As the hours advanced , the weather became windier , and snow began falling down in greater amounts . Thankfully , by then , the students had their fun of the mountain and were now ready to return to the hotel . There was one girl who wasn't ready to go back , however , and that was Minako .
" hey ! Has anyone seen Minato ?! " she anxiously asked " we got separated when he was looking for my bag , but did he get back yet ?! "
The other students were nervous to learn that Minato was missing , for just one look at the window was enough to tell them that the snowy weather outside was horrible , and any person who would be outside might freeze to death .
" I'll ... I'll look for him ... ! " Minako started
" if you go outside , you'll also get lost ! " Shinjiro held her in place " you're not going out there alone ! "
" don't worry , Minako ! " the other students exclaimed " we'll go and look for him together ! "
Minato's search for the bag strayed from the path of the cable rail , as he noticed a trace from where he assumed was where the bag fell , which led into the woods . He assumed the worst, and that was an animal taking interest in the bag and taking it away . When he was following the trace , the weather was still okay , little winds were blowing and only few snowflakes were falling .
He finally found the lost bag by a branch of a tree , and when he picked it up , he saw a hole behind it . Apparently , whatever picked up the bag , be it a rabbit or something of the sort , tried to stuff it inside its home , but it was too big . Minato smiled wearily as he turned back to where he came from .
However , the window was starting to pick up the pace , and it began snowing more and more . Minato realized that the weather was going to get worse soon , so he hastened his pace forward . However , in his effort to make it back quickly , he stepped over a part of the snow that was fragile and shallow. Before he knew it , he was rolling down the mountain , until his back struck a thick tree trunk . Minato felt severe pain all the way in his back , and when he tried to stand up his ankle failed him and he fell to his knees . Thankfully , the trunk he had struck with his back was flat , so nothing impaled him when the trunk halted his momentum . However , the fall still disoriented him , and be began looking around the woods with uncertainty , wondering where he was or where he was headed .
When he tried to walk again , the best he could do was stand up and limp his way forward . The weather was getting colder , and the snowflakes were falling in greater and greater quantities , obstructing the view even further . Walking in that state through so much snow was exhausting , and it made Minato inhale and exhale greedily , but at the same time the cold wind was unbearable to inhale , and it froze his throat and lungs with every breath .
Minato collapsed on his knees once again , and this time he couldn't force himself to stand up . His vision was getting blurrier by the second from the snow and from the exhaustion , his throat and lungs stung him with every inhalation .
" am I ... going to die ... here ... ? " Minato thought as his consciousness faded " I can't .... Not here ... I can't ..... let ...... Minako ......face ....... Al—one...... "
" Minato-san ! Hang in there ... " was the last thing he heard as his vision faded into darkness .
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When Minato opened his eyes again , he saw the beautiful sight of the warm fire by his side , and next to the fire on the other side , sat Aigis . She had taken her coat off to cover Minato with it , along with everything in the place that could be qualified as a blanket or at least a mattress . She did everything she could to warm him up .
" Ai ... aren't you cold ? " Minato said as he tried to focus on his surroundings
" I do not feel cold , Minato-san " Aigis replied earnestly " what is important now is to warm you up "
" what ... what is this place ... ? " Minato looked around him to find himself and Aigis in a small weary cottage , with a small fireplace in the center before which he was lying down . The place also had a broken TV and a shattered window , one that Aigis tried to block with some wooden planks .
