{ Butterfly Hearts }
Title: Butterfly Hearts
Fandom: Persona 3
Pairing, Characters: Shinjiro/FMC, Aigis
Word Count: 1047
Comm & Prompt: 78_tarot : Chariot
Rating: PG13
"Shinjiro-san."
His hand freezes on the doorknob as though it's been given an electric shock. Great, just great. Robot girl has issues to settle with him too.
Shinjiro turns around, and sure enough, the blonde, blue-eyed mechanical girl is looking at him quizically from down the hallway. He doesn't think that he saw her when he was coming down the stairs- so was she following him? Or was she already hidden downstairs, waiting to strike?
"I have a question for you." She walked forward, her words about as flat and dead as the potted plant on the sideboard that Junpei had tried to take care of and then accidentally killed during the typhoon.
He let the doorknob slip. Yeah, it wasn't like he was going anywhere with their heavy artillery in the way. He was good, don't get him wrong, but an axe going up against bullets is just asking for it. "So what is it? Let's get this over with."
"Yes." Her expression is dark, foreboding. "Where is it you go when you go out at night with her?"
Shinjiro has to take a step back. It's not that Aigis has moved forward or acted like she was going to attack, more that he's just surprised. He's been expecting that she'll ask about him and Ken, that she'll have figured their whole plan out already and is trying to put a stop to it. But no, she's just worried about him and...that girl.
He shifts his weight from one foot to another, uncomfortable. "Just out places. Restaurants and stuff. What's it to you?"
Aigis fixes him with a stare searching enough that he feels like she's trying to scan him for levels of truthfulness. Could she even do that? All he's heard is that she's a machine that was built to hunt Shadows, but if she was designed by the Kirijo Company then he wouldn't put it past them to have added on a few extra features. But he doesn't give in, instead meeting her stare with a cold enough glare of his own.
"I...am not sure."
Shinjiro rolls his eyes. "You wouldn't ask if it didn't mean something to you. Why are you so concerned?"
This time it is Aigis who seems unsure, something shifting through the cogs of her mind slowly, a great though winding its way through an assembly line of philosophies and sub-processes on the way to her mouth. "She is," the robot thinks this through, tasting each word that presents itself to her for appropriateness, finally settling on, "special to me. I need to stay close to her. To protect her."
Yeah, well, so did he. Except that he doesn't have the unending lifespan of a robot to bask in the possibility. Today is the last day in September. He's already starting to feel the anxiety gnawing away at him, threatening to topple his self-control, overturn everything that he's worked so hard to construct. Every time he goes out with her at night like this, it seems like one more layer of his secrecy is burnt away and he gets one step closer to getting too swept up in her and spilling everything.
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to stop, forget about the whole idea. It wasn't like she would understand him anyway.
Still, as he looks back between the door and the girl, he knows that that's no longer an option. Maybe everyone's getting closer and closer to losing their secrets to each other, except that they have different dates, less known than October 4th, and maybe what he's going through isn't all that uncommon. Shinjiro tries not to snicker, but a small smile flicks across his lips. Imagine, learning something about emotions from a robot.
"She protects a lot of people." He says at last, hand once again finding purchase on the door. "You may not see it because you're trying to protect her all the time, but she's a lot stronger than you'd think. You just have to give her some room to let her show you."
Aigis steps back, her posture less threatening, more contemplative. "Perhaps."
They look at each other, neither giving in.
"I will still protect her, regardless of where it is you and her go." Aigis says, her voice steady and not completely without its quota of distrust. "Just so you know."
"You think I'd do any less?" Shinjiro replied. Hell, he'd seen the way that Akihiko had been looking at her those months before. Jealousy wasn't something that was unfamiliar at this point, especially considering what would happen in five days. He closed his eyes, feeling the panic well up and then becoming master of himself again. It might take a little while before his friend would get over his death, but Shinjiro didn't entertain the notion that Akihiko wouldn't eventually make his move.
He just hadn't expected that the thought of it his best friend going out with that girl would sting so much.
"You and I are not as dissimilar as I thought." Aigis said softly.
"You could say that again." Shinjiro frowned. "She'll be safe."
"Agreed. But she is waiting for you." The robot nodded at the door. "You should go. It's getting late."
Shinjiro nodded in a slight bow and then made his exit. He'd been given permission to go out on a date with a girl by her robotic guardian. The door to the dorm swung open and revealed a girl in red skirt and white sweater waiting for him on the steps, eating an ice cream and holding one out to him. Shinjiro rolled his eyes, but accepted the treat nonetheless.
Five days, and there was nothing left to do but go forward.
He caught a last glimpse of Aigis standing guard in the lounge before shutting the door, then he turned to his companion, who was waiting for him to start walking.
