It was late one Saturday night when Minato Arisato finally returned home from his walk about the shrine. It was close to midnight, but knowing that the Dark Hour was finally gone, his thoughts trailed far away from the battles that they had in the floors of Tartarus, and more closer to a crimson-eyed girl with the twenty-two on the side of her head. Shaking his head absentmindedly to suppress the happy memories he had with her, he only then realised that he wasn't alone in the dorm lounge.

On the sofa was the familiar girl in pink with side-swept brown hair. Yukari.

"Oh. It's you." She put down her phone on the coffee table, her beaded bracelet clinking against the glass. The noise caught Minato's attention, and he shifted his gaze to the object in particular.

Yukari noticed the sudden change in his movements. "She gave it to me on my birthday."

Ah, yes. She always made those for any special occasion, whether it was a dorm mate's birthday, or the small dinner parties they had. To "make sure we stay friends throughout everything." The guys were somewhat embarrassed to be seen wearing that, but she knew they treasured it- the girls on the other hand wore them proudly.

He diverted his gaze away, looking around at the room. Empty. "Why are you the only one up at this hour?"

"I could ask you the same thing." She gave him a sharp, embittered look, well aware that he was out at the shrine again, reliving his fond memories of her. It had been over a month now and he still maintained his daily visits, much to their chagrin. "I couldn't sleep."

Silence.

She glanced at him again after looking at her feet for a few moments. "Sit."

Minato did as he was told, hands in his pockets, ready to retract back into his quiet shell. After she left he reverted back to how he was after his parents had died- solemn, silent and brooding. He was never really one to be cheerful for long anyway. Not like she was.

The silence stretched out yet again, almost tangible, suffocating. He looked down at his black pants, wondering what to say, until Yukari took a deep breath and spoke.

"She's still here, you know," she murmured, staring at the beaded bracelet. "Through all of us."

He nodded.

"She…she was so much more to you, wasn't she?"

What was the point in asking all of this? Yukari knew of the unspoken bond that she and Minato shared, the one that Akihiko got suspicious of whenever he gave her glances, the ones Yukari would never get from Minato.

Yukari gripped the fabric of her pink dress. "I loved her too. But at the same time, I…I was jealous of her."

He shifted his silver eyes in her direction. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, genuinely curious. She fidgeted a little, but he could tell she had made up her mind about what she wanted to say. She blushed a little as she looked up at him, but the melancholic undertones stayed.

"Closure. The sort that only you can grant me."

"Ah." This isn't what he needed. Not now. Not when his love for her is still fresh in his mind. But he decided to stay all the same- Yukari lost someone precious too. Everyone did. And if he could do this for her, then why not give her what she needed?

She unclenched the handfuls of her dress, turned to him and held her look. "A part of me still wonders if you could ever let her go."

Minato furrowed his eyebrows. "Yukari, I-"

"I know, I know," she interrupted, "I know she meant the world to you, everyone could see it. You don't know how many times Akihiko- senpai expressed his jealousy of you to us. Then again," she sighed, a small smile forming on her face, "He was jealous of Ken- kun too. He even got angry at me for trying to invite her out to a group date, since I didn't want to go alone."

He let himself give a small chuckle, but nothing more than the slight amusement of his senpai getting fussy over a ten- year old's crush on his girlfriend. The nagging feeling of Akihiko's resentment towards him- for being the Messiah who lived through the day the world should have ended, for being the one who remembered what happened when everyone else forgot, for being there for her at times when he couldn't, was still present. It was apparent; every single time Minato came home late from the shrine and he was still awake, Akihiko would attempt a curt nod, but other than that, he left Minato with a cold stillness in the air and a grunt to indicate he was off to bed. Not that he could blame him. The fact that he was meant to be the Messiah with her- what did that indicate? What did that mean to him, the silver haired boxer who fell in love with her, who was entitled to the position to be by her side more than Minato thought he himself deserved?

It was silent again as Yukari collected her thoughts. "She was my best friend, but at the same time I hated the fact that she had your attention. I wanted to be like her, wanted to be liked by everyone for who I was," She glanced at him, "Wanted to grab your attention like she did."

He stayed still.

"I…I sound desperate, don't I?" She laughed nervously, looking down at her bracelet again. He shook his head, but she didn't see it. "I'm ashamed to admit it- I really hate myself for saying this, but, a part of me thought…that if she was out of the picture," Her voice broke, "Then maybe you'd pay a little more attention to me."

She was playing with the bracelet now, trying to calm her nerves as Minato absorbed what she had just said. He was not in the right position to tell her that what she felt was shameful- it was completely human, completely normal. He'd be a hypocrite if he said so- how many times has he felt that way about Akihiko?

The guilt had completely engulfed Yukari, he could tell- she could not stay still, kept picking at the beaded bracelet, as if doing so would grant her the forgiveness and blessing she sought from her best friend.

