PERSONA 3 RED and BLUE ( COMPLETED )

To be alive - Part 2

The weather was already cold in the winter , and yet the ice rink was still lively with many people skating in it , including , children , families , college students and couples on a date . However , one couple was different , and that was Shinjiro and Minako . Shinjiro could only stare silently at Minako as she slipped and slid left and right , with absolutely no control over her momentum .

" take a deep breath ... deep breath ... okay , I think I got it ... " Minako stuttered , but her assumption was proven wrong when she slipped and fell back on her back , and continued to slid slowly while lying on her back until bumping her foot into Shinjiro's foot , and seeing him glare her from above " ahaha ... well , I've learned a lot about how to skate already ! I'm sure by the end of the day I'll at least be able to stand ! "

" you looked like a cat who suddenly found itself lost in the Antarctic pole " Shinjiro sighed " why the hell did you bring me here if you don't know how to skate ? "

" I'm ... I'm willing to ... learn ... now ... " Minako struggled to stand up , before giving up and raising her hand " a little help , please ... I can't stand ... "

" haha ! That girl doesn't know how to skate ! She looks like ... like ... " children we're starting to make fun of Minako , but when they noticed Shinjiro furiously and silently glaring at them , they hesitated a second before yelling " mama ! That angry man is scaring me !!! " and escaping

" unbelievable ... " Shinjiro sighed , as he helped Minako back on her feet " see ? You're making a joke out of yourself ! People are watching ! "

" well ... woah ! I ... ooh ! " Minako struggled to stand still as her feet slipped " why don't you ... aah ! ... why don't you ... teach me already ?! "

" because you said nothing about your laughable skating skills until we were in the middle of the rink !!! "

" oh ... okay ... " Minako laughed gullibly " well ... can you teach me now ? "

To teach her , Shinjiro decided to go about it the same way one might teach a toddler how to walk . He held her hands , and began skating backward , telling her to slide slowly . He was strict in his tone , and stern in his command , but as the two of them skated around the rink , he could see a content smile on Minako's face . Shinjiro lost himself in that smile , and soon enough his back bumped into the border of the rink , halting his skating. Minako was unprepared for that sudden stop , and bumped into Shinjiro's embrace , but she didn't step back .

" you're ... so warm ... Shin-chan ... " she muttered

" you moron ! Not in public like this , get back ! " Shinjiro looked at the people around him , they were at first staring at an clumsy girl learning how to skate , now the scene before them was more of an affectionate couple having a bonding moment . Shinjiro felt the blood rushing to his head and his face turned red , and he tried to push Minako back " c'mon , this is embarrassing ... ! "

" please ... just for a few moments ... " Minako buried her face in Shinjiro's coat , and it was admittedly difficult to tell for sure , but it seemed from her voice that she was crying

" I see ... " Shinjiro hugged her back

After that , the two of them silently agreed to step out of the rink . By the time they had left the rink , Minako had calmed down , and she was cheerfully talking about how much fun she had in the ice rink . Before Shinjiro could ask her what she wanted to do next , she took him to a clothes store , saying that his red coat was looking worn out . Even though Shinjiro preferred his old coat , Minako promised him that she'd find him something he liked more . After some time they stepped out of the store , with a bag that had Shinjiro's new coat .

" well ? Do you want to wear it now ? " Minako presented the bag to him " it looks identical to the one you have , except this one is more alive !"

" sure ... let's do that ... " Shinjiro took the coat from her hand and began wearing it , but he stopped as he noticed a box in it . He took it out and saw that it was a box filled with heart-shaped chocolate " hm ? What's this ? "

" early valentine chocolate , what do you think ? "

" but today isn't valentine ... "

" yeah ... that won't be until February ... "

" we're going to defeat Nyx , Minako ! " Shinjiro said sternly " we talked about this before ! "

" I know ! I know ! I just ... " Minako sighed " I felt more comfortable giving it to you now ... just ... consider it for all the valentine days that you missed out on , okay ? "

" then you'd better do something more special on valentine day this year " Shinjiro said firmly , as he wanted to strengthen Minako's will to live

" I know ! I know ! I'll invite you to my room on that day , but we just gotta make sure that Minato isn't in the dorm then ! "

" okay ... wait ! What ?! " Shinjiro realized what Minako meant " you don't mean ... ! "

" I'm kidding , silly ! You should've seen your face ! " Minako laughed teasingly " but I still want valentine this year to be the best , so let's defeat Nyx so we can hopefully live long enough until then ! "

" I ... I see ... "

" anyway , it's getting late , let's go back to the dorm "

When Shinjiro stepped with Minako outside , they were met with the extremely cold weather . As they stood in the bus stop and waited fir the bus back fo the dorm , Shinjiro noticed Minako shivering in her place from the cold . Hesitantly , he hugged her with his coat , just as he did back in the autumn . Minako sighed in satisfaction , as she felt Shinjiro's heat warming her shivering body .

" Shin-chan ... remember what you said about how the promises we made gave you the resolution to live ? " she mumbled " after we defeat Nyx ... let's come to this ice rink , with everyone "

" yes , that would be great "

" but to that ... I have to practice ... I can't embarrass myself then as I did today ! "

" don't worry , I'll teach you "

" hehe ... I can't wait ... "

Only two weeks remain before the promised day ...

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