[video]

[oceanicbreak]

[Miharu's sitting stretched out on his couch--he still looks a little beat up from that battle a few days ago.]

Glad to see Hayate's doing okay. But uh...guess who botched his landing and sprained his ankle?

[And the video quickly switches to his foot wrapped up in bandages, iced, and resting on a pillow.]

The Kougami Foundation's taking care of the monsters while I'm recovering, and I can at least do school online. But I'm going to get bored staying on the couch for a few days, so does anyone have any sugges...

[He's suddenly cut off as a dimensional curtain opens up behind him, and Kaitou comes diving through, ducking behind the couch.]

...And I guess Kaitou's here too now.

[Kaitou used with permission]

Comments

[aquaticrush]

Oh... N-no, I'm really fine! Just, ah, is there anything you'd like to talk about?

[oceanicbreak]

Well, to be honest...I'm kind of amazed it's been almost a year since everything started.

[aquaticrush]

Do you mean with your abilities?

[oceanicbreak]

Yeah, and since I first found the community.

[aquaticrush]

Congratulations! Ah, sort of. I mean, the community isn't good all the time.

[oceanicbreak]

Not always. But I really don't know where I'd be without it, with everything that was happening this year.

[aquaticrush]

I can understand that, too.

[oceanicbreak]

Though sometimes, when I look back on how much I let my fear control me, I want to cringe.

[aquaticrush]

You don't have to be scared anymore, Minato-san. And if you are, you can get stronger because of it.

[oceanicbreak]

I know. I'm doing a lot better than I was. But I hate seeing how many times I wouldn't do something just because I was scared.

[aquaticrush]

I understand that. It'll be alright, though, Minato-san. I think.

[oceanicbreak]

I know. It's just...weird.

[aquaticrush]

Is there anything I can do to help?

[oceanicbreak]

I don't know. I guess it's something I just have to accept and move past.

[aquaticrush]

Okay. Ah... do you like the cake?

[oceanicbreak]

It's good, thanks.

[aquaticrush]

You're welcome! I just thought, since you're hurt and stuck here, you should have something to cheer you up, right? Is that silly?

[oceanicbreak]

No, it's nice. I was beginning to get tired of sitting around all day.

[aquaticrush]

All right. Ah-- thank you. ...Um, is anything going on in your life?

[oceanicbreak]

Not a whole lot, to be honest. What about you?

[aquaticrush]

Just the usual, I think. My life is interesting, but it's not a bad kind of interesting.

[oceanicbreak]

Well, that's good. I'm glad to have a break from bad interesting, honestly.

[aquaticrush]

Me too. It's been peaceful for a while now.

[oceanicbreak]

I hope it stays like this for a while.

[aquaticrush]

You know, at first, I was scared. It was years ago. When the fight was finally over and everything was better, I was happy! Relieved, even. But at the same time, I thought that maybe that meant I wasn't useful anymore.

I was able to still keep working at the cafe, and my friends still liked me and we all stayed together. But even so, I've been involving myself in a lot of community things, even if a strong fighter in my world is pathetic in others. I got Tomoe-san to teach me some things, even though she didn't have to, and Kefka-san likes to lecture me and I listen even if he's very scary and gets mad at me. So...

...um, what I mean is, Minato-san, I hope things are good for you.