"Let's do this."
Fandom: Persona 3
Pairing, Characters: Shinjiro/FMC, Aigis
Word Count: 1047
Comm & Prompt: 78_tarot : Chariot
Rating: PG13
"Shinjiro-san."
His hand freezes on the doorknob as though it's been given an electric shock. Great, just great. Robot girl has issues to settle with him too.
Shinjiro turns around, and sure enough, the blonde, blue-eyed mechanical girl is looking at him quizically from down the hallway. He doesn't think that he saw her when he was coming down the stairs- so was she following him? Or was she already hidden downstairs, waiting to strike?
"I have a question for you." She walked forward, her words about as flat and dead as the potted plant on the sideboard that Junpei had tried to take care of and then accidentally killed during the typhoon.
He let the doorknob slip. Yeah, it wasn't like he was going anywhere with their heavy artillery in the way. He was good, don't get him wrong, but an axe going up against bullets is just asking for it. "So what is it? Let's get this over with."
"Yes." Her expression is dark, foreboding. "Where is it you go when you go out at night with her?"
Shinjiro has to take a step back. It's not that Aigis has moved forward or acted like she was going to attack, more that he's just surprised. He's been expecting that she'll ask about him and Ken, that she'll have figured their whole plan out already and is trying to put a stop to it. But no, she's just worried about him and...that girl.
He shifts his weight from one foot to another, uncomfortable. "Just out places. Restaurants and stuff. What's it to you?"
Aigis fixes him with a stare searching enough that he feels like she's trying to scan him for levels of truthfulness. Could she even do that? All he's heard is that she's a machine that was built to hunt Shadows, but if she was designed by the Kirijo Company then he wouldn't put it past them to have added on a few extra features. But he doesn't give in, instead meeting her stare with a cold enough glare of his own.
"I...am not sure."
Shinjiro rolls his eyes. "You wouldn't ask if it didn't mean something to you. Why are you so concerned?"
This time it is Aigis who seems unsure, something shifting through the cogs of her mind slowly, a great though winding its way through an assembly line of philosophies and sub-processes on the way to her mouth. "She is," the robot thinks this through, tasting each word that presents itself to her for appropriateness, finally settling on, "special to me. I need to stay close to her. To protect her."
Yeah, well, so did he. Except that he doesn't have the unending lifespan of a robot to bask in the possibility. Today is the last day in September. He's already starting to feel the anxiety gnawing away at him, threatening to topple his self-control, overturn everything that he's worked so hard to construct. Every time he goes out with her at night like this, it seems like one more layer of his secrecy is burnt away and he gets one step closer to getting too swept up in her and spilling everything.
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to stop, forget about the whole idea. It wasn't like she would understand him anyway.
Still, as he looks back between the door and the girl, he knows that that's no longer an option. Maybe everyone's getting closer and closer to losing their secrets to each other, except that they have different dates, less known than October 4th, and maybe what he's going through isn't all that uncommon. Shinjiro tries not to snicker, but a small smile flicks across his lips. Imagine, learning something about emotions from a robot.
"She protects a lot of people." He says at last, hand once again finding purchase on the door. "You may not see it because you're trying to protect her all the time, but she's a lot stronger than you'd think. You just have to give her some room to let her show you."
Aigis steps back, her posture less threatening, more contemplative. "Perhaps."
They look at each other, neither giving in.
"I will still protect her, regardless of where it is you and her go." Aigis says, her voice steady and not completely without its quota of distrust. "Just so you know."
"You think I'd do any less?" Shinjiro replied. Hell, he'd seen the way that Akihiko had been looking at her those months before. Jealousy wasn't something that was unfamiliar at this point, especially considering what would happen in five days. He closed his eyes, feeling the panic well up and then becoming master of himself again. It might take a little while before his friend would get over his death, but Shinjiro didn't entertain the notion that Akihiko wouldn't eventually make his move.
He just hadn't expected that the thought of it his best friend going out with that girl would sting so much.
"You and I are not as dissimilar as I thought." Aigis said softly.
"You could say that again." Shinjiro frowned. "She'll be safe."
"Agreed. But she is waiting for you." The robot nodded at the door. "You should go. It's getting late."
Shinjiro nodded in a slight bow and then made his exit. He'd been given permission to go out on a date with a girl by her robotic guardian. The door to the dorm swung open and revealed a girl in red skirt and white sweater waiting for him on the steps, eating an ice cream and holding one out to him. Shinjiro rolled his eyes, but accepted the treat nonetheless.
Five days, and there was nothing left to do but go forward.
He caught a last glimpse of Aigis standing guard in the lounge before shutting the door, then he turned to his companion, who was waiting for him to start walking.
"Let's do this."