January 1st, 2010.
On New Year's Day, a celebration had begun. A celebration of new beginnings. A celebration of new hope. But for Minato Arisato, the day felt empty. Hopeless. A looming sense of dread hung in the air, for the previous night he had been faced with a truth he did not wish to accept.
"Is facing Nyx really the best decision?"
Ryoji's words echoed through the young man's head. The toll of a bell, one which never stopped ringing, no matter how much he begged for it to stop. A shadow of doubt, cast upon his soul. He told Ryoji no. He told Ryoji that he did not wish to kill him. Even if the world could die if he didn't, he would not kill that boy. He made a promise to fight Nyx when he made that decision. But only now he was starting to question that.
Minato was notorious for his outwardly apathetic attitude, especially in public. But in his head, and behind closed doors, that facade was fully discarded, revealing a very sensitive, very caring man. He cared about his team more than anything. Everyone in S.E.E.S. meant something to him, and each and every one of them would be going up against Nyx. To fight Nyx was to fight death. To fight death is futile. If S.E.E.S. were to fight Nyx, would that not be futile as well? The thought terrified him. That they'd all fall victim to Nyx's wrath. He could have stopped that, right? If he accepted Ryoji's offer, he could have stopped that, right? Right?!
Minato took a deep breath. He knew he couldn't just lay in bed all day long. A new year sprawled out ahead of him, and in one month, the promised day would arrive. Knowing Nyx's arrival was promised then, he made his own promise. A promise to himself. A promise to live this month to the very fullest, as if it were the last he'd ever see, because as far as he knew, it very well could be.
He climbed out of bed and began his day.
"Happy new year, Senpai!"
Those were the first words Ken spoke to Minato that day. Those words would be repeated again and again and again, each time from a different mouth than the last. But no matter how much he heard it as he was dragged about a festival by his friends, the new year never became happy to him. He was trapped in a cage, a cage of his own thoughts. No matter how many jokes Junpei cracked, no matter how much food Kotone shared throughout the team, nothing kept his mind off of the impending doom he knew would come. He was so distracted by his thoughts, in fact, that he had not even realized how late it had gotten until a certain Junpei Iori spoke up.
"Helloooo? Earth to Minato, this is Junpei speaking!"
Minato snapped out of his thoughts immediately as Junpei spoke to him.
"H-Huh? Oh, um, what is it?"
"You alright, man? You've been out of it all freakin' day."
"All day?"
He thought on that statement. Was it really all day? Surely he wasn't spacing out for that long.
"What time is it...?" Minato asked, a tad cautiously.
Junpei let out a hefty sigh.
"It's goin' on 11 PM! The group is headin' back to the dorm."
That got Minato's attention. 11:00 PM. Already a day in and he'd forgotten his promise. He was worrying too much to notice.
"Oh, uh, go on without me." Minato exclaimed, his words both blunt and empty at the same time. "I... just need a moment."
"Alright, alright. But get back to the dorm before the Dark Hour starts, okay? We don't need you injured 'cause you're too busy brooding and lose track of time."
Junpei chuckled at his own joke. Minato nodded in agreement, a false smile forming on his face as well. Junpei meant no harm, and Minato took no offense. But even so, he could even not bring himself to genuinely smile at Junpei's playful teasing.
Minato decided to take a seat on the ground as the rest of the group walked off into the distance. He stared up into the moon, knowing it could be one of the last ones he'd ever see. The gentle glow the moon reflected onto the Earth below. He wouldn't be able to see that again. With that thought bouncing around in his head, he began to tear up...
"Minato?"
A voice! Minato held his tears back, stood up, and turned to see a girl with brown hair, dressed in a red kimono. Her eyes were filled with worry, worry for the one she held so dear. Worry for a person who showed her understanding during times of need, a person who showed her unconditional support every time she needed it, and every time she didn't. A person she loved, and a person who loved her back. He felt her worry, and by extension became even more worried himself.
"O-Oh, um, Yukari. I thought you and everyone else went back to the dorm."
"I was. But Junpei said you wanted to stay behind for a moment. I got worried, so I decided to come check on you."
