#axerending

“ ’Ricky Rat's Dick Smasher’? ” He’s forced into a double-take. “ Are they allowed to call it that? ”

It’s almost Akihiko-senpai’s birthday.

Kotone likes to think she’s thoughtful, but she’s always been stumped when it comes to gifts, especially when it comes to boys. Akihiko himself is a bit of an enigma. She understands him probably better than most, but that doesn’t mean she knows what he wants. She thought to ask Mitsuru-senpai, or even Yukari, but there’s someone else who might have a better idea, and someone with more...male ideas.

It’s what leads her to Shinjiro-senpai’s room when she drops her things off in her room, and makes her way back down to the second floor. Akihiko’s still at practice, so she should be fine for now as she goes to Shinjiro for advice. She hesitates before knocking -- what if she’s bothering him? Before realizing it’s yet to stop her before, letting her knuckles ease against the wooden door before lacing her fingers behind her back before calling out to him.

“Shinjiro-senpai? I need your help.”

“We are the twin souls, we are th---”

His lispy vocals are cut short by the very object of his teen angst rising from his grave.

“ Shinji! ” he spits all over his corpse. “ Shinji! H-Hey-- wait! ” But even as he takes him by the shoulders and shakes for all he’s worth, it’s to no avail. He would not wake. 

But he was right. There comes a time when a man needs to stop crying, pick up his clown nose, and grow up. He wipes his tears, and listlessly honks off his nose, placing it softly on the man lying before him. 

“ You’re right, Shinji. I can’t keep carrying this forever. It belongs to you now... So, you keep watch from there with Miki. ”

Burst through from the sea of his soul, the chains of his psyche break through and the resolution in his heart gives rise to the stalwart Caesar. There, Polydeuces leaves to rest with his brother in the stars.

“ Rest well, friend. I’m going on ahead. ”

“You think so?” Maybe Yukari was wrong about this one...well...if Shinjiro-senpai thought it wasn’t the right look, then...maybe it wasn’t! 

“Does it look like I’m sayin’ it to anyone else’s face? Dumbass.”

“ Don’t say it under your breath like I can’t hear you over there, prick. ”

She bounced on her heels, rhyme and rhythm spurring action and reaction, strikes and counters. They were twenty minutes into a Tartarus climb and time was on their side, nine floors in. Early on Minako had started to climb in pairs, especially when there was a new member. Old member? Either way, knowing strengths and weaknesses allowed her to put together a strategy that benefited everyone in the team. 

Besides, a little one-on-one time was always good for getting to know new friends.

Or, at least, that was the idea. This was the first time she had hit the brick wall known as Shinjiro Aragaki.

He wanted nothing to do with her. Small talk, congratulations, suggestions, plans; nothing. The more she chattered and tried to get a feel for his personality, the more he glowered and ignored. 

Damn, but did he hit like a truck. Shadows almost exploded into black goo with one swing. 

“Aragaki-senpai, the stairs are over he...re.” She trailed off, one eyebrow raised as she watched him go around a corner in the opposite direction. Did he dislike her company that much or was he just unable to hear her? Irritation flushed her skin as she followed, wracking her brain for any idea of how to get through to him. There was little point in trying to have him in the team if he wasn’t a team player. 

“Senpai? The stairs are o--” The Fool stopped short, dropping into a wide stance as she rounded the corner. He was surrounded, down on one knee and bleeding heavily from his shoulder. “Senpai, get down!” Her evoker was in her hands instantly, cool metal pressed against her temple and trigger pulled without hesitation. A round of Mazionga had a fine black mist dissipating into the air and Minako slid to her knees in front of the older male, hands rummaging in her bag for medicine as fast as she could.

He shrugged her off. 

She sat, stunned for a minute. He was literally bleeding heavily and he was still trying to push her away? Patience wasn’t always her strong point, and the earlier annoyance bubbled over into anger. 

“Look, you idiot!” She snapped, pulling out a spray bottle with more force then needed. “I’m trying to help you not die by bleeding out on the floor! Fancy that!”

@axerending​ said: Watches Akihiko eat a whole ass lemon, skin and everything. "You've got issues, man..."

...And he does so without batting an eye. Juicy.

Don’t make this weird-- it’s called a ‘rind’ not ‘skin’. 

“ What’s your problem? It’s just like eating a grapefruit. ”