#crippledkunai

Minako was still feeling nervous about what she had asked of her daughter. While she knew that surely she would keep the secret, it was the reaction of the person she was telling to meet up with her. Today, she was wearing something that would make her seem out of place. The long, crimson coat was enough to cover her normal attire. And of course, there was also the fact of a hat covering her hair, since she didn’t want to be recognized right away. Truth be told, she debated on chickening out. After all, she had been gone for a few years. She didn’t want to hurt Yosuke anymore, and even with that, she felt this was where she belonged now.

With the fact that she had a plan to deal with Nyx in mind was enough to fuel her coming back. Chihiro seemed happy enough at school, and Yosuke had been moving on, or working on that. She felt that things would be rocky with her coming back, but she would not be upset too much if he chose to find someone else. Only time would tell her if he would still be willing to accept her back into his life or not.

Walking down the street, towards a familiar house was a familiar face. Anyone that would have lived on the block would have recognized the brunette. And of course, she had some glasses over to make it so that no one could see the color of her eyes. She had something to do after all. Why, her family was waiting for her after all~! How could she just up and leave without coming back? Plus, she knew that her little girl was waiting on her.

“And he better not slack off or else~!”

There was a lot of planning going into their wedding. Minako had to balance that with her job, Yosuke's studying, and some other stuff. To say the least, there was some more stress being added to her life. She was really grateful there were other people willing to step up and help out with these things. Had it not been for them, she was sure she would have ended up breaking down with it all. That wasn't her biggest concern though. There was something deep inside of her that seemed to be stirring once more, and it was starting to have some effects on her.

She was noticing more and more that she was growing a bit more sluggish than usual. She seemed physically fine, but she was more drained than usual, as if she had been going through the Dark Hour. If she could have rested off it would have been fine. But she was getting less and less sleep because of this. And she knew exactly what was bothering her on the inside. She had left the Great Seal after all, with Nyx being sealed inside of her once more. She thought that it would have lasted a lot longer. Finding out she was wrong frightened her. If it meant that she had to use all of her willpower to keep Nyx in check then she would do that.

She would grow more distant, focusing instead on Nyx. What bothered her the most was the fact there was only one person she could talk to about this. She did not want Yosuke worrying about it as it was, since they had so much on their plate as it was. The last thing he needed to know was that his fiancee would possibly end up breaking with all of this stress and letting loose a power that could destroy the world. Or so, she believed this was the case.

One night after putting Chihiro to bed, she went back on downstairs to where Yosuke was, and finally just fell to her knees, flat out exhausted, tears pouring from her eyes. "...I hate all of this. All of that burden has been placed on me and I'm...just getting so tired of it. It hurts so much...Yosuke I don't know how much longer I can keep all of this up."

He’d had a busy day, between classes and homework and a performance he’d had at a local pub, and he’d fallen on the couch as soon as dinner was over, Chihiro coming to sit with him. The TV was turned on, and… “Here, come on, get up and we’ll sit down on the couch, okay?” He was dozing, hadn’t even realized she’d taken Chihiro up to bed, when he startled awake hearing Minako thud to the ground. he stared at her for a moment, fuzzy thoughts taking a moment to realize there was something wrong for sure. He jumped up, walking ver and kneeling down by the woman, a grunt escaping as he did so before he turned attention to her.  He’d noticed she wasn’t doing as well off as usual, and had hoped she would confront him about it before anything else, though he wasn’t expecting it like this. “Minako, what do you mean? Just… take a deep breath, calm down. What’re you talking about?” He asked, frowning and thinking for a moment before helping the woman up.  

With Yosuke coming to her side, it helped a little. She was just sad that the battle was not one he could help with. Nodding a bit, the tears continuing to fall, she made her way on over to the couch with him before continuing, wiping the tears away.

"Nyx...has begun to stir again inside of me. As each day seems to go on by, I'm getting weaker and weaker. I - I can't have Nyx break free Yosuke. That sort of thing in this world would destroy everything that I've come to love. You, Chihiro, Jun...that's not what I want to cause."

Her hands clenched together as she found herself leaning into Yosuke, her arms wrapped around him gently. She was so scared to be losing the things she loved again all because of Nyx. It just seemed like every time she would find some sort of pleasure, Nyx just seemed to strike again. "It's...not fair to me at all. And yet it is what i bear because of the universe arcana."

