[ The held breath escapes him in a rush of arms over his shoulders, a body hot against him and shaking with tears, and Minato stiffens, frozen in place like a cornered, wounded animal with nowhere to run— he hates that his first instinct is to stay still and wait for things to pass, as if by not interacting with the world, things will move on without him and he can catch up at his own pace. The thought that Minako might not have moved on has never crossed his mind, especially after telling his grandparents that he's fine on his own, and believing they'll just accept it. He didn't really give them a choice.
Idiot, he can accept, but what is there to miss, when they haven't been a part of each other's lives in too many years...? There's a lot he doesn't know about her, the Minako before him different than the little girl in his memories, and the same should be for her, of him.
He feels like he should say something. Or cry. Or something. React. Give some indication that he missed her as well, sorry for letting the letters pile up on his desk, and later, his grandparents' mailbox with no forwarding address to get to him. First he forces himself to breathe, next, to lower his shoulders and raise his arms to... hug? How to hug. How to comfort? He hasn't hugged anybody in years upon years, is sort of trapped within Minako's grip, so here's his awkward canon arm pat; he's trying. ]
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Idiot, he can accept, but what is there to miss, when they haven't been a part of each other's lives in too many years...? There's a lot he doesn't know about her, the Minako before him different than the little girl in his memories, and the same should be for her, of him.
He feels like he should say something. Or cry. Or something. React. Give some indication that he missed her as well, sorry for letting the letters pile up on his desk, and later, his grandparents' mailbox with no forwarding address to get to him. First he forces himself to breathe, next, to lower his shoulders and raise his arms to... hug? How to hug. How to comfort? He hasn't hugged anybody in years upon years, is sort of trapped within Minako's grip, so here's his awkward canon arm pat; he's trying. ]