

“What do you think, Minato?” she asked, looking up at him from around the shirts. His only reaction was a disgusted face, one like he was about to be sick.

“Hmm…” she mulled his reaction while looking at her choices again. “You’re right. We need to try them on to know for sure.”

Once again, without warning, he was thrown into another room. This one small and its only door was a floor to ceiling curtain separating him from the rest of the store. Before he could try to escape its confines, Mari threw more clothes on top of him.

“Try these on,” she called to him from the other side of the curtain, “Show us what they look like on you, OK?”

One of Minato’s brow twitched uncontrollably with his more familiar frustration. He calculated it would be easier if he sped through trying on the clothes, putting as little effort into his attempts as possible, and getting out as soon as possible. Better than the alternative, where he would have to fight his way through two women. Not a good look.

And speaking of not good looks. Minato looked at his first outfit lined up for him by Mari, and almost gagged. It was too horrific to even describe here.

What’s with her taste in clothes? I thought she knew how to dress herself?

Minato sighed in defeat and prepared to try on the clothes. Taking off his hoodie and stripping down to only his boxer, he readied the ugly pants to be put on. But first he felt a cool breeze flow up his back.

“Oh, and these too!” Mari said with a playful smile, while pulling the curtain open the entire way to hand him more clothes.

Turning around, he saw the unaware face Mari was making in offering him the outfit and Miko who was trying to contain a giggle fit from seeing him in his boxers. At that moment, Minato was glad no one else had entered the store yet.

“Mari! Shut the curtain!”

“Eh? Oh! Sorry! My bad!” Mari gave him a blank look at first, wondering what the problem was. That was until she looked down and noticed his hands desperately trying to cover his underwear from her sight. At that moment, her face flashed red once more, and she sputtered around trying to close the curtain, but failing to do so repeatedly.

Minato finally let his tense body relax as the curtain came to a complete close. He heard Mari running off to the other side of the store, still calling back at him “Sorry! Sorry!”

While he continued to change into his new outfit, he could hear Miko consoling Mari, who was moping over the faux pas she had created. Though he was still shaken by the turn in events, he felt his frustration subside slightly. Which caught him as strange as he pulled the shirt over his head.

Shouldn’t I be more upset over this?

Though he never answered the question itself, he continued to change, and finally exited the small dressing room.

Over the many outfits he stepped out with, Mari gave glowing, positive reviews to each one, while Miko had a harder and harder time not laughing at what he was wearing. Even at one point, while he was changing, he heard Miko ask Mari if she understood men’s fashion at all.

But with each one, she seemed to get more and more excited by his look. Even in mismatched clothes that almost made him look homeless, she said he “Looked like a supermodel”.

Minato completely doubted that.

“I think we will be getting these,” Mari scooped up a few pairs of clothes into her arms and set them on the counter in front of Miko, who was still having a hard time keeping her humor under control.

“Are you sure this is you want?” the way the clerk cut her eyes at Minato and grinned, made him believe the question wasn’t so much for Mari, but rather him. He violently shook his head, trying to get the point across without Mari noticing.

“Yes, these will be great!”

Minato sighed in defeat.

“Hmm, but I guess you didn’t pick any for yourself, huh?” Mari pondered over her haul, and looked back at him. “Go on! Pick out some clothes for yourself.”

Minato gave her a sideways glance, wondering if she meant it. Her sparkling eyes told him it was OK.

Without a word, Minato wandered out into the store. A few minutes later, he returned with a couple of loose fitting pants, a few designless t-shirts and two new single color hoodies. He set it on the counter on top of Mari’s selection and nodded silently, giving a small bow to Miko in appreciation for her store having at least enough plain clothes for him to choose from.

“Is… that all?” Mari asked, her normally sparkly eyes seemingly dead inside and vacant, looking at the selection he had made. But glancing at his frustrated face, begging for her to let him have this much, she looked back over and laughed. “Yeah, I am sure you would look good in anything too.”

Pumping one fist in the air, Minato accepted his victory graciously.

“Bur first,” Mari winked at him, cutting off his internal victory lap, “Go pick out something for me.”

“Huh?” Maybe his ears were no longer working again…

“I trust you,” she giggled and leaned down looking up at him, “I am sure you can pick out a cute outfit for me, right?”

Without missing a beat, Minato picked up one of the hoodies he had picked up and offered it to her, “Done. Can we go now?”

