Story Title: Forgiveness

Author: Mathais

Rating: M

Fandom: Persona 3

Warnings: BL, December Spoilers

Pairings: Akihiko/Minato

Summary: The aftermath of Ryoji's revelations leaves SEES shaken, and no one feels this more than Minato, who is distanced from his friends and boyfriend. Forgiveness and reparation have to start from somewhere though.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and elements of Persona 3.

Notes: Fill for the Persona kink meme prompt located here: shirakawablvd. livejournal 1014. html? thread=848374#t 848374. Prompt at the end of the story.

OoOoO

"...So until then, let's just try to live our lives as normally as possible."

Though he nodded along with the rest of SEES, Minato couldn't help the icy cold tendril that entered his heart. It took every bit of his poise to remain steady as he gathered himself, carefully not meeting anyone's eyes.

As normally as possible? Hah. What did normal mean for a group of high school students by day and powerful Shadow-fighting force by night?

A traitorous thought crossed his mind that normal was the way that SEES had come together, from being a group of disparate fighters barely associated with each other into an unbreakable bond forged in the fires of the underworld.

He squashed it.

Because he knew the power of the bonds between people, he also knew how easily that power could damage as much as it empowered.

...he honestly wasn't feeling all that part of a group right now.

He felt more alone now that he had even at the start of the year, and part of him cursed the fact that he now knew what it meant to have real, true friends for whom he would do anything.

And that wasn't even touching the whole bag of relationship-related worms.

Minato was stiff as he stood, but then he felt a cautious hand on his shoulder.

"Minato," came Akihiko's quiet voice, low and serious. "We need to talk."

"And what is it you want to talk about, Akihiko-senpai?" Minato deliberately stressed the honorific and took perverse pleasure in the way that Akihiko flinched and the rest of SEES cleared out.

He had a reputation for quiet warmth, and even when he hadn't interacted with the world that much, his distance had been described as polite but still somehow warm, inoffensive yet calming.

None of that warmth was in his tone at the moment. His voice was frigid as a blizzard, sharper due to the lack of the habitual laziness in his words. When he looked at Akihiko, his eyes were frigid chips of flint that said what his words did not.

"It's about... About what Ryoji told us," Akihiko said.

"You've all made your positions on that quite clear," he replied.

Akihiko shifted uncomfortably but held his ground. His hands clenched and unclenched before he finally settled himself and said, "I don't think this is a conversation we should have in public."

"Let's go to my room then, and we can discuss things there." There was no way in hell that he was going to Akihiko's room and putting himself in his territory. There weren't any neutral locations to go to that would afford them the privacy they needed, and besides, Minato wanted to be in control of the surroundings.

"All right then," agreed Akihiko.

Minato turned and exited the doorway, noting how Ken and Fuuka had lingered outside the door. He gave them a calm but emotionless glance as he went by, Akihiko close by but without any of the shy, subtle contact that they had quickly become known for as soon as they got together. Whenever Akihiko attempted to reach forward, Minato shifted away in a quiet but clear rejection. Fuuka gave them an uneasy glance in response to this byplay, while Ken shuffled nervously in place, shrinking under Minato's gaze.

"We'll be all right," Minato said tonelessly.

"If you're sure," Fuuka hesitantly responded. Minato gave her a nod as he and Akihiko descended to Minato's room.

When the door sealed shut behind them, Minato looked at Akihiko, not even bothering to offer him a seat. He didn't cross his arms, but there was definite impatience in his gaze.

"I just... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," Akihiko said. "I'm sorry for how distant I've been acting this past week."

Minato raised one cool eyebrow.

"It's just... It's a lot to hear about, you know? That our battle will end in an unstoppable foe. And then Ryoji," Akihiko couldn't keep the bristle of irritation out of his voice at the name, "tells us that he lived inside you for all those years, and that you coming here made everything come up."

"...so you blame me," Minato said in defeat. Though it was what he expected, it still sent a pang of hurt flashing through the ice he mustered around himself. His best friend resented him in ways that he thought he'd dealt with before, his circle of friends—the ones with whom he trusted his life—were acting distant, and now even his boyfriend was rejecting him. He was entirely prepared to shove Akihiko out of the room and just curl up in bed, ready to give up on the rest of the day.

"A part of me does blame you, yes—" Akihiko admitted, and Minato was done.

"Get out."

Never had words Minato spoken ever come out so harsh, like the ice of Niflheim had condensed into his voice. It wasn't the apathy Minato used to be known for—it was a cold fury which shut down anything and everything.

