It had been almost a month since Akira and Ryuji had started dating. By some strange miracle, they had managed to keep it from most of the other Thieves. Because Futaba spent much more time at Leblanc than the others did, she was aware of the situation. Boss of course knew, and Ryuji's mom had walked in on the boys "playing video games" in his room, so now both of their parents knew about the relationship. Ryuji hadn't expected Futaba to keep quiet, but she was oddly good at keeping secrets when she wanted to. That was why he had dragged her into a corner booth while Akira was doing the dishes and Sojiro was busy with customers.

"Eww, what are you doing, Ryuji?" she protested as he shoved her into the seat.

"I need your help, Futaba," he said seriously.

"You want my help? Well then," she said cracking her knuckles. "What are we doing? Hacking into something good, I hope."

"What? Oh, uh, nothing like that. I need your help with Akira."

"I thought that was going fine," she said suspiciously.

"It is!" Ryuji shouted. Both Sojiro and Akira glanced his way. He lowered his voice. "Look, everything is great. Better than great. We've been together nearly a month. That's why I need help."

"What, like an anniversary thing?"

"Yes. No. I mean, White Day's coming up, and since Akira asked me out on Valentine's Day, I thought it would be cool to do something for him." Ryuji smiled as he thought about the chocolates and the special bouquet Akira had used to confess to him.

"Hello! Earth to Ryuji!" Futaba shouted. They earned another glance from Akira. "So," she said quietly. "You want to do something really special for him, then?"

"Yeah! Have any ideas?" Ryuji asked excitedly.

"I mean, yeah, though it would probably mean more if you came up with it yourself, wouldn't it?"

Ryuji's face fell. "I need ideas, Futaba. I've never done anything like this before."

"Neither have I!" exclaimed Futaba.

"Yeah, but you're a girl. So you know what girls like," Ryuji pointed out.

"Are you calling Akira a girl?" she asked with a giggle.

"N-No! Just… it's the same sort of idea, right? I need to do something romantic, and since girls like that shit, you should have some ideas!"

Ryuji hadn't noticed Morgana climb into the booth next to Futaba when they both sat down. "I have some ideas," the cat said.

"Ahh! When the hell did you get there?" Ryuji asked, jumping out of his skin. Futaba laughed more than was necessary.

"I've been here the whole time, you moron!" said Morgana. "Now do you want my suggestion, or not?"

"S-Sorry, cat." Ryuji's eyes widened as he took in Morgana's expression. "Right, sorry, not a cat, not a cat!"

Morgana sighed. "I suppose if you're sorry. I think that you should make him dinner!"

"Uh, what?" Ryuji asked.

"Ooohhh," Futaba cooed. "A romantic dinner. Coffee and curry by candlelight, right here in this very booth."

"Dude. He eats curry every day. Every. Single. Day."

"So? It's delicious!" Futaba said defensively.

"So it's not romantic if I just make him something he eats every day," Ryuji complained. "What do you think I should make, Morgana?"

"Ummm… how about… sushi! Yeah, Akira loves sushi!"

"You love sushi," Futaba pointed out. "Akira likes it, but he only eats it so often for you."

"Well then, what do you like to eat, Ryuji?" asked Morgana.

"Let's see… my favorite is definitely ramen. Especially in a really light broth."

"Boor-ring!" Futaba sang.

"So how am I supposed to decide then?" Ryuji asked. He was feeling incredibly frustrated.

"Maybe you should ask the others what they like to eat," Morgana suggested.

"Can't. Akira and I decided that we aren't telling them yet."

Futaba stood up and held a finger in the air. "I've got it!"

"Sit back down, you idiot!" Ryuji scolded as he pulled her back into the seat. Yep, Akira's staring at us again. Ain't no way he isn't going to ask me about this later.

"You don't have to tell the others any details. Just ask them what their favorite thing to eat is. Keep it casual," Futaba suggested.

"Oooh, that's a good idea!" Morgana agreed.


So Ryuji managed to dodge Akira's questions that night, and the next day while Akira worked at the cafe, he set out to get information from his friends. He started with Ann, because they were pretty close. She probably wouldn't find the conversation that weird. She was always hanging out at the Underground Mall when she was free, so he headed over to "run into" her.

"Oh, hey Ryuji!" Ann said cheerfully.

"Hey, Ann, what's up? Figured you'd be modelin' today or something."

"Nope! I'm off, so I thought I'd check out the new fashion magazines."

"Huh, cool. You in any of them?" Ryuji asked, trying to stay casual.

"Just a couple," Ann said with a wink. "Hey, have you had lunch yet? I'm starving!"

Perfect! Ryuji thought. "Me too, you wanna go eat?"

"Sure! Let's go to the diner!"

Over lunch, Ryuji asked Ann what her favorite thing to eat is.

"Dessert, of course!" Ann exclaimed. "Anything sweet, really. Remember that Wilton Buffet? I thought I was going to burst from eating all that cake!"

"Oh, yeah, right. That place was awesome. What about like, food for dinner, though?"

