"Dammit!" Ryuji cried out as he collapsed onto the nearby railing. His leg was on fire, every muscle in his body was completely tensed up as he struggled to stand up off of the railing. He had been running in the park, trying to clear his head of everything that had happened and was happening. All this shit, it bothered him. Ryuji continued to pant as he stretched his leg out in an attempt to relax it when a familiar voice.

"Ryuji?" the voice said to him. He turned to see his friend Ann Takamaki, still in her school uniform, approaching him.

"Hey Ann," he exhaled painfully.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he reassured her, "I-" he attempted to stand up before crying out in pain and falling back onto the railing, "Shit!"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Ann asked.

"Yeah! I'm fine!" he blew her off, "It's just my leg, it does this sometimes." he tried putting some pressure on it, but to no avail.

"..." Ann looked at Ryuji's leg, "You ever think about going to a doctor?"

"Well the doctor told me to stop running," he continued to stretch his leg out, keeping straight as he lightly touched his toes to the ground, "Ahh- Eff that guy tough, I'm not gonna give up on my favorite activity."

"You can't run less?" Ann leaned up on the rail next to him.

"I barely ran 3 miles," he closed his eyes, "I use to run 10...15 miles a day… now I'm down to doing shit I did back in elementary school."

"That sucks," Ann crossed her arms, looking down at the dirt as she kicked it around, "You ever try yoga?"

"That girly shit?" he laughed.

"It's not that girly! A guy teaches the class. Besides, it does wonders for sore limbs and bones," she explained, "I take a class every Thursday! You should come with me, try it out."

"No," he said bluntly.

"Come on, it'll be fun," she teased him, "Besides… I need your help."

"With what?" he asked.

"I still need a workout plan!" she cried out, "Ryuji. I've put on 7 pounds in two weeks!" she slightly lifted her shirt up, pinching her stomach to show Ryuji that fat that had built up, "7 POUNDS! Look at that! So gross!"

"A lotta guys like love handles," he told her, leaning over and giving her a slightly pinch, "They're kinda cute."

"I don't!" she slapped his hand away, "I need your help. You're really fit! I need you to help me lose weight Ryuji!"

"Stop eating!" he told her, "Just go to the gym and stop eating junk food! It's not rocket science Ann."

"Pleeeeease," she begged him with crocodile tears in her eyes, "7 pounds will turn to 20 and then turn to 100 and pretty soon I'll be one of those freaks on TV who weight over 500 pounds and can't leave the bed and..."

"Fine! God you're pushy!" Ryuji gave in, "I'll go to your gay little Yoga thing and then I'll help you make a workout and diet plan." he finally stood up, his leg still pulsing with pain, but now at a manageable level, "Just do me a favor, because I'm pretty sure I know why you've gained all that weight, but can you write down all the shit you eat?"

"I guess," Ann scratched her head, "See you Thursday!"

"Eff…" Ryuji sighed as he limped away.


"Why did I agree to this shit? I gotta do this gay dumbass yoga shit… if she shows up in that stupid school uniform..." Ryuji mumbled to himself as he walked into the gym Ann had texted to meet her at. The gym was very new, several levels with tons of workout equipment. Ryuji didn't see any weights or manly workout items, just a bunch of girly workout items and loads of treadmills, looking at a sign on the wall stating where everything was, weights in the basement along with the indoor track. The place was a real girls gym with a spa and water massage machines.

"Hey Ryuji!" Ann walked over to him. Ryuji breathed a sigh of relief as she was not wearing her school gym outfit. Instead, she was wearing proper workout attire: yoga pants and a somewhat baggy t-shirt with some sort of cat logo on it. She approached him, a small journal in her hands that she presented to Ryuji.

"What's this?" he took it from her, opening it to seeing several listed entries written in cursive.

"My list!" she told him, "As you can see I'm just eating normal stuff teenage girls eat and..."

"Ann, you ate 4 crepes yesterday!" Ryuji gasped, "That's like 800 calories right there! And you know how much sugar that shit is loaded with!"

"I've eaten crepes before! They got strawberries in them, those are healthy!" Ann defended herself, "I've never gained any weight before!"

"Well it all went to your breasts," he looked directly at her chest.

"..." Ann blushed and slapped him again, "Asshole!"