Mari looked at it confused for a minute, then blushed, “You are offering me your hoodie already? We aren’t that way yet, are we?” She stuttered the words while trying to cover her face in embarrassment.

“I’ll help him out,” Miko interjected, pushing Minato further into the store, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he picks out something perfect for you!”

“What are you on about?” Minato snapped back at the woman pushing him around to the rear of the store. But before he could get a good answer from her, she grabbed his ear and pulled him down behind a rack of clothes, making it look like they were digging through it together.

“Now listen here,” she spoke forcefully, but still in a hushed voice so that Mari was not able to hear her, “I have only known Mari for a few years and I know she is a precious, innocent girl who needs to be protected. Don’t you dare even think about harming her in any way! Or I swear I will sew close every opening you have. Got it?”

Minato felt a wave of sweat drain over his body. Though this woman was smaller than him, he was afraid of what she was truly capable of. He only nodded in agreement.

Miko sighed, “Alright. If nothing else, let's get her something cute to wear. You don’t have to do much, just give me a thumbs up if you think it would look good on her, OK?”

Minato nodded again, this time morphing into his normal stoic demeanor.

In a second, she returned with an outfit, and Minato flashed a thumbs up the moment she raised it up to him.

“Hey, you aren’t even looking!”

“I don’t care,” Minato replied, keeping his eyes away from her and the clothes, “I don’t think of her in any way like that. So I don’t care what she wears. Understand?”

Miko started on in confusion, judging his truthfulness in his words. “Oh~ho? We will see about that!”

She sprung up out of the racking and rushed back to Mari, I’ll place the outfit he picked out in the changing room with you. Plus, I think I have some new clothes that both you and Minato will love.”

He didn’t like the way she said that last word, something was off about it. But he couldn’t argue as Mari squealed with joy and rushed into the changing room, waiting for her new clothes. Shortly afterwards, Miko handed her some folded clothes, obscuring them from Minato’s sight.

As soon as the curtain shut completely, Miko turned over her shoulder to him with a devious grin and a wink.

What’s she planning now?

After a few minutes' wait, Mari stepped out of the changing room dressed in a pure white turtleneck top and a long black skirt that went down to her ankles. Though these clothes were relatively baggy to the clothes she came in with, they clung to her body in certain places like her waist and hips, causing her figure to be shown off.

“What do you two think?” She twirled before the two onlookers, who in turn gave a thumb up in review. She giggled and went back into the changing room once more for the other outfit she was to try on.

But first she popped her out again, “Hey, Minato, I want to thank you for picking such cute clothes for me. And also… for coming out today. It wouldn’t be nearly as fun if you weren’t here!”

Minato felt his face catch fire once more. Mari was being cute once again, and he was falling for it hook, line, and sinker. But worst of all, she stuck out more than her head, and he noticed she was in the middle of changing.

“Alright, good, just get dressed already!”

With another giggle, she disappeared behind the curtain.

Minato thought he was going to die. His heart was pounding, and a pressure was growing desperately tight in his brain. Was he having an aneurysm?

“Like what you saw?” Miko chirped up beside him, her eyes cut with a sly smile, “That was a cute bra, huh?” Minato only glared back at her, causing her to burst out laughing once more.

“Uhm, Miko-chan, are you sure these are the right clothes?” Mari asked before pulling the curtain again. Out stepped Mari’s long legs which were almost completely unclothed excluding the ripped short jean shorts. Above them, and her belly button, was a pink corset top which was struggling to keep her chest in it. She twisted and turned, moving her arms around her body as if she was trying to cover herself up, but unsure where to begin.

Over her blushing cheeks, she winced and looked up at Minato, “So… wh-what do you think? Is-is it… cute?”

Minato felt his sanity break. The only word that came to mind was, “Damn…”, but he was unable to say that, so he only stared back in disbelief.

Then finally, his sanity came to him as he turned his head as far away as humanly possible, “I-I-I…” he struggled to get the words out, “I like the first one better.”

That was a true statement, it was easier on his psyche to look at her with more of her skin covered up. He wasn’t going to do anything to her, but keeping his will in check was enough to wear him down so fast his heart was more liable to stop than anything else happening.

“R-really?” “Huh? Wait, what?”

Both girls asked in unison, trying to gauge his words. But Minato wouldn’t budge on the subject, but instead walked to the door. “Get dressed again. I’ll meet you outside.” That was the only thing he said as he made the bell above the door jingle as he left in a hurry.