He frowned, listening quietly, his grip on her tightening ever so slightly as she spoke.   “….I….is there anything I can help with? Do you think Yu would be able to help? Wait, but that might not… might not be a good idea…” He lowered his voice, sighing and pressing a kiss to the girl’s forehead. “Please, if there’s anything I can do, honey…” “…Minako… I had no idea this was going on…” He muttered, holding the girl close and running a hand through her hair. He really hadn’t known, and the fact that it had taken him actually being told to find out what was wrong made him feel awful.  He tried to comfort her, free hand rubbing along her back with a frown.

She really wished that there was something that he could do. Instead, all she could do was shake her head. "...Yosuke I'm sorry. I don't think that will be possible." She said softly, looking down now.

"Even if we were able to find a way to delay Nyx from breaking free...time would only find its way to break her free. I - I've gotta go back." She whispered, pausing for a moment. "I really thought...this would be my second chance. The chance that i'd get to have a great life. You, Chihiro, Jun...everyone's made it so wonderful. I'll always cherish this."

Bringing her gaze back up, she looked at him with tear filled eyes. There was a mix of sorrow and joy written over her face as it was. "I'll never forget what you've done for me. I wish that I could stay for the wedding but...I think what is happening is proving my time is nearly up. And this time I think it is for good. I hate this...leaving you and Chihiro with one another alone."

Taking a deep breath, she approached the next subject, which was one she wanted to avoid. "...And because of this. I will understand if you choose to move on from me, to find someone else to love you. I want you to be as happy as you can. I just...really wish it would be me by your side till death do us part. Yosuke Hanamura, I really love you. And if I were given that chance I would seal it with I do."

“W-wait a sec, Mina..” She was speaking almost too fast for him to keep up, and everything she was saying felt like a weight crushing on him. So she had to go right this second? What was he going to tell Chihiro? How was he going to explain to her her mom was gone? How on earth was he going to manage taking care of the girl and go to school at the same time? “I wish… we could at least get things finalized..” “Minako you— should have told me sooner, damn it…!  We could have planned all this out and moved the wedding date up for you and..” His voice caught, feeling tears on his own face now, and quietly shook his head, bringing her tighter against him. “Minako no… don’t ask me to do that… You’re asking the impossible…” He sighed, looking down at her.

"Yosuke...I'm sorry."  She knew that she should have been open about this from the beginning. It was only recently that she had started to notice what the problems truly were though. "...Sorry that I am putting you through all of this pain. Sorry that I can't do more than anything." She really wished things could be going another way. But dammit, all of this was hurting more than she wanted. None of this would have happened had she not left the seal in the first place.

"...I really wish we could do more than this. The only way I could see this working out where I get to stay is if...my brother was still alive. Except, I wouldn't have wished that upon him either. Everyone's been taken from me. And now, I'm being taken from you and Chihiro."

Taking a deep breath, she at least went on. "If anything...we'd just have to tell Chihiro that mommy needs to go away somewhere far, far away. I...don't feel good for lying but it is true." She just hoped that she'd at least get a good life away from everything - the Dark Hour, worrying about Personas, and what not.

“….” He sighed, shaking his head. “….I’ll figure somehting out by morning, okay? Don’t worry about it… if you need to go, then please don’t let us make you suffer any longer than you have been…” He smiled, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Don’t apologize, Mina… it’s not your fault, okay? If— If there’s nothing you can do… then you need to, right?  I’ll.. Chihiro and I will be fine.  I’ll think of something, okay?” He tried to smile, to give her something reassuring. His hands moved to rub at her back, bringing her closer to him in attempted comfort.

Nodding, she leaned on closer to him, feeling no better than she had before. The closeness of having him there was easing away some worries, but not all of them. "...Just for tonight." She whispered, looking at him. "Can we just...stay like this?" She asked, wanting to savor his warmth for as long as she could. And come the morning, she'd be prepared to leave.

She just hoped that Chihiro would understand. She hated doing this to her baby girl and to Yosuke.

“…anything for you, sweetheart.” He said, leaning close and kissing her lips softly, pulling her close and holding her against him and laying them down on the couch, holding her gently. “Is this okay? Tell me if there’s anything else I can do for you.”