"Well it did!" Ryuji explained, "Since middle school you've had huge honkers!"

"Why the hell have you been paying attention to the size of my breasts since middle school!?" she continued to blush, "Never mind, I don't wanna figure out the inner workings of your pervy mind. Let's just go to yoga."

"Seriously Ann, just cut it down to like one or two crepes a day and you'll be fine," Ryuji looked at the journal, "Least you're not drinking soda. That shit packs on the pounds."

"I hate carbonated beverages," she explained as they walked up the stairs to the yoga studio, "I get sick if I drink too much." the two walked to the yoga studio, "After this we should run on the treadmill, I bet I can beat you!"

"Beat me?" he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "Treadmills aren't competition Ann."

"Well what do you run at on a treadmill?" she asked, "I like to do 5."

"5? That's cool down shit," he told her, "I do like a minute at 7, then 8, and I continue upwards to about 12."

"12!?" she gasped, "… I could probably do that."

"I can barely do 12," he told her, "It's like 15 seconds at 12. Why don't we run 10 laps on the track downstairs?"

"Deal! I bet I'll run laps around you!" Ann bragged. Ann set down her yoga mat, setting another one down in front of Ryuji, letting him borrow an old one of hers since Ryuji didn't own a mat. He never had even been to the section of a sporting goods store that sold yoga mats and all that stuff. Ryuji looked around and saw he was one of the only guys in the room. However, the girls were something else. All these chicks in tight pants that accentuated their figures.

Eventually, the teacher entered the room. Everything about him was completely effeminate: the sound of his voice, the way he walked, his hair. Ryuji was surprised how buff the guy was for doing all this yoga shit. Then the actual Yoga began and it was every bit as dumb as Ryuji thought it would be. The dumb mantras and the stupid stretches and the flute music that was blaring over the room's stereo system, Ryuji was so glad this was not his regular gym because if it was, then he'd have to quit. Ryuji looked over at Ann, going wide eyed as he saw Ann's entire leg behind her head as she stood on the tippy toes of her other leg. Ryuji tried to follow the instructor's example, not coming anywhere near the expert level of flexibility that everyone else in the class had. Eventually after exercise and exercise of complex stretches the class ended and Ryuji made a B-line for the exit.

"Oh my god that was soooo stupid!" he bemoaned, "Let's go running!"

"You did well for a first timer!" Ann told him, "Plus all those girls huh?" she elbowed him in the gut.

"I mean the girls aren't that bad," he watched the girls exiting the class, "… shit, I might have to come back again."

"I'd like a Yoga partner!" Ann smiled, "No one else wants to do it with me for some reason... I asked Akira and he told me he had no interest."

"I wonder why..." Ryuji smugly teased her.

"What's that suppose to mean?" she angrily asked him.

"Nothing," he chuckled, "Come on, don't you wanna race me?"

"Oh yeah!" she almost forgot, "I guarantee I'll beat you! I've never run more than a mile before, but I bet I can beat you!"

"Alright..." he walked towards the stairs with her, heading to the lowest level where there was a large indoor track. Ryuji looked at a sign on the wall which stated that one lap was one-fifth of a mile. He looked at Ann who placed the yoga mats down by the wall as she headed onto the track.

"You ready?" she teased him, "If you beat me maybe I'll reward you with a date."

"..." Ryuji rolled his eyes, "I'm gonna do you a favor and reject your bet since it wouldn't be fair in any sense." the two racers took their marks.

"Get ready to eat my dust Ryuji..." Ann smirked.


"Oh my god!" Ann was panting with her hands on the wall, beads of sweat pouring off of her face as Ryuji stood by with his hands in his short pockets, "Running sucks!"

"Ann you ran two laps," he looked at her, "You didn't even run half a mile. You sprinted for half a loop, then barely managed to finish what you did… how is a girl with your body so outta shape?"

"My chest is on fire," she clenched her t-shirt and picked at it to blow some cold air in her face, "Why on earth would you find this fun?"

"Ann I'm not even breathing heavily," he reached down for his bottle of water, handing it to her, "It's got protein powder in it."

"Is that a lot of calories?" she asked.

"No… but you're gonna have to lift weights with me to burn it out," he watched her almost down the whole bottle. Ann continued to pant as she shoved the bottle into Ryuji's hands.