" I apologize , but I couldn't find my way back in the blizzard . We can wait here for it to pass " Aigis noticed Minato shivering " if I activate Orgia Mode and let you hug me while I'm overheated , I believe I can warm you up "
" don't do that ! Orgia mode is only for battles , remember ? " Minato nervously replied , by now he was fully conscious " beside , for all I can tell , you will be too hot for me to touch , it'll be like putting your hand in the fire "
" I apologize ... I had seen movies of a boy and a girl getting lost in the blizzard , and they would use the heat of their bodies to warm themselves up "
" I see ... wait! What?! "
" I don't think my cold metallic body would be efficient in warming you up , unless I activate ... "
" okay , stop ! " Minato yelled , his face was completely red by that point " using our bodies to warm us up is a bad idea , period ! Those movies were just trying to shoehorn some fanservice into their shitty movies ! "
" fanservice ? Is it the inclusion of erotic themes in what is supposed to be a none-erotic medium ? "
" no ... well ... I think ... yes ... the way you describe it kinda fits the description "
" what do you think about fanservice , Minato-san ? "
" don't... don't just ask that question ?! " Minato was nervous , but the sight of Aigis's eyes that were beaming with curiosity wasn't something he could leave without answers , and he was at least thankful that it wasn't Junpei who had to answer that question this time " I ... I don't like fanservice ... unless it's between two characters that I ship ... "
" shipping ... you don't mean shipping items overseas ... you are referring to the wishful thinking that two fictional characters would be together ? "
" y—yeah ... you know surprisingly a lot about this ... "
" yes , ever since I was aware of my life , I wanted to learn more . I had hoped that you would teach me about life , but the previous weeks had been filled with shocking revelations for you " Aigis said " so you ship fictional characters together , Minato-san ? "
" it's ... it's embarrassing ... but yes ... I ... I do ... " Minato stole a glance at Aigis , and found her staring at him with interest
" what couples do you ship ? "
" well , my sister is a shipping fanatic , she basically ships anyone and everyone , be it a hero and a villain , a nerd and a bully and even characters that only looked at each other for a brief moment ! Sometimes she even used to ship characters with a character she made up , and some of her ships render me speechless ! " Minato was encouraged by Aigis's intent gaze and began talking more , almost forgetting the situation they were in " as for me , I only ship characters that are clearly in love with each other , like Cosmos and Null ... I mean the two of them basically just say they're in love with each other , you can't ignore that ! "
" like Minako-san and Shinjiro-san ? " Aigis smiled
" yeah ... I would ship them , too ... except they're not fictional , right ? Or could I be wrong ? " Minato laughed
" if Minako-san and Shinjiro-san are fictional , wouldn't that include us as well ? " Aigis followed Minato's line of joke , and the two fo them laughed
" haha ... yeah ... wouldn't it be awesome if this was all just fantasy ... " Minato sighed " whenever I used to read book or watch a movie , and the suspense becomes too unbearable , I would skip ahead to know what happens . If a character dies , if a secret is revealed . I admit there were times when I wished we could do that to our life "
" Minato-san ... " Aigis tried to bring the subject back to romancing " real life also has shipping , I believe it is called romance , right ? What do you think about romance ? "
" hm ... well ... to be honest ... " Minato blushed " I think it's nice ... "
" do you ship yourself with someone ? " Aigis noticed Minato seemed to be embarrassed , so she asked gently " or do you not want to talk about it ? "
" well ... to be honest ... I used to just try and ignore it " Minato laughed wryly " I was always worried for my sister's sake , and I thought that when she finds someone besides me she can trust , I could then start listening to what my heart tells me "
" and what does your heart tell you now ? "
" this may sound like I'm making excuses , but it's not ... " Minato sighed " my heart is telling me that I can't protect anyone the way I am , so searching for love will only bring me pain . Maybe when this is all over , I can give it some thought "
" I see ... " Aigis nodded thoughtfully
" what about you , Aigis ? " Minato smiled " do you ship any duo together ? "
" I ship Alma and Null " Aigis smiled back " this contradicts your ship , though "
" I don't really mind , shipping is just a passive time for me " Minato laughed as he continued with " just make sure you don't say that to Minako , or she wouldn't shut up until she convinces you her ships are cannon ! "
" Minato-san ... when we save the world , I would love to talk with you more . Seeing the world from your eyes , and sharing your perspective with mine . We can do that , right? " Aigis said earnestly and hopefully , knowing well that Minato's powers could end his life to save the world
" yes ... we can do that ... " Minato nodded , And Aigis felt happy to her his response
An anxious knock on the door startled them , and their eyes darted to the door . Another knock affirmed that someone was at the door , and Aigis stood up to see who they were . As soon as she looked outside , she quickly turned back to Minato with a hopeful look in her eyes .
" Minato-san ! It's our friends , they found us ! "
Aigis opened the door , and almost instantly the members of SEES entered the room . Among them , Minako was overjoyed to see Minato . She was so happy , she jumped over Minato , who could only sit still and wait for her to fall on him . The others quickly circled him to check on his condition . Thankfully , besides his twisted ankle , he wasn't all that hurt . With the help of their teachers , they managed to bring him back to the hotel .
———————————
As Minato sat down in the hotel lounge , drinking a mug of hot chocolate , he gave his sister her precious bag . Minako was just thankful that her brother was safe , to the point where she actually forgot about the bag until Minato gave it to her . She was even happier to know that what was inside was safe , too . Minato realized how eager his sister was to showing Shinjiro her gift , so he encouraged her to go to him , and assured her that he was fine and that he wasn't going anywhere .