"Yeah, this is perfectly fine." Having him close was all that she needed at the moment. Being held against him would hold her worries at ease until she would have to leave. As long as she could have this blssful moment, she'd be fine.

He smiled, rubbing at his eyes before reaching down to take one of the girl’s hands. he lifted his head slightly, brushing his lips against her cheek. “…As long as I live, I promise I’ll take care of Chihiro… I’ll keep you in my heart forever, because no matter how far apart we are, I’ll always love you, Minako-Arisato.”

"I know you will." He almost always had kept his word as it was. She believed that he would be there for his own daughter as it was. And with the fact she had landed her place into his heart showed her how much he was caring. She wanted to believe that she could come back some other time, and be with him. Perhaps another life time.

"I will always love you as well, Yosuke Hanamura. You're my special person to hold dear and true." It just hurt her, since she felt her words would also end up hurting him.

He laughed softly, pressing light kisses on her skin.   “You’re so cheesy, hun.” He smiled, kissing her kips once. “Cheesy and beautiful.”

"Hey, I blame you for this." She teased back, placing her head gently on his chest, listening to the sound of his heart. "Plus, you also know it's true. I have one of the most handsome guys around."

“Ha, if you say so. All these scars muse make me look manlier than I thought.” He joked, enjoying the feeling of her weight on him. He closed his eyes, enjoying the moment. “….I’m so glad I’m still alive. There’s nowhere i’d rather be in the world than here with you and Chihiro.”

"Had you actually passed away, I'm not sure what I would have done. My love for you never went away, even wtih how that night went." She said, shuddering at the thought. She probably would have lost everything inside of her as it was.

"...I know Yosuke." (That should give it away. Her hinting at something he did.)

“….I was scared…. I’m sorry… god, I’m so sorry… I missed out on so much and I regret it every day.” His grip on her tightened, looking away from the girl with a soft sigh. “….I’ll never do that to Chihiro. So… please, don’t worry. Don’t worry about her, I’ll take care of her. If I ever need help I’ll ask Yu or Chie or anyone.. you can count on me to take care of her. So…please don’t worry about us. Don’t feel sad… Just… you make sure to take care of yourself.” He didn’t really know where he was going with this, but he found himself tense, holding the girl tight.

"...I understand your reasons for it. It was a tough spot for both of us, but school does come up." She said at first. "But now, ..." She hesitated, because she didn't even know if she could make it.

"I know your friends will be able to help out for sure. Yu, Dojima...everyone seems to adore Chihiro as it is."

He sighed. This wasn’t at all what he wanted to talk about. “I just… want to make sure you know we’re in good hands… don’t.. please don’t be upset.” “Sweetheart… h-hey… let’s just..” He sighed. “I didn’t want to upset you, I’m sorry.. I didn’t…” He groaned, rubbing his face and silently cursing at himself.

[2/28/2015 4:37:28 PM] Universal Sister - Connie: "...I'll be in the Seals hands again. There won't be anything I can do about it." It was the truth, and she let out a sigh. "I won't be able to interact with anyone or deal with anything either."

“…..” He bit his tongue. He had no idea..  Heh ad no idea what she was going through, probably never would, and here he was shoving his foot in his mouth once again and making things ten times worse. “….l…let’s make the most of tonight, then. Okay, hun?”

"I'm hoping that we can." She said in all honesty. For now, she just chose to stay where she was, keeping her ear on his heartbeat.

“….I love you..” He muttered, sighing and resting hands against the small of her back, reaching to kiss her hair gently.

"I love you too." She said, closing her eyes. She just had to say like this for now.

It wasn't long before the sound of Yosuke's heartbeat had managed to get the other girl to fall asleep, sleeping a bit more peacefully than usual.

He yawned, sighing and holding her close. He was starting to get uncomfortable on his back, but he wasn’t about to move and wake her, so he sighed, moving a hand up to brush her cheek before letting himself drift off as well, too tired to bother trying to take them both to bed.

Eventually, the sound of the morning birds came along, waking Minako up. She took a moment to recall last night, since they were on the bed. She placed a kiss gently onto Yosuke's forehead, before sitting up some. It would be bad to be laying down for both of them. Plus, they had one more issue tow ork out.