He never saw exactly how they reacted to his words, not that he wanted to know. All he wanted was to get as far away from the situation as possible. Sitting on a bench located next to the storefront he rested his tired head in his hands. The stress of his new life was going to be the death of him.

Soon afterwards, Mari exited the store, dressed in the clothes she started the day in and a few bags beside her. “Ready?”

“There’s more?” Minato asked back incredulously.

“Yeah,” Mari cheered trying to pull him up off the bench while still holding the bags in her hands as well, “We’ve got the whole day off! Why not spend the day hanging out?”

Minato cut his eyes, “You sure you’ve got money for a full day like this?” He asked, in a way watching the way she answered.

“The money from the government paid for this. Plus, we are supposed to spend it on making you feel comfortable out in public again, right? That’s what it's for and that’s what we are doing with it, right?”

Guess that answers the questions I have for now…

He sighed and stood up, nearly causing Mari to lose her balance from his sudden movement. “Minato?”

“If that’s what your plan is, then let’s do it,” he said it evenly, leaving no hint to what he truly meant by that, but Mari’s eyes flashed with joy at his reaction. She nodded with excitement and pulled him onward.

The day was filled with them exploring every shop as they passed it.

The first thing Minato noticed was that in almost every store they entered, someone working there recognized Mari and greeted her warmly. They asked her how she was doing and if everything was OK. They even cut sideways glances at him while they asked that question, which made him more annoyed each time it came up.

Mari shot them down each time and showed Minato to them as much as she could, talking him up the entire time. Though he was glad that she was spreading his good name to them first, instead of letting his reputation precede him, he did wish she wouldn’t make him try to make small talk with each person in the fairly large shopping district.

The other thing he noticed was that though she pulled him into each store, she never bought anything that he himself didn’t look at first. In the end, the only things they bought were food for dinner that night and some cheap snacks at a kid’s candy corner. Mostly for nostalgia purposes, but Mari seemed to be enjoying herself the entire time.

She smiled and laughed the entire time, never once showing a hint of how upset she had been earlier that week. Minato was unable to tell if she truly was having as much fun as she seemed, or if she was putting on a show. The one problem of that line of thinking was, who was she trying to show off to.

If there were problems, Saki would know about it immediately. There was no hiding anything from her, or so it seemed. So if she was faking it, he couldn’t figure out why.

Does this mean she is actually having fun with me?

Though it was a blur, the day passed by quickly, leaving the sky slightly orange with the dipping sun. And Minato was feeling his ability to survive out in the world fading with the sun.

Stretching hard, Mari said, “Today was such a great day, don’t you think so?”

“Sure…” Minato scoffed, as he had long since been saddled with carrying the bags from the morning.

“Guess it's time to go home,” Mari smiled back, “but first, I need to make a quick trip to powder my nose. I’ll return soon. I promise~!”

As she skipped off around the corner, Minato squatted down to rest his legs and set the bags down for the first time in a long time. This was the longest he had gone outside in years. And it was slowly draining him of all strength.

Yet, strangely, it was no longer bothering him. Other than his tired legs.

After several minutes, he felt his legs were fine again, and he rose up. But then several more minutes passed. He noticed that Mari was taking longer to just go to the bathroom.

What’s taking her so long?, he wondered to himself, gathering the bags again to make his way to where the toilets were. He wouldn’t look too terribly strange waiting outside the bathrooms, right? He was actually waiting on someone. So it wouldn’t be weird, right?

But as he rounded the corner, he saw Mari. She didn’t seem to be leaving the restroom at that point. And she wasn’t alone.

Instead, there were four guys surrounding her, all looking her up and down while they talked with each other. Minato was unable to hear what they were talking about, but it seemed like the guys were doing more talking than she was. She was being short but courteous. And she was trembling, trying to escape them, but one of the guys would move in a way to block her exit.

Something stirred in Minato as he watched this unfold before him. The first round of thoughts was something along the lines of she gets what she deserves. This is what you get for flirting with every guy you come across and discarding them once you are done.

But another thought came to mind. One he had never thought about before.

She doesn’t want this… This isn’t right…

As that notion first entered his thoughts, he witnessed one of the guys start to reach out and touch her, and Mari recoil. Pulling her head back and wincing while bracing for it still.

But the guy didn’t put his hand on Mari like he wanted.

“Huh?” “Who’s this?” “What are you? Her boyfriend?”