"… I don't think I have the energy to go on," Ann cried out, "I need sugary crepes!"

"If you lift weights with me then you can get a crepe," he comforted her. Ann smiled as she regained her strength and walked with Ryuji to a sectioned off area within the gym that contained all the weight lifting machines.

"Will you spot me?" he asked her.

"Spot?" she asked.

"Oh my god did you pay no attention in PE at all?" he asked her.

"I tried not to!" she knocked on his head, "The teacher was a bit of a huge asshole!"

"We learned this shit in middle school!" Ryuji told her.

"We didn't lift weights in middle school! The guys did that, the girls just ran and played volleyball!"

"Then why do you suck at running?" Ryuji asked her.

"Just… shut up and I'll 'spot' you," she walked over by the bench press. Ryuji walked over to the weight station, grabbing several weights and throwing them onto the bar. Ryuji loaded each side up with about 50 pounds before lying down on the bench.

"… Are you sure that you can spot me?" Ryuji asked her, "You do realize you gotta help me."

"I can do it!" she defended herself, "It's not that hard to understand." She nodded at Ryuji as he nodded back. Ryuji took the bar off the rack and brought the bar down to his chest, Ann holding onto the bar.

"Ann-" he grunted as he pushed the bar up, "You don't hold the bar the whole time!"

"Sorry!" she let go and stood slightly back. Ryuji continued to do a few more reps as they got slower and slower before bringing the final rep down to his chest, struggling to push it up.

"A-A-Ann," he grunted out, he looked back, trying to hold the bar up as he saw Ann texting on her phone, "Ann!"

"Huh?" she looked up, "Oh shit I'm sorry!" she ran over and pulled the bar up as hard as she could, bring it up with Ryuji to the resting place.

"Damn it Ann!" Ryuji gasped as he sat up, "You gotta pay attention!"

"Sorry! Sorry!" she apologized, "I thought you had it."

"You just gotta be careful Ann, people get hurt in places like this," he told her as she looked to the ground in a dejected manner, "It's fine, just be careful. Now come on, your turn." he pointed to the bench. Ann sat down, lying back as Ryuji began to take weights off the bar.

"Wait? Why are you taking weights off?" she asked.

"Because you can't handle it," he told her, "We'll try 5 pounds on each side at first." he put two small weights on each side. Ryuji took Ann's hands, a faint blush on his face as he gripped her hands onto the bar. Ann took a deep breath, lifting the bar down onto her chest; bouncing it off of her breasts and bringing it back up.

"Easy!" she laughed.

"Yeah...uh," Ryuji began to heavily blush, "Don't, uh, bounce it off of your boobs. You're gonna bruise them."

Ann blushed then let out a small giggle, "Thanks… I guess." she let the bar fall back down, making sure it didn't hit her and bringing it back up. She repeated this motion for a few more reps before growing tired, Ryuji grabbing the bar and easily pulling it back into place for Ann.

"Nice job!" Ryuji complimented her, "You did good for your first time."

"That was fun," she got up off the bench, "What other machines do you use in here?"

"Well there's a few others that work out some other muscles," he told her, "I like the leg press the best. Helps to strengthen my bum leg."

"Let's do that," she smiled.

"Hey man!" a guy approached Ryuji and Ann, "Tell your girlfriend to wipe down the bench!"

"Oh I'm sorry," she grabbed the towel out of Ryuji's hands and began to wipe it down. Ryuji was slightly embarrassed, some guy mistaking Ann for his girlfriend. Although, it didn't feel all that bad, having a girlfriend would be awesome and especially if it was one as hot as Ann with those tits and that ass and, well, everything about her, Ann apologized to the man, explaining it was her first time before heading off to the leg press.

The two continued to work out for quite some time, hitting up most of the machines in the area. Ann was surprisingly into the whole weight lifting scene and Ryuji was having fun actually being able to teach someone something. The two ended their workout with a light run on the treadmill, Ryuji and her keeping up a nice casual pace.

"Woo!" Ann laughed as they exited the gym, "That was great! Thanks Ryuji."

"That was fun," Ryuji smiled, "We should do this more often."

"Keep coming to my Yoga class and I'll keep working out with you," Ann teased him before her stomach let out a huge growl, "God I'm starving? You wanna get some ramen or something?" she asked him.