He groaned, slowly stirring, and hissed,  whining as he tried stretching, feeling his back popping in ways he didn’t necessarily like. He laid on his side, looking up at the girl with a soft sigh, reaching out to hold her hand. “Mmm… morning..”

"Mornin sweetie." She said, feeling bad that she had him sleeping in a way that was bad for him. "How do you think we'll handle Chihiro?" She asked, figuring it was best to get to business right away.

“Huh…?” His smile faltered, and it wasn’t till then things started to flood back, the whole situation, and he frowned, sighing and letting his head fall back on his pillow, rubbing his face. “…I was supposed to have figured that out, wasn’t I…. fuck, I’m… shit…  she has school today.  Um… Do… you want me to wake her up? Or do you want to?”

"It's generally easier for me to wake her as it is. You can just go on and make her some breakfast." She said, noting how he was being a bit slow this morning. "Or, you can take Jun out for the mornig."

“…I’ll… m-make food…  is there anything special you’d like?  I’ll.. get coffee and natto and rice started…” He squeezed her hand before sitting up, wincing slightly before getting up and quickly changing his clothes. Once that was done, he walked over and kissed her forehead, smiling sadly before going to start on food.

At least with that figured out, she nodded ,getting up some. She waited for Yosuke to do his thing, smiling, and starting off towards Chihiro's room. Moving in quietly, she gently started to shake her daughter. "Chihiro, it's time to get up.'

He yawned, pulling out the things for breakfast he was used to making for himself later in the day, starting the rice cooker.   Chihiro yawned, slowly waking up and looking over at her mother, giving a small smile. “Morning, mama…”  

"Anything exciting going on with school?" She asked, moving over, sitting onto her bed, and placing a kiss onto her forehead.

“Not much. Ryo-kun wanted to go to school with me this morning, him and his momma were gonna come pick me up after breakfast.” She said, smiling slightly at the unexpected affection.

"Ah I see." SHe said. This meant she and Yosuke would have to talk to her during breakfast about things. "Well, we better hurry you on up! Can't have you late going to school."

“Right!” She smiles, starting to get ready for school. Yosuke checks the rice, finishing up with the natta before calling out that breakfast was ready.

Moving on downstairs, she was quite sure that Chihiro would be fine getting her stuff together. "We'll need to tell her at breakfast sweetie."

“…right… Um… y-you know what? I’ll tell her when she gets home today. Don’t let her go to school feeling so upset, she won’t want to go and she wouldn’t want to leave. So let me take care of it. We’ll just say you’ve got a business trip to take, alright?” He asked, a pained smile on his face.

"Sweetie, won't that hurt her more? Since then she wouldn't have been able to say goodbye to her mama?" She felt that was a very valid point to be bringing up.

“..w-well, yeah, but… I really… want to tell her the truth without putting any more strain on you… please let me take care of it…. b-besides, it’s not really lying. Nyx is kind of a job, right?” He tried to laugh, but his breath caught, and he fell silent instead.

"I know what you mean. But really...she at least should know that mommy's not gonna be around for who knows how long. And we can get her to understand it's not a bad thing..." She said, her voice trailing off. She'd just have to find a way to talk to her again.

“…y-yeah…”  He sighed, looking away before biting his lips shut and walking over to her, giving her a tight hug. “….Just… let her know you’ll be away, I guess… I can elaborate later…”

"I know I can do that." SHe said, hugging him back. "At least getting groceries and things won't be hard for you because of Junes." She aded.

“Yeah… I might… I might take her with me back to Iwatodai. There’s a good elementary school, and mom and dad are pushing me to go back to school.. I was gonna tell you after we got settled in after the wedding..” He sighed, wishing he’d remembered to tell her this the night before instead of now.

"All right...at least you do have that situated." She said, nodding and agreeing with it. "She should be coming down soon, so lets be ready."

“Right…” He broke away, giving the girl an anxious kiss before starting to dish out the food, Chihiro walking in with her uniform on.   “Ryo-kun’s gonna be here soon, is breakfast ready?”

"Well first things first...sweetie, while you're at school, mama's gonna be gone on a business trip. I don't know for how long, but I;m really needed as it is."