Minato was not sure what had just transpired, but somehow, he had propelled himself the short distance between where he was and where the guys had gathered around Mari and had slipped between them as the guy put his hand on his shoulder, instead of Mari’s.

His arms were raised slightly, still weighed down by the bags he was carrying, and his heart was racing like crazy. Though if one was looking at this from the outside, his stern gaze was a sharp warning to the guys to stay away.

Though that was his normal resting face mixed with the frustration of realizing where he was and what he was doing.

What am I doing?

“You got a problem, buddy?” the guy who had put his hand on Minato’s shoulder asked, pulling his hand back, clenching it in a fist.

Think quick, Minato. I’ve only got a few choices right now.

First thing he would try is talking them down. “Hey guys, sorry, but she’s not interested in you. So let’s save some time and just head home already.”

“Look who’s talking.” “Do you even think she’s in your league?” “Like she wants anything to do with you.”

Harsh…, but it was true. Though these guys were not the most handsome guys around, they were closer to that mark than Minato was on a regular basis.

But glancing over his shoulder, he saw Mari still ducking under her hands and wavering. Her silver eyes were fluttering between all of what was going on. Between the guys, Minato, and the sky in a silent prayer.

“M-Minato… please… h-help…”

Next option, then. Scare tactics.

Turning his attention to the encircling guys, Minato narrowed his gaze into the most fierce glare he could muster. Standing up the most straight he had in years, causing him to look much larger than he actually was. It was supposed to work on animals, something he learned on a show years ago, but since he never went out, he never got a chance to use it. Until now.

“Hey guys, get lost,” he raised his voice as loud as he was capable of, trying both to intimidate them quickly, and also draw a crowd to them. Hopefully that would be enough to deter them from doing anything further. “ I am not afraid of you. So back off now. If not, the cops will get to you all first. Understand?”

“TCH! Shut up, punk, before I make you!” “You got a death wish, buddy?” “You think you can take us at once, huh?” “Oh, man, you are so dead!”

The gang of guys moved to size him up, cracking knuckles and prepping for a throw down. Unfortunately for Minato, he was much smaller than all of them comparatively. And he knew it wasn’t going to go like in most shōnen anime, where the smaller, weaker looking guy would easily win the fight without even getting hit in the process.

No, in this world, size matters. And though Minato wasn’t exactly tiny for normal standards. His arms hadn’t been used for anything more strenuous than late night gaming sessions. The worst combination, he was never considered athletic when he was at the top of his physique, either.

There was no way he could win one-on-one. Let alone the current four-on-one.

Well, that didn’t work either…

That left him with one last option. He raised up his bags before him, separating himself from the gang’s sight. And without warning, he let them drop. But he was no longer behind the bags as they fell to the ground.

At the moment before gravity took over, and the bags started to fall, he quickly grabbed Mari’s wrist and began to run in the small gap that had been made by the guys starting to focus solely on him. If he distracted them long enough with the bags, he could get enough distance between them to blend into the crowd that was forming and make a break for it in the opposite direction.

And if they were really lucky, they would sneak here again and grab their bags, making it home almost as if nothing happened.

That was his plan, at least.

And at first it seemed to be working, as he managed to slip by them with Mari in tow and moving fast enough to have quite some distance between them and the bags falling. They guys were confused at first, but quickly caught on and began to chase.

Alright, now I’ve got to slip into the crowd and-

He started that thought as he neared the gathering onlookers wondering what was going on, but they were quickly dispersing in terror at the group of angry guys running in their direction and Minato at the lead.

As that plan was starting to fall apart, Minato felt a sharp tug on the hoodie’s hood, yanking him backwards, forcing him to let go of Mari’s wrist. In less than a second, he was surrounded by the guys, who were furious for being made fools of. One cocked a fist and hurled it at him.

“MARI! Run!”

He was only able to get that little out before the fist collided with his stomach, lifting him off his feet for a second that lasted for an eternity. Pain erupted through his whole body and ricocheted multiple times back around.

As the fist pulled away from his gut, his legs failed him, falling him to his knees. He wanted to vomit, but couldn’t because of the pain holding his body in tight rigor mortis.

With trembling eyes and failing vision, he was barely able to see Mari still standing there, wide-eyed in terror, frozen with fear.

“Go on! Get out of here!”

His voice was fractured and fell limply from his quivering lips right before another fist landed hard across his face, causing him to fade completely into black.