"Uh… sure!" he smiled.


"Mmmmmm," Ann scarfed down the ramen, sitting to Ryuji's right at the bar, "This might be the best bowl of ramen I've ever had! So good!" she continued to eat, "I could eat two more bowls."

"Don't overeat now," he took a slurp of noodles, "You're gonna be really sore tomorrow after working out so hard so just take it easy."

"It was my first time," she joked, "A girl can make some exceptions when it comes to her diet," she took a bite of the hardboiled egg in the bowl, "So how about that guy who called me your girlfriend? Funny, huh?"

"Yeah," he smiled, "Funny..." he thought to himself. He had this odd feeling stirring around in his gut as he watched Ann eat. Ryuji was beginning to deal with something he had never thought of before, was he feeling feelings for Ann? Ann was a great friend and a wonderful girl and, his mind was racing a mile a minute, "Speaking of boyfriends, how's Akira?"

"Huh?" she asked.

"You two are… dating, right?" Ryuji asked.

"No," she told him.

"Really?" Ryuji, "You two aren't… you guys were hanging out and stuff and I just assumed…"

"Well I thought he might've been interested in me, but…" Ann sighed, "He's kinda a weird guy to be quite honest."

"He's our fearless leader," Ryuji chuckled. The two continued small talking for quite some time over dinner before going their separate ways. On the train ride home, Ryuji continued to try to understand what he was feeling about Ann, this sick feeling in his stomach.


Ryuji: Akira U Up?

Akira looked at his phone. Currently, Akira was playing video games while Morgana sat in the chair next to him, licking himself in his most intimate of places. Akira put the game on pause, grabbing the phone and texting back.

Akira: Yeah?

Ryuji: Listen man. I need your advice on what to do when you like a girl?

Akira: …Ask her out…?

Morgana looked over at the phone and laughed, "Ryuji likes someone? That poor girl!" Morgana laughed himself on the floor.

Akira: Who is she?

Ryuji:… I can't say… just help me out man, Do I just ask her out? What if she says no?

Akira: Then you move on. Man up.

Ryuji:… Thanks man, I guess it really is that simple… you're so smart! Wish me luck.

"What do you think Akira?" Morgana asked him.

"I think Ryuji's gonna be single for quite some time," Akira told Morgana as they both began to laugh and returned to their video games.


It was the following Thursday, the two teenagers exiting the gym after another workout routine of yoga, lifting weights, and running.

"Another great workout!" she smiled, "We did good in there." She raised her hand for a high-five, Ryuji lightly giving her one as she giggled.

"You've really improved in one week," Ryuji encouraged her; "You almost did three or four more reps than last time."

"And you managed to lift your legs several inches higher than last time, I think," she tried to encourage him back.

"You wanna get some crepes?" Ryuji asked, "My treat."

"Oh yeah!" she giggled, "I can't turn down crepes, especially crepes bought by a guy." She ran off, with Ryuji following behind her as they walked down the crowded street. Ryuji felt like an enormous weight on his chest, the prospect of asking Ann out was truly terrifying. He could picture it now, her laughing and rejecting him and then telling everyone about how much of a loser he was and all the guys in school bullying him and every thought after the last grew worse and worse. Ann eventually found her way to the crepe stand, buying two crepes as Ryuji paid for them. The two sitting down on a nearby bench across from some sort of TV shop.

"So... I've really enjoyed spending all this time with you these past couple of weeks," Ryuji spoke to her.

"I have too," Ann smiled.

"And I wanna continue to do it," Ryuji told her.

"I would like that as well," Ann said back to him, "Are you free tomorrow because I wanted to buy a new Yoga mat and you could buy one of your own rather than just using my old one," she explained before Ryuji interrupted her.

"I mean, I would like to… go on a date with you," Ryuji gulped as butterflies flew all around his stomach.

"Oh!" Ann blushed, "A date? Uhm, okay."

"Really?" Ryuji asked, "You're serious! You answered so fast that had to be a joke, right?" his voice slightly squeaked.

"Sure," Ann told him, "What did you want to do?"

"I, uh, wanna take you to… uh… Suidobashi," he told her.

"The Theme Park?" she asked, "Sounds like fun."

