Nobody's listening? Good...

Shuuhei'd double-checked, then triple checked. No-one in the music room, or anywhere near it. He could practise in peace. So that was what he did, sat over in the corner with his acoustic guitar and began playing 'Lucy' by Skillet, quietly humming along.

A little while later, Minato opened the door to the music room, where he'd gone to in search of a place to be alone for a while to figure some stuff out. He froze when he opened the sound proof door and heard the... uhm... rough guitar music.

When Shuuhei heard the door open, he jolted in his seat and immediately stopped playing, cheeks turning rather red. "... Uhm. Hi Minato."

"Hi. Sorry, I'll go. I didn't know - this room is usually empty at this time," Minato explained.

"Eh... Yeah. 'S why I practice in here." he scratched his neck. "Nobody usually likes me practicing in my room.." he explained.

"Well... uhm... music is a little loud. Sometimes. When you, uhm, need to practice. Sounded good, though!" Minato hastened to say. Dammit. Now where could he go?

"Soah... Why were you looking for an empty room?" he quickly changed subject.

"Oh... uhm. Just to. Uhm, you know. Do some.. Uhm, homework!!" Broad and completely fake smile.

".... Riiiiight." a slightly raised eyebrow. "C'mon. You can tell me."

Minato sighed, walked inside and shut the door. "I just had to think about some stuff."

"What stuff?" putting the guitar up against the wall, turning to face Minato again.

"Girl stuff," another sigh.

"Ah... So. Smaller problems with Kushina." he leant back against the wall, exhaled. "... Well. If you want to tell me, feel free. Sometimes it's really relieving when you talk with someone about those things. Not that I think I can be that great a help, I've... Well. Got most experience with our own gender, so to speak." a slightly strained, but still friendly smile.

"Ah. Not really.. small," Minato said awkwardly. "I dunno.. I dunno how much she wants me to.. how much she wants other people to know about."

"I can keep a secret." he shrugged. "If you'd like to get it off your chest."

"I dunno..." Minato looked around awkwardly and picked at the strap of his bag. "It's... just.. sorta hard. With girls... Sometimes. When.. when they change their minds. Like, really sudden."

"Ah... Well. 'S not only girls that do that. Believe me." he muttered, kicking a little at the floor. "My ex did that a lot, too. Said one thing one day, another thing the next day... He was really confusing at times."

"At least there wasn't a kid involved with you," mumbled Minato. Yeah. He did need to get stuff off his chest, no matter what Kushina thought or wanted. He sat down at a table and stared morosely at Shuuhei.

"... Ah. I'm guessing she doesn't want the child, now. Am I right?"

Minato nodded quietly. "Seems like everybody figured that out. Except me," he said bitterly.

"Well... She doesn't seem like the type to ever want a child." he had to admit. "Not just yet, at least."

"Yeah. She told me. In great detail about how awful she felt."

"Well... I'm guessing she was just trying to be nice to you." a small shrug. "Before she found out she couldn't. Would make sense."

"Yeah. She.. I guess I was really blind, huh?" He gave a hollow laugh. "She was just.. trying to go along with what I wanted. Until she stopped trying."

"Well... Look at the important bit. She tried to make you happy. She did an effort. Shows she really cares."