Akihiko flinched and took a step back. "What—-"

"Get out," Minato repeated, brushing past Akihiko to fling open the door. He pointed out and said, never raising his voice, "Get out of here, Akihiko."

"But—"

"You made yourself quite clear, and I don't want to hear it. The exit's right here, so you can show yourself out before I make you get out."

"Dammit, Minato!" Akihiko suddenly roared, hands clenched into fists. "Shut up and listen to me!"

For all of Akihiko's force, Minato didn't retreat, not even to flinch. His voice still remained quiet, but it held all of the power of a blizzard. "You've said enough."

"And you're still not listening to me!" Akihiko shouted again. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry! I needed some time to get my head together!"

"And you're still blaming me. All this week, my best friend refuses to talk to me, all of the people I care about don't meet my eyes, and I haven't been able to even sit down with my boyfriend." Each word was punctuated with all of the frost in Minato's body, and his eyes were narrowed into a glare that would have done Mitsuru proud. "I didn't ask for any of this, Akihiko, and since you're all scapegoating me—"

"—that's not—"

"—I don't need to hear it," Minato ignored Akihiko's protests. "Get out and leave me alone."

He was tired. He felt tired and defeated in ways that he hadn't felt in so long. Part of Minato wondered if he would hurt as much if he'd never known what friendship truly was, if he had the same apathy toward life that used to define him.

"I won't, because you won't let me finish!" Akihiko again shouted, and when Minato met his gaze, a sliver of heat went through his heart at what he thought were tears welling into those usually clear eyes. "You won't let me finish, Minato... What I wanted to say was that a small part of me does blame you, but the rest of me knows it's not your fault! I just needed to convince my head that my heart was right, that's all! That's all..." Akihiko trailed off, and though there was still determination in those eyes, Minato could see the hurt lurking in the edges.

Minato's ice cracked and splintered under a fresh wave of warmth and self-loathing. He idly shut the door behind him with his foot, well aware of how sounds travel and knowing that the rest of SEES was hovering just out of sight. Now that he wasn't focused on maintaining the cold, the deliberate distance, Minato felt like he could see clearly for the first time.

"Akihiko," Minato said, injecting all of his emotions into the one word. Every bit of his own inner turmoil, before walled in the ice, but the affection and that feeling which was perilously close to something that he would not name—those as well.

Minato stepped into Akihiko's space, looking up into those eyes that he had fallen for so long ago and only recently decided could be his. He looked up and brushed away a small tear that had formed at the corner with his thumb. A small smile formed on his face, answering Akihiko's own wavering smile, as he cradled Akihiko's head before gently tilting it down so their lips could meet.

...Honestly, what a pair they were. For all that they were fighters on the front line of a never-ending battle, they were also just teenagers. Stupid teenagers who lived as hard as they fought, and even if they had resolution and self-knowledge that not only matched but also surpassed those of many adults, they were all too human as well.

But there was beauty in this too, Minato thought as he drew back. Though his retreat was arrested by Akihiko's arms encircling his body, he didn't mind. Beauty in the forgiveness that can spawn from fury and apathy, in the endless possibilities of the future.

"I'm sorry, Akihiko," Minato said quietly.

Akihiko leaned down and placed his forehead against Minato's. He was warm, Minato decided. "I'm sorry too, Minato."

Forgiveness didn't solve everything. Shards of ice, of anger and pain and his desperate attempts to save himself from both, still littered his emotions.

But as Minato pushed Akihiko backward, as Akihiko's legs hit the edge of his bed and brought them both down, and as Minato kissed Akihiko with everything he had, he figured that it would be all right.

OoOoO

Prompt: One week after the characters found out about your little "problem" and the guys are ignoring or are pissed at you... then Mitsuru asks the SEES to live life as normally as possible.

Thus, I like to see a fill where the boyfriend/girlfriend reconciled with the MC/FeMC right after that meeting (since they were pissed about this too... I do not want the hate to magically be gone by Christmas Eve without a scene!)

LONG STORY SHORT: MAKE-UP SEX TIEM PLZ?

Postscript Notes: Yeah, no sex this time... Only a fade to black.

I like Akihiko/Minato so much, but I can't help but feel a little guilty that every happy ending I give them is all obliterated a couple months after... And then I keep thinking of how Akihiko would feel during The Answer as Aigis inherits his strength, and all he could think is to look forward into the world that Minato protected... Maybe I should write a tag to The Answer from an Akihiko/Minato perspective.