"When are you free?" Ryuji asked her.

"Saturday afternoon after school okay with you?" she asked, "I got a couple of errands to run, but what if I meet you there?"

"Okay," Ryuji smiled.

"Alright," Ann smiled back, "I'll see you Saturday then." Ann got up and walked away, Ryuji watching her sway as he was completely engulfed in a warm feeling of pure numbness, he felt as if his nerves had turned to complete steel as he achieved the impossible. He reveled in his victory for quite some time.

"Holy shit, I actually did it," he thought, "I'm going on a date with a girl! Ann! I never felt like this before, I never felt these things about Ann before." he pulled his phone out, getting ready to text Akira before he stopped midway through the text, realize he needed real results before he could brag.


"Ah fuck she stood me up!" Ryuji grimaced as he felt like a moron waiting in front of the theme park, It was about 20 minutes after the time the two of them had agreed on and there was no text from Ann nor any sign of her, "I'm so fucking stupid. Of course she was kidding! What would a girl like that want to do with a guy like me. I bet her and Makoto and all the other girls are laughing it up as-", Ryuji internally panicked.

"Hey," Ryuji heard a familiar voice. He looked over to see waving as she approaching. She was wearing her usual black tank top with the white under shirt, her twin tails drifting over her shoulders. She had that checkered shirt tied around her waist and those jean shorts that extenuated her legs.

"Oh! You came!" Ryuji smiled, "I thought you ditched me."

"It's been 10 minutes," Ann queerly looked at him, "That insecure?"

"Well it's been 20 minutes actually..." he corrected her.

"So really really insecure," she looked at him.

"Well no, it's just..." Ryuji rubbed the back of his head, "Let's just start the date." he smiled at her, "So… what do you wanna do?"

"… I don't know," she blushed, "I guess we could walk around the park together."

"That works fine with me," he handed Ann a ticket. The two entered the park, walking around as they looked at all the rides and animals and booths they came across, they never really ventured inwards, Ryuji too cowardly to ask Ann to participate.

"Damn it Ryuji be a man! Hold her hand or some shit! I'm so fucking stupid," he panicked internally as they made their way by some carnival games.

"Shit…" a student in a Kosei High uniform muttered as he stood at the carnival booth with his date next to him.

"Sorry kid, better luck next time," the man running the game teased him. Ryuji and Ann approached the game booth, standing next to the couple from Kosei.

"What's the goal with this game?" Ryuji asked.

"Three balls for 700 yen, five for 1000!" he told him, "Simply knock over the three milk bottles and win a prize!" he pointed at the bottles. The bottles stood about ten feet away from Ryuji, the balls placed in front of Ryuji in a row. There were three sets of bottles corresponding to three throwing stations.

"Easy! I'll take three." Ryuji handed the man a 1000 yen bill as the man dispensed his change. He looked over at the wall at all the prizes. There were a series of small stuffed animals, getting larger and larger as he looked up until hanging at the top of the tent were extremely large stuffed animals. Ryuji picked up the ball, looking at bottles as he gripped the ball as hard as he could. Then, in a single swoop, Ryuji threw the ball straight down the tent and knocked all three bottles clear off the stand.

"Woo-hoo!" Ann clapped and jumped up and down.

"So I get a big one for that, right?" he asked.

"Unfortunately no, you gotta use the other two balls to knock them down again and again," he told Ryuji, "Just let me set-" before he could finish Ryuji quickly ran over to the other station and picked up one of the balls and proceeded to knock the bottles over again, then repeated the same feat for a third time at the last station.

"Gimme the squid!" Ryuji demanded as the operator stood in amazement of Ryuji's athletic prowess.

"Well kid," He reached up and pulled down a huge lemon yellow stuffed squid, almost the size of Ryuji, himself "You're the first guy in years I've given one of these out to… most people want the bear for their dates…"

"Here you go Ann," he place the squid in Ann's hands.

"Arh," Ann tried to hold the comically oversized stuffed animal, "Thank you."

"Why can't you win me one of those?" the female art student complained.

"Bah, it's a game for brutes like that one," he smugly mocked Ryuji.

"Do you want one?" Ryuji asked, "I can win one for you if you want. I know you arty types aren't very strong. You know Yusuke? The dude forgets to eat when he paints. I'm amazed he weighs what he weighs."