“Oh, really? If it’s important, you should go! But make sure you call, or papa’ll get lonely!” She smiled, oblivious to the real reasoning, and sat down at the breakfast table, Yosuke giving the girl her plate with a pained smile.

"I will definitely make sure to do that." Seh said, hiding her pained smile. It would be hard to do that after all.

“Good.” Chihiro smiled, starting to eat. Yosuke sighed, walking up and wrapping his arms around his fiancee, pressing lips on her cheek. “I’m sure mama’s going to do a very good job taking care of the problem.” He said, pulling away after a moment to get Minako’s breakfast as well.

SHe nodded, waiting for the others as it was. She waited for Chihiro to be ready and off for school as it was. So far it was just a normal morning really.

Soon enough Ryo and his mother arrived, and Chihiro quickly got her shoes on, grabbing her backpack and giving both parents a hug before she was off.  Yosuke sat at the table, hugging his arms tightly, sighing softly.

"...That went better than I expected." She said softly, before bracing herself. "Now I need to make the next call...whcih won't be good."

“Call? Are you calling Yu or something?” He asked, standing to take a step closer to her and faltering, deciding to brace himself against the table instead.

"Sweetie. I gotta let my work know." She said. "And with how much they have relied on me this won't be easy."

“Oh, oh yeah. That…. had completely slipped my mind.” He frowned, shaking his head. All of this occurring made normal life seem far away, almost a dream. “I’ll call him later. You take care of your calls, and we’ll… do you want me to walk you wherever you need to go? Or… would you rather go by yourself?”

"...I'll need you to confess to Yu about what is going on. That one I can't do." She said softly, looking away. "He'll be heartbroken for sure. Especially after what i remember hearing about with how nearly losing Nanako hit him."

She took a deep breath and steeled ehrself. "I'll be fine. Last night was the strength I needed. I'll find you after my call to work okay sweetie?"

“Y…yeah. I know. Don’t worry about it, alright?” He smiled softly, hesitating before cleaning up breakfast’s dishes, pressing lips against the girl’s forehead and walking into the other room. “…you’ll still be here if I go shower? I’ll be fast.” He asked, figuring it’d be enough to give her the space she needed.

"Don't worry too much. You'll know when I am gone all right?" She asked, pulling out her cell phone and starting to dial for her work. "Make sure you clean everywhere."

“….right… pfft, o-of course! Don’t be weird, i always clean everywhere!” He studdered, pouting before slapping a hand against the wall and disappearing into the bathroom.

Letting out a light laugh, she returned to making her call, the sound of Minako explaining her situiation quite apparent if Yosuke was listening in.

He was as quick as he could manage, and waso ut of the shower with a towl on his hips, drying his hair when he left the bathroom. He decided to stay quiet, choosing instead to grab some clean clothes to put on before walking back to the kitchen.

At least once he had finished, she was done talking with work, letting out a sigh of relief. "They understood. Just really sad to be hearing that I'm leaving them." She said, looking over at him. "...You sure you'll be fine?" she asked one last time.

He smiled sadly, walking over to the woman and wrapping his arms around her, kissing her lips lightly and choosing to remain silent for a moment.   “…you know the answer. No matter what, I can’t stop it.  Please, don’t put it off for me. You’ve been doing it for god knows how long and that makes me feel guilty enough that I didn’t ask sooner. So please, don’t worry about me.”

"You know how I am down to the wire." She returned his kiss, lingering in his arms for a moment, nodding some.

"I wish we could do more." She said, closing her eyes for a moment. Once she left his embrace, she gave him a sad smile. "I'm...gonna make my way to the edge of town. From there..." She trailed off, since she'd be gone after that. "I love you Yosuke. Take care."

He faltered slightly, hands fidgeting at his sides as she pulled away, and he smiled, soft and sad, and nodded.   “….I love you, Minako. I’ll see you later.” He said, giving the girl a small wave before shoving hands in his pockets to hide how tight they were gripped.

With the farewells taken care of, she started towards the door of the house they shared, opening it. Taking one last turn to take it in, she gave it one sad smile, waving away towards Yosuke and everything, then heading on off towards the edge of town. Taking a deep breath, she continued along, focusing on the universe arcana inside of her. "...Time to return from where it began." She said softly, finding herself once again disappearing fromt he world.