Shinjiro was standing by the window , staring at the calming sight of the snow outside , when he noticed from the corner of his eyes Minako skipping toward him . The girl had a happy expression on her face , a smile that had been rather absent for the past weeks , but now it was clear for him to see .
" you really do look the best when you smile like that " Shinjiro smiled back
" hehe ... shut up , Romeo ! " Minako laughed as she lightly and playfully punched him in the shoulder , then she began rummaging through her bag , before taking out a blue scarf , and declared proudly " my first original work ! Every other woven ... thing ... I've ever brought to you was done with a helping hand ! This is the first scarf that I've ever made on my own ! "
" huh ... I always thought the scarf you wrapped us up with on Christmas was your first work "
" I ... uh ... yeah , true ... well , I suppose this is my first successful work ! " Minako sticked her tongue playfully " but I still liked the one we wore on Christmas , I'd love to wear it again next year ! "
" yeah , next year " Shinjiro was happy to hear Minako talk about next year , it made him believe that she isn't planning anything in their final battle " next week , we're going to ice rink in Paulownia mall , I hope you're ready "
" next week ?! I'm still not good enough at skating on ice ! "
" there's plenty of time for you to train , and I'll teach you " Shinjiro grinned " beside , you can at least stand now , right ? "
" that's ... that's not enough ! " Minako protested " you don't know my brother like I do , sometimes he can be such a troll ! I can imagine his silly grin as he watches me slip and slide all over the place ! "
" I don't think he's like that ... "
" that's what he'll have you believe , Shin-chan ! I lived with him long enough to see through his shenanigans ! He can be kind , helpful and supportive , but somewhere deep in his personality is a sass switch ! "
" a ... a what ? "
" a sass switch ! You flip it , and you get a troll that will have entire groups crying and deleting their accounts off of the face of the entire internet ! You can tell he's about to troll you when he's wearing a mischievous grin on his face ! "
" hey ... listen ... " someone poked Minako from behind
" don't interrupt me , I'm talking here ! " Minako brushed them aside
" by grin , you mean this ? " Minako turned to see her brother , wearing an evil smirk on his face
" yeah , thanks for the demo , bro bro ... " Minako turned back to an amused Shinjiro " see , what did I tell you ?! One time he told Ken that he drinks his coffee with hot sauce , and poor Ken actually believed him ! You can never be ... too careful ... around ... " it was then that Minako realized that Minato was right behind her " M—M—Minato ?!! What are you doing here ?!! "
" I just came to see how intimate you are with SHinChAN ... and boy are you so intimate ! " Minato said sassily , mockingly saying Shinjiro's nickname " I can see that there are no secrets between you and him , you would gladly undress me before him if you felt like it ! "
" that's ... that's not it ! " Minako hastily tried to stop him , as she could see he was about to go down . Shinjiro was behind her , amusedly staring at a side of Minato that he hadn't seen before
" I mean ... you gladly told him about my adventure with Akihiko senpai in the hot springs of Kyoto , I don't see why I shouldn't express my gratitude ... "
" You're having 25% of my pocket money for the next year ! "
" anyway , where was I ... ? "
" half of it ! You're getting half of it ... for two consecutive years ! "
" hmm... that won't be necessary ... I had my fun ... " Minato smiled with satisfaction as he walked away
" ... see what I have to live with ? " Minako exhaustedly turned to Shinjiro " I mean ... I really like Minato , but he can be horrifying sometimes ! He basically came here for no reason other than to give me a miniature stroke ! "
" you're really close , aren't you ? You can basically understand each other even without one of you fully speaking their mind " Shinjiro grinned " so when do you plan to tell me your secrets , Minako ? I mean , we did kiss , so I suppose there's little between us now "
" Shin-chan ... please ... " Minako was on the verge of tears from stress " I promise you that I won't keep a secret from you ... but the embarrassing ones require psychological preparation in advance , okay ? "
" okay ... okay ... sure ... " Shinjiro laughed teasingly , then his eyes veered to the blizzard outside " so , tomorrow we're coming back to Iwatodai ? "
" yup ... we don't have much time left before the final battle " Minako looked at the window as well , then she turned to Shinjiro and said firmly " Shin-chan , let's win back our future ! Whatever happens , we're not backing down now ! "
" of course " Shinjiro nodded back " by the time we go back to Iwatodai and rest , we'll probably only have three days left , so we should use them wisely to prepare for the final battle "
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Well , that wraps up the trip to Niseko , as well as the last moment of calm before the final boss . There's one more part to publish so I could patch some holes that I left behind , then we're diving headfirst into the final battle . I hope you enjoy this story to the end , and stay safe .