***

It started as a dull feeling, but it slowly grew to a searing pain across his whole body. It grew so intense he jolted hard upward trying to escape from it.

“Ah! You’re awake! I was so worried!”

Unable to see as his eyes kept shutting from the pain as soon as he tried to open them, Minato tried his best to discern the voice’s owner.

“Mari?” he groggily asked, trying to lift his body, but fell down, unable to move from the sheer pain echoing his body. As his head laid back down, he realized that it was resting on something soft. And just as gently as the surface was soft, something was running through his hair, brushing it to the side soothingly.

“Don’t move, you’re still hurt.” She cooed, trying to calm him back down and not hurt himself further. His eyes were starting to allow enough light in for him to take in his surroundings slowly.

First to come into focus was Mari’s face. Her silver eyes turned softly down upon him with a gentle smile across her cheeks and tears silently collected at the corners. She was leaning down over him, and though his senses were dulled by the pain, he could tell he was laying on her lap while she petted his head gently with her hand trying to soothe him.

“What… happened?”

He racked his brain, trying to recall how he got here. But the only thing it returned was more pain.

“You protected me from those guys. They were beaten senseless. And it's all thanks to you.”

“Huh?” He asked in utter disbelief. He remembered the guys now, and how they mercilessly beat the crap out of him. He did not remember being able to even raise a hand against them, let alone land a blow. So how did he win a fight?

Glancing over, he saw the guys, sprawled out. Each one was swollen and bloody, laying lifeless on the ground. Though Minato could tell they were still alive, even from his sideways angle, but rather unconscious and wishing to stay that way just in case.

“Really? I won?”

“Yes, yes, you did!” Mari leaned down to hug him, congratulations on his accomplishment. But instead of a reassuring gesture like she wanted it to be, he began to suffocate again in pain from being crushed by her cleavage. “Thank you so much!”

“Is that truly the case?”

From the other side, Minato looked over to see in his blurry sight a face he hoped to never see again.

“Why are you here, Saki?” Minato was able to screech with as much venom in his words even through his pain. Saki on the other side of him stood there looking down on the two of them through her sunglasses.

To answer, she put a hand on her hip and the other to her head, as if to ward off an oncoming headache. “One of my Withdrawals was found to be in an altercation while I was not there to make sure it didn’t happen. Of course, I need to be here to take statements and keep you on the straight and narrow.”

“Heh, I guess you aren’t as omniscient as you seem.” Minato began to laugh, but that quickly ceased as he recoiled in pain. Before he knew what was happening, Saki appeared just inches from his face with her glasses pulled down on the bridge of her nose, so she looked at him eye to eye.

“Listen here, Kinoshita.” She spoke in words that told him he more than messed up. She even forgot honorifics all together and reverted to only his surname. “If you are the reason my project gets shut down, and I lose my position, I will make sure you regret it for as long as you live. Got it?”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” he gulped.

Rising back upright again, Saki sighed in frustration. “So, Takeda-san, is what you just said true? That Minato was the one who fought these guys?”

“Uh… would that be an issue?” Mari answered with another question, using a cutesy a voice as possible.

“It would be a big issue,” Saki replied in a matter fact tone, “It would mean that not only did Minato not become more of a respectable citizen in your care, but rather that he got worse. That would mean the whole project is in jeopardy and the two of you will be separated.”

Minato’s eyes grew wide, and he wanted to argue. Clearly there was no way that he could have been able to fight those guys. Plus, he didn’t even start the fight. They weren’t able to blame him for that, right?

And what’s more, Mari was an innocent victim in this situation.

If we are separated, he remembered Saki’s warning from the beginning, then she will be punished along with me…

He wanted to argue, he wanted to try and protect Mari. But at that moment his strength was draining from him. Slowly, the sides of his vision were going blurry with black and drawing closer and closer to the center of his sight.

He could no longer do anything to help. Again…

“If that’s the case,” Mari spoke up once again. In the very edges of what was left he was able to see, he watched as she looked back down on him with blushing cheeks and a still soft smile, “In order to protect Minato, then the truth is the four of them tripped over each other and fell to the ground, passing out in the process. It was actually very sad, really.

As she answered Saki, she gave a small wink to Minato as his consciousness was giving out.

“You sure that’s the truth, Takeda-san.”

“I will tell you what happened when Minato falls to sleep again, OK?”

Those were the last words Minato heard before he passed back out. But he was not sure if he heard them clearly.

All he wanted at that moment was to be home. His own home. Alone.