"…" the woman blushed, "Is it okay if he wins me an animal?"

"How dare you get flirtatious with MY girlfriend!" he sneered at Ryuji, "Come on dear, we don't need to be around an animal like that and his foreign skank of a girl," he grabbed his girlfriend by her hand.

"Skank!?" Ann growled.

"Skank?" Ryuji grabbed him by the collar, slamming him against the game booth, "Say skank one more time asshole and you'll regret it," the man coward in fear as we wriggled his way out of Ryuji's grasp, taking his girlfriend along with him as they ran as fast as those pencil legs of his could, "Yeah that's right douchebag, get outta here," Ryuji yelled at him, "Go stick a paintbrush up your ass! He flipped him off.

"…" Ann frowned. Ryuji turned to her, still steaming with rage as he calmed down at the sight of tears in her eyes.

"Sorry about that," Ryuji told her, "I didn't mean to make a scene."

"No, it's not that…" Ann held back tears, "I'm just sick of assholes like that."

"Hey don't cry," Ryuji walked up to her, "Uh, I…" struggled to comfort her, "You wanna get some chocolate ice cream from that homemade ice cream place?" Ryuji took Ann by the hand, leading her to the ice cream stand. The two got their ice cream and took a seat on a nearby bench, still awkwardly dejected

"Well I effed this date up," Ryuji looked at Ann.

"It's fine," she frowned, "It's just… it sucks you know. I get called a slut or a skank or a whore all the time by people," Ann took a lick of her cone, "Sorry… I don't mean to bum you out."

"I understand. Everywhere I go people think I'm a criminal and a punk," Ryuji looked around, "Somedays I just… I wish I could be a normal kid like everyone else."

"What about you isn't normal?" she asked.

"My attitude, my hair, my home life," he listed off reason after reason, "Not to mention the whole Phantom Thief thing… some days I wish I could just redo my whole life and be a different person. You know?"

"I get that," Ann concurred, "Although we'd all miss you. You're a good guy at heart."

"Sorry again for making that scene," Ryuji apologized to Ann, "I feel like a total dick."

"Don't worry about it; I know that you were just trying to be nice to me," Ann sighed, "You get numb to it eventually you know… the name calling… even after everything we've done I still get called Kamoshida's whore."

"Don't say that," Ryuji told her, "You're not a whore. Everyone at school is a effin' dick! They talk shit about all of us, fuck them."

"Tell me about it," Ann sighed again. The two sat around licking their ice cream as they contemplated what they had said. Ryuji felt bad as he clearly had brought a damper on the mood of the date. He raced through his mind to figure out what would be able to salvage this date with Ann.

"Come on man think!" he thought, "What would Akira do? He's smooth with the ladies, even older ladies! Do something!" he turned to Ann, "You wanna go in the bumper cars?"

"Bumper cars?" she looked at him.

"Oh my god I'm a moron," Ryuji yelled internally.

"That sounds like fun," she hugged onto her giant squid.

"REALLY?" Ryuji shrieked out, "I-uh-I-uh… Ann I'm gonna be really honest here I'm a wreck trying to make this date work! I don't know what I'm doing and I just wanna do good bye you because you are so effin hot!"

"Ahahaha," Ann laughed out loud as Ryuji spilled his spaghetti all over the park ground, "Ryuji you are so self conscious! You're doing fine. Just treat this like we're still friends hanging out. You're doing fine."

"Thanks, he sighed, "I'm an effin spaz."

"Yes you are," she stood up, "And that's why I like you so much. Now let's go play bumper cars and ride the roller coaster and then eat one of those giant hotdogs." She grabbed him by the hand, pulling him off the bench as she ran towards the bumper cars with him in tow.

The next few hours were nothing but fun for the two of them. They rode the bumper cars, Ryuji slamming into Ann with no mercy as she cursed his name. They hit up every ride they wanted to, including riding both roller coasters twice. Afterwards they tore through the various food stands and eating as many different varieties of foods they could. Finally, Ryuji and Ann spent some time in the arcade playing a shooting game with the little remaining money they had.

"The sun is setting," Ann told Ryuji as they exited the arcade, "We better get going."

"One more ride," he begged her, "Come on, I got just the ride in mind!"

"Alright," she smiled.