"Well… I guess I don't really have any favorites. I like the nostalgia steak here, and I like to grab a burger once in awhile. But I could probably live without any of it, so long as I could have as many sweets as I wanted."

"Yeah, I guess that figures," Ryuji said. They finished lunch and parted ways. On his way back to meet up with Akira, Ryuji decided to text Yusuke.

Hey man, quick question. What's your favorite food to eat for dinner?

Lobster!

I thought the lobsters were your friends?

Oh, that's right. Then, whatever I can get cheap enough to still ride the train home.

So it really doesn't matter? There's nothing you like more than other food?

That monjayaki place we went to with Akira was rather nice.

Oooh, I thought so, too! Thanks, dude!

When he got back to LeBlanc, Akira was still finishing his shift, so Ryuji sat in the corner booth with Morgana. "Did you have any luck today?" asked the cat.

"Nah, not really. Ann just likes sweets, and Yusuke said whatever's cheap. Then he said he liked that monja shop we went to, but I can't really make that here."

"No, I guess not," Morgana said. "Hey, wait! What if you make a fancy meal using a little of everyone's favorite foods?"

Futaba had just walked up, and she scratched Morgana's ears. "Nice plan, kitty. I like it! What do you think, Ryuji?"

"Yeah, maybe. I still don't know how I'd make monjayaki here, though."

"It doesn't have to be exact," Morgana said. "You could just grill some meat and veggies in a pan. And sweets would be easy enough, right?"

"You know what, you're right! We're doing this! Uhh, you guys will help, right?"

Futaba and Morgana both laughed. "Of course!" they said together.


The next morning. Ryuji sent Makoto a text.

Quick question, Miss President. What's your favorite food to eat for dinner?

Why?

I'm just asking. There's no why.

There has to be a why, Ryuji. Spill it.

I'm just hungry and trying to think of something different to eat.

Oh. Then I suppose my favorite is onigiri. That isn't very different, though.

No, it's great! Thanks.

He closed his phone and pushed the doorbell of Haru's house. It was still super weird that she had servants, but a nice lady let him in and brought him to Haru, so that was pretty cool. "Good afternoon, Ryuji! What brings you to see me?" Haru asked with a sweet smile.

"Uhh, I wanted to ask you something. It's not a big deal or anything, I was just curious, what's your favorite thing to eat?"

Haru looked at him curiously. "Well, you would think it would be hamburgers, but it really isn't. I have actually been working on growing my own vegetables lately, and I had the idea to grow coffee beans! I plan to open my own cafe in the future, so I'm really into coffee more than anything else at the moment."

"Oh. I was hoping it would be something easy to make," Ryuji sighed.

Haru giggled. "Is this for Akira for White Day?"

"Wh- How would you know about that?"

"You and Akira have been even closer than usual since about Valentine's Day. It was pretty easy to figure out."

"Crap. Does everyone know?"

"I don't think so. No one has said anything to me about it. Would you like me to teach you how to brew coffee?"

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course!"

After spending an afternoon with Haru learning about coffee, Ryuji was ready to implement his plan. Futaba helped him scour the internet for recipes. On White Day, Sojiro closed the cafe early. Ryuji asked Akira to stay in his room until he sent for him. Then he, Futaba and Morgana set to work in the kitchen.

Akira was nervous. It had been hours, and he could smell all kinds of things. Things that didn't necessarily go together. He smiled, and hoped that the three of them wouldn't set the kitchen on fire. Finally, Morgana came upstairs to fetch him. "He's ready for you, Joker. I'm going to head out with Futaba, ok? I'll be back in the morning."

When Akira walked into the cafe, he found Ryuji wearing an apron. The booth he had set up was covered in candles and a ton of different dishes of food. "What's all this?" Akira asked with a shy smile.

"I couldn't decide what I wanted to do to make White Day special for you. I wanted to make you dinner, because I thought you'd like that, but I didn't know what to make. So I asked all of our friends, and, with Futaba and Morgana's help, I made some of everyone's favorites."

"That's… so romantic, Ryuji," Akira said with a huge smile.

"Ryuji let his breath out. "I'm glad you think so, dude. So… we have curry because it's Futaba's favorite, fatty tuna for Morgana, ramen in light broth is my jam, monjayaki 'cause Yusuke likes it. Then onigiri for Makoto, the coffee is Haru and she taught me how to make it, and the double chocolate crepes are Ann's fave."

"Hold on one second, ok?" Akira asked. He snapped a picture of the table, and posted it to the group chat.

Look at the awesome dinner my boyfriend made me for our one month anniversary! Surprise! And thanks for giving him ideas.

Ryuji had been watching him type over his shoulder. "Ok?" Akira asked quietly before he hit send.

"Yeah, absolutely ok. Happy White Day, babe!" They shared a kiss, then shared the food, turning their phones off for the night so they wouldn't be interrupted by all the incoming texts from their friends.

"I think I could get very used to this whole relationship thing," Ryuji said with a yawn as he settled his head down on Akira's chest for the night.

Akira laughed. "Same," he said.