"Tell me your side," she murmured quietly, "What you felt about her and that might be able to push me to get over it."

Again, Minato wondered, what was the point of this? The many nights he spent with her out in the shrine with Koromaru, the jokes they threw about at each other, the stories they've shared- her laughs, her smiles, her tears- came flooding back into his brain like a river. He was compelled to comply with Yukari's wish, but where does he start? Does he start at the moment he knew he felt more for her, the moment where he knew does crimson eyes would start appearing in his dreams, the manifestation of his love for her? Or does he start at the moment it should have ended, with Akihiko taking her away?

Where should he start?

Minato swallowed, his palms all of a sudden sweaty. He wasn't ready to let her go. He wanted to wallow in his regret over losing her more, let himself get lost in the place that held so many memories of her- hell, if it wasn't for the dorm inhabitants, he would've let himself stay and live at the shrine, rot there for all he cared. But this was bound to happen eventually.

"Start wherever you want." Yukari seemed to have been able to read his torn expression, patiently waiting for him to begin.

"I…" He swallowed again. "She made me think that maybe there was more to living than just breathing."

Yukari stilled. Minato knew he was never that good with describing how he felt, so he struggled to choose his words, fumbling his way around the order of his memories. "She confused me. Maybe that was why I was so drawn to her," he stared at the gaps between the fingers of his hands, "She made me realise that I wanted more than just…going through everything with indifference. I loved her, and that was also probably why I let her do what she wanted, let her take both our places as the Messiah. She's…so selfish." His words quieted. "We could've both shared that burden. But no, she had to take both places alone, left me to carry on in her name as the Messiah who survived." Minato clenched his palms, the anger at what she had done boiling up inside him, the regret and sadness at her departure conflicting and building to a violent crescendo. "I loved her and would've done anything for her if she had just let me."

"Minato…"

"She left me, Yukari. She left us all. All because she was selfless and selfish at the same time." He buried his face in his hands, wondering how anyone could possess such a paradoxical nature as she did. "And we'll never see her again. Not in the afterlife, not in this God-forsaken world, not in a million years."

Yukari paused. "You would've done the same for her."

He made no movement, staying stock still, and she knew she hit a nerve. "You can be just as selfish and selfless as she was," she continued, her voice getting shrill with the severity of her realisation, "And if it hadn't been for her you would've taken your 'rightful place' as the Messiah, right?"

He slowly lifted his face from his hands, looking at her as if she had just slapped him across the face. She stood up, fists shaking. "We would've done the same thing for her. She just wouldn't let us either. We're all suffering because she left us- I hear Mitsuru-senpai crying at night, saying she could've done something to stop her. I know Akihiko- senpai misses her more than he could bear, and Junpei and I-" She bit her lower lip, "We don't have the heart to move any of her stuff around. We wanted to let her room stay the way it was."

A pregnant pause filled the lounge again, as neither knew what to say, until finally Yukari grabbed her phone off the coffee table and started to move her legs towards the stairs. Minato didn't even look at her as she was leaving, and then she turned around, her eyes filled with tears.

"We all miss her more than you can imagine. But she did leave us one thing- her legacy. We have to carry on and do the best we can, like she did. And I know that's not your thing, but that's all we've got left."

She climbed up the stairs and left Minato in silent contemplation.

It was a Sunday morning and Minato found himself at the empty shrine yet again, twirling a sunflower he had bought in his hand. She loved sunflowers, but the plants seemed too cheery for him. It suited her though, and he was completely fine with that.

This was where he had spent almost all of his time with her in quiet pleasantries, chatting as they ate takoyaki and placed coins in the offertory box for a bright future. He was never one for supernatural beliefs, but she placed an innocent faith in it- "It gives me motivation to work, helps me stay optimistic!" – So he tried to do so too.

It seemed like her spirit was embodied in every nook and cranny of the place.

"You and I get along so well, Minato," she laughed, "It's almost like we were meant to complement each other."

And somewhere, he knew, some sort of entity would probably agree to such a thing.

"I talked to Yukari last night," He murmured to the gentle breeze passing through the area as he stood next to the familiar wooden bench, hoping it will deliver his belated, pointless words of regret and remorse to her. "I didn't want to just yet, but I guess it was about time to get a move on."

He clutched on to the sunflower tightly. Yukari was right, of course- he just didn't want to accept that yet, turned away from it to punish himself for his self-inflicted failure at his inability to bear the burden of the Great Seal with her. But she chose it for herself, knew what she was getting into, and he had to respect her choice, and live on in her place for her.

"Thanks for everything," he placed the sunflower on the shrine bench, his fingers feeling the textures. "I loved you- I still do, but I know you can get pushy when it's time." He smiled tenderly as he gazed at the sunflower, his fingers tracing over a beaded bracelet on his right wrist. "I'll be okay, Minako."

Minato left, fading into the sunlight of the day.