"Great!" he smiled back.

"Please tell me you're not thinking of taking me on the tunnel of love," she smugly smirked at him, "Because that would be sooo clichéd."

"Oh no, even better and more clichéd," he pointed behind him, "Ferris Wheel!"

"The Ferris Wheel sounds like fun," Ann giggled as she ran ahead of Ryuji, the squid's tentacles dragging along on the ground. The two got into the line for the wheel, just beating the rush as the sun began to set. They waited for about 10 minutes or so before getting into their cart. The cart itself was very tacky with pink stripes everywhere and baby blue fur seats. Ann place the squid on the floor as the ride began, Ryuji and her enjoying each other's company for the duration of the ride.

"Ahhhh," Ryuji let out a fake yawn as he put his arms into the air, cracking his knuckles before laying his left arm over Ann's shoulders.

"Real subtle…" Ann laughed.

"What?" Ryuji looked at her

"If you wanna put your arm over my shoulder just ask," Ann told him, "I'm okay with it."

"… What if I wanted to kiss you?" he asked her with a blush on his face.

"Kiss me?" Ann blushed, "Sure we could… I've never kissed anyone before if that's okay with you?"

"Bullshit," Ryuji pulled his arm away in shock, "You're telling me you've never kissed a guy? I thought Kamoshida-"

"No! I told you I didn't do anything with him!" she sternly told him.

"Okay okay okay," he calmed her down, "I've… I've never kissed a girl before either! You wanna lose our kiss virginities?"

"Kiss virginities? That's not the term dumbass!" Ann scolded him.

"Then what's the proper term!?" he asked her.

"…I don't know!" she gave up, "You wanna kiss? Fine! Let's do it!" she pointed to her lips, "Plant one right here Ryuji!" she egged him on, seemingly upset with him. Ryuji took a deep breath, looked her straight in the eye. He cupped her face with right hand, placing his left on her right side and leaned in, pressing his lips against hers. The two made almost no motion whatsoever; they just sat there as their lips just touched each other for thirty seconds or so.

"Mah!" he pulled back, "Satisfied."

"…" she blushed, "…Yeah," she let out a soft smile.

"Eff yeah!" Ryuji had the biggest smile on his face, "It was good for you? Because I loved it!"

"I liked it too," Ann continued to blush.

"Sweet! Let's do it again," Ryuji quickly leaned in before Ann could get a word out and began to kiss her. This time Ryuji was much more emboldened, his lips began to move against hers as he felt her lower lip lock in between his lips. Ryuji wanted so bad to shove his tongue down her throat, but he knew Ann would kill him for doing that. He closed his eyes, just focusing on the intense pleasure of Ann. She bit his upper lip just ever so slightly as Ryuji jerked forward. They continued to kiss as the wheel turned on and on. Ryuji had lost all sense of time and place, his worries melted away as it all just became him and Ann joined at the mouth.

"Alright," the door opened to their cart, Ryuji and Ann breaking the kiss in a fright, "Ride's over you two; come on." The man motioned with his hand for the two to exit. Ryuji and Ann exited the cart, both slightly embarrassed to be caught in the act. The man however was completely un-phased as this was likely a regular part of his day. The couple made their way back to the entrance of the park.

"Thanks for, uh, coming with me Ann," Ryuji said to her as Ryuji made his way through the turn stop, "I had a lot of fun."

"Me too," she smiled, "We should definitely come back here again someday."

"I would love that," he told her.

"Thanks for the squid," she giggled as she gave it a good squeeze, "And thanks for standing up for me and the ice cream and… well, everything."

"Eh, it's not a problem," Ryuji shrugged, "It was worth it for a girl like you. I really like you."

"I like you too," Ann giggled.

"So, you wanna go out on another date next week?" Ryuji asked her.

"Only if I can choose," Ann demanded.

"Name it," he told her.

"Is shopping okay with you?" Ann asked, "Would you be okay if I tried some clothes on and then you told me what you thought about them."

"I'm not really a fashion guy, but I'll try," he said.

"Great," she laughed, "Well then I-"

"There's that asshole!" a man yelled. Ryuji turned around after Ann's face turned to shock as three guys approached him, all of them in Kosei High uniforms, the leader being the same man as before, "This is the asshole who assaulted me."