"Well... you don't gotta worry, Yukari. Everything's o-"
Yukari walked up to him and hugged him mid-word. She knew the truth, even if he tried to suggest he was fine. He couldn't deny the truth. She saw right through his words. She saw into his heart. Yukari held him in silence for a moment. Knowing she was there... Minato felt a small bit more comfortable. Enough to finally express that truth he hid, but so desperately wanted to get out. Tears once again formed in his eyes as he returned her embrace, clutching her and burying his eyes in her shoulder, letting every tear he had kept welled up loose.
Ten seconds passed.
Then a minute.
Then ten minutes.
Only then did he speak up again.
"I-I'm so scared, Yukari..." Minato sobbed, his voice quavering, tears running down his face. "I'm not ready..."
"Not ready for what?"
"I'm not ready to go... I'm not ready to let everyone go..."
Yukari briefly fell silent, allowing herself time to ponder that sentence before responding. The night before, Ryoji told them Nyx could not be defeated. They would die. And yet for everyone, they had to try.
"I'm not ready to go either, Minato. I don't think any of us are."
"Then why...?! Why do we have to?!"
Minato tried to take a deep breath to calm himself. But as more and more tears flowed from his eyes, he found it harder to breathe...
"Because," Yukari responded, "one way or another, we will die anyway. But think about all of the wonderful people that you know. Think about all of the wonderful people you care about. Do you want them to live?"
"Y-Yeah..."
"Then we gotta fight. Because even if we die fighting Nyx, maybe we can make sure all those wonderful people can live."
"B-But Yukari... you're one of those people."
"Hm-?!"
Yukari genuinely wasn't expecting that answer. She spluttered for a second, her cheeks flushed a rosy pink, before pulling herself together and mustering yet another response.
"I-I... thanks, Minato, but you don't gotta worry about me. I'll be okay."
"B-But what about Kotone or Akihiko? They can get reckless sometimes... I can't lose them either."
"They'll be okay too. We all will."
Minato finally took a breath, and a shaky one at that. At least he could breathe now, that's what mattered. Yukari cupped his cheek, gazing up into his eyes.
"Don't give up hope, Minato. We've all come so far together, worked so hard to get here. It doesn't matter if we're ready or not. It matters that we fight as if we are."
Minato sniffled, taking one last breath, and nodded.
"Right... you're right. I can't just mope about. I'm not confident we'll make it out alive, but are people out there who should."
Yukari smiled at him.
"That's more like it. Don't worry, Minato, we're gonna fight Nyx, and we're gonna live to see the next day."
"And if we don't?"
Yukari shakes her head a bit.
"If we don't, we'll at least have fought hard together. Because there's nobody I'd rather fight alongside than you."
Minato fell silent, to take that in, and smiled. For the first time that day, a genuine smile spread across his face.
"Thank you." he said sheepishly. "I guess I'm ready, then."
"Ready to go...?! That was fast."
"N-No, not that... I'm... ready to go through with my promise."
Yukari tilted her head to the side curiously. What did that mean? "What promise...?"
"I promised myself that I was gonna live my life to the fullest for this month. Just in case it's my last month on Earth."
"That's a pretty good promise. Can I join in?" Yukari asked playfully.
Minato chuckled a tiny bit. "Sure. The more, the merrier."
Yukari smiled wider, tightening her embrace on Minato and burying her face in his chest. She took a second to speak once more. "I'll make a promise to you, too, then. From now until we fight Nyx, I'll stay by your side. Can you promise me that too?"
Minato looked down at her, her eyes glistening in the moonlight. Although the night sky was dark, he felt as if Yukari was purely glowing, her smile, beautiful and caring, calming his restless soul. "I can do better than that." He exclaimed confidently.
Mimicking what she had done to him earlier, Minato cupped his hand around her cheek, gently raising her chin to let their eyes meet.
"I promise you, Yukari, that no matter the trials and tribulations we face, regardless of the hardships the world puts us through, from now until the moment I die, I will never leave you."
Yukari flushed bright pink once again as he says those words. From anyone else, she would have passed those words off as dramatic. But Minato was different. He was someone who truly, genuinely loved her with all his heart. She could feel a weight to his words that she knows she wouldn't have felt if someone else said them.
The moonlight shined down on the couple, illuminating their figures in the otherwise pitch black night. The day, once full of anxiety and terror, had become something wholly different, something passionate and warm. The two figures stared deeply into one another, both completely mesmerized by the other. They inched closer and closer, and as the clock continued counting down to the promised day, their lips met in the center, the gentle warmth of the bonds they held reinforced.