XXII: Moon

MOON IV

"An alias ?"

Minako said the word as if it tasted bad, prompting Shinjiro to roll his eyes. It was a small miracle he'd even thought ahead to this point, in his opinion. She didn't have to make a fuss whenever he drew attention to their predicament instead of ignoring it flat-out.

"Unless you'd rather be Minato's long lost twin sister, I don't think a fake name would hurt," he argued, feeling pretty comfortable in his justification. "You guys look nothing alike, anyway. Just pick something, it'll save us a big headache later."

He knew he won because she made a face at him instead of replying. It was nice to have a say in things again.

Not that anything was really normal anymore, but the next few days were pretty uneventful. Shinjiro was able to more or less get on with his life, the daily flow only ever being interrupted by his constantly vibrating phone. Texting was apparently Minako's preferred form of communication now, and it was taking some getting used to on his part. She typed so damn fast sometimes that he couldn't keep up. He figured her brain probably went a mile a minute and that was why she always had so much to say.

They met up again before the next week ended, working on a game plan and not doing much else with their time together. Shinjiro never thought he would miss hanging out at the dorm, but at least they could occasionally get away from other people there. There was no time to discuss what their relationship was shaping up to be, and he understood why. Hell, it made sense to focus on everything else that had come up instead.

But, still. The timing being bad didn't keep him from wondering. Often.

Minako was eager to get back into the fray, of course. She admitted to patrolling her college dormitory during the Dark Hour every day that week, and didn't falter in the slightest when he scolded her for it. If shadows attacked any of her classmates, she'd argued, who else would be able to intervene?

He didn't like admitting it, but she was right. Truth be told, he got into the habit of watching the kids at Escapade during the Dark Hour for the same reason. He was a born a hypocrite, and she knew that about him. He valued her safety over his own. He valued nearly everybody's safety over his own, to be fair.

The two of them were relieved, at the very least, that nothing seemed to change much since last time.

Most of the shadows roaming around were puny, or bothersome at worst. Castor could make short work of any runts, and he was easier to handle without the suppressants clouding everything.

They made a point to dig up a calendar and keep track of the moon, figuring that maybe old habits die hard where monsters are concerned too. It didn't hurt to be prepared for something big and bad to show its ugly mug somewhere around the city, and the full moon was fast approaching. He definitely wasn't ready to be an optimist yet, but things were going smoothly for once. It was a good change of pace, and that's all he was willing to say on the subject.

Something about finally meeting up with Aki made him feel a bit uneasy, though.

If their dozens of vaguely herculean goals troubled Minako at all, however, it was anyone's guess. They spent most of their face-to-face time getting their story straight and going over what might be better omitted entirely.

For instance, he didn't think explaining their meeting with those two blue assholes was worth the effort. Minako curtly reminded him that they were her friends. He gave a reluctant apology, but insisted that he was right.

They eventually agreed that the conversation with Elizabeth and Theo would be best kept between the two of them.

"Are we missing anything?" Minako's eyes scanned the small notebook in front of her, double checking the notes she'd taken during the past few days while loitering around Paulownia Mall with him. Her thumb and forefinger absentmindedly tugged at her charm necklace, pulling the slim silver chain taut against the back of her neck. It was nice to see how warm and alive her skin looked. "The list of things I'm not supposed to know is pretty big..."