"Ryuji…" Ann softly spoke to him as Ryuji approached the three men.

"You called my girlfriend a skank!" Ryuji yelled, "So now you call your little friends here to gang up on me? Because I'll kick all three of your asses! Or, you can prevent me from having to do so and you can look that woman in the eyes and say to her 'Ann, I'm sorry for calling you a skank!'" Ryuji cocked his fists back.

"Hey man, maybe you should just apologize," the student to the leader's right became weak in the knees, "This guy looks like he has murder in his eyes."

"I will not apologize for my opinions," he approached Ryuji, "Censorship is the death of art! I am-" he began to spew out a bunch of artistic nonsense as Ryuji, who couldn't last more than a minute of this garbage, grabbed him again by the collar, delivering a punch to his kidneys that made him yelp out in pain. The two men who once stood by their friend immediately ran off in fear as Ryuji put the man into a headlock, dragging him over to Ann.

"Apologize!" he grunted out as the man did everything he could to free himself. He wailed his arms and legs against Ryuji, making no impact against Ryuji's muscular form.

"Never!" he proclaimed as Ryuji continued to squeeze the air out of him. The man gasped and wiggled around more and more as the consciousness began to leave his eyes, "I yield! I yield!" he yelled as Ryuji let him out of the headlock, collapsing to the ground as he gasped all the air he could.

"Are you going to apologize for calling my girlfriend a skank?" he threatened him.

"Yes! I'm sorry-" he plead.

"I'm sorry Ann!" Ryuji corrected him.

"I'm sorry Ann for calling you a foreign skank! You are not that and I deeply deeply implore you to forgive me for my transgressions! I have wronged such a fair maiden," he was practically in tears at this point.

"Thanks," she cringed.

"Now get the hell outta here!" Ryuji commanded him as he nodded and waddled away, "Effin' asshole," Ryuji looked at Ann who was simply staring at him with a dumbfounded look about her face, "I did it again, didn't I?"

"No it's fine," Ann explained, "It's just…"

"What?" Ryuji frowned.

"You called me your girlfriend," Ann told him.

"Well you are my girlfriend, right?" Ryuji asked her.

"Usually couples have a talk about commitment and their plans for each other before calling each other that," Ann told him.

"Alright," he grabbed her hands with his own, cupping them, "So I really like you and I think you are a great girl. I think you are really really hot and I wanna spend as much time as I can with you. I plan on dating you for as long as I can and if the relationship works out and stuff then I guess we'll get married and have kids or something and you know… grow old and stuff," he mumbled on

"Well you didn't have to go that far," she laughed, "But I feel the same way about you. So I guess I am okay with being my girlfriend as long as you are okay with being my boyfriend."

"Absolutely!" he cried out, "Should we tell the others?"

"Eventually," Ann sighed, "I figure for now let's just enjoy each other without it being brought up every two minutes by them." The two walked away from the park, holding hands all the way to the train, not letting go until they had to go their separate ways.


Ryuji: AKIRA! I DID IT MY MAN!

Akira: What?

Ryuji: I GOT A GIRLFRIEND!

Akira: Is this a prank?

Ryuji: NOPE! I'M SO EXCITED AND SHIT MAN! WE WENT ON A DATE TO A THEME PARK AND I WON HER A PRIZE AND THEN WE KISSED! I GOT MY FIRST KISS TODAY ON THE FERRIS WHEEL!

"Is Ryuji playing a joke on you?" Morgana looked at his phone.

"I don't think so," he told him.

"It's gotta be a prank," Morgana continued to stare at the phone, "That or he kissed a guy…"

Akira: So who is the lucky lady? Tell me.

Ryuji: I can't man… it's a secret. I'll tell you eventually, but needless to say you're gonna be so happy for us! I've been listening to so many sappy couple songs for the past few hours, man this is the best!

Akira: Well I hope it works out for you two. Honestly.

Ryuji: Thanks man. I feel like I'm on top of the goddamn world!

"He's not joking, is he?" Morgana looked at Akira.

"I don't think so," he responded.

"I wonder who would go out with a guy like that… whoever she is she must have mental problems!" Morgana cried out. Akira laid back, wondering who the mystery woman was as he drifted off to sleep, Morgana soon following with the same thoughts in his head.