After Akira and Ryuji announced their relationship to the other Thieves in the group chat on White Day, they both shut their phones off. They wanted to spend the evening together, without the constant text messages and phone calls they would have received from their friends. In the morning, Ryuji turned his phone on.
"Holy crap!" he shouted. Akira smiled at him from the other side of the attic where he was getting dressed.
"That bad?" he asked softly.
"53 text messages and 12 missed calls… so, yeah."
Akira laughed and shook his head. "That's pretty sad."
"Have you looked at yours yet? I bet it's even worse."
"Why would mine be worse?" Akira asked curiously.
"They like you better," Ryuji said with a laugh. His smile lit up the entire attic.
Akira smiled back at him. "Not true, but if it makes you smile at me that way, I'll let you keep pretending it's true."
"So, you haven't checked, then?"
"Nope. Coffee first." He stopped by the bed, leaning down to give his boyfriend a lingering kiss. Motivation to head down and start breakfast. "My turn to cook for you. Take your time heading down, okay?"
Ryuji turned on the sun again, smiling up at him. "Are we having the special curry?" he asked.
"You bet we are," Akira said with a wink before heading down the stairs.
Ryuji turned back to his phone. Ugh. Eight of the missed calls were from Ann. Two from Yusuke. One Haru and one Makoto. Next he decided to take a look at the text messages. A ton of them were from Ann. They tended to be supportive while pushing for details.
Ann: OMG Ryuji! I can't believe you guys are together, that's SO great! How did he ask you out? Was it romantic? I bet it was SUPER romantic!
Ryuji rolled his eyes, then typed out a quick message. Ann was one of his closest friends, so she deserved a response.
Ryuji: Thanks. Definitely romantic. Chocolates and a bouquet on V-day. Glad you aren't weirded out or anything.
He was surprised at how fast she was to reply, considering his took a whole night.
Ann: What?! Why would I be weirded out? You guys are so good together!
Ryuji smiled, and moved on to Yusuke's texts. There were only a couple of lines.
Yusuke: I'm glad you both finally figured out how you felt. Looking forward to hearing all about the food you made, perhaps we should cook such a feast at our next party.
Ryuji laughed out loud. Leave it to Yusuke to focus on his stomach.
Ryuji: Sounds good. Thanks for the support, man.
He decided to play it safe, and opened Futaba's next.
Futaba: YASSSSSSS! I knew you could pull it off! Mona says he thought so too!
Ryuji: Thanks to both of you for all the help, couldn't have done it without you.
Futaba: Are you still at LeBlanc? What time should kitty and I make an appearance?
Ryuji: Akira's downstairs making breakfast. Give us about an hour?
Futaba: d(-_^)
Ryuji decided to save Haru's likely positive messages for last, took a deep breath, and opened Makoto's.
Makoto: Really? I was under the impression that you both liked girls. But I guess if you're both happy, then this is good news.
Ryuji: Guess it figures you'd be critical, Miss President.
Makoto: I'm not being critical, I'm simply surprised. So you are then? Happy?
Ryuji: We are. We're incredibly happy.
Ryuji couldn't help smiling to himself when he thought about just how happy he had been all month. His grin grew even wider as he listened to Akira downstairs, humming to himself as he prepared the curry. He went ahead and opened Haru's texts.
Haru: I'm so happy for you both! Congratulations, Ryuji!
Ryuji: Thanks! And thanks for teaching me how to make coffee, it was a real hit!
After that last reply, Ryuji shut his phone and started getting dressed. If he only had an hour of privacy left with Akira, he wanted to make the most of it.
When Ryuji entered the cafe, Akira smiled as he placed a whip cream topped mug of hot chocolate on the bar. Ryuji couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks, babe!"
"You're welcome. Did you talk to the others?" Akira asked as he ladled curry onto two plates.
"Yeah, a little. Most of them were really supportive. Makoto was kinda weird," he said with a slight frown.
"Makoto is always kinda weird," Akira replied. "She has a hard time with change. Once she gets used to the idea, the weirdness will go away."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Futaba's bringing the cat back in about an hour."
Akira set the plates in a booth, then stopped beside Ryuji. He looked into his eyes for a long moment before he spoke. "Then I guess we'd better hurry up and eat, so we can relax a little while we're still alone." Ryuji shivered a little as Akira's breath tickled his neck. Neither of them moved. Finally, Akira crushed his lips to Ryuji's. When they finally broke apart, it was a moment before Ryuji could speak.
"You really rattle my brain, sometimes, you know that?"
Akira laughed and gestured towards the booth. "Shall we?" he asked.
When they finished eating breakfast, Akira cleaned up and made more hot drinks. They were hanging out in the booth, Ryuji flipping through a manga and Akira scrolling through his phone - "I told you they like you more than me, you got twice as many messages!" - when the door opened.
"Good morning, boys! I hunger!" Futaba declared loudly.
Akira smiled. "There's plenty of curry on the stove, help yourself."
Morgana leaped into the booth beside Akira. "How was your night?" he asked with a yawn. Akira began scratching behind his ears, where he liked it best.
"Good. Did you have fun with Futaba?"
"Oh, I suppose so. She stayed up pretty late playing video games, but I was asleep on the bed for most of it."
"Have you had breakfast yet?" Akira asked.
Morgana smiled one of his cute little cat smiles. "I did! Boss stocked up on fancy feast at the house for when I visit!"
Ryuji couldn't help but grin. He and Morgana liked to bicker, but the cat was pretty damn adorable.
When Futaba finished breakfast, they all headed out to meet up with the others at karaoke. Akira and Ryuji walked up to the group waiting for them on the sidewalk out front. They stood beside each other, close but not touching.
"Oh my god, you guys are so cute!" Ann squealed.
"What?! We aren't doing anything but standing here!" Ryuji protested, feeling a blush creep onto his face.
Akira smiled at him, and gently took his hand. Ryuji's blush darkened by several shades.
"You don't need to be embarrassed, Ryuji. You and Akira make a lovely couple!" Haru said cheerfully.
Morgana and Futaba both broke into uncontrollable laughter. Ryuji glared at them. "Exactly what is so funny, you two?"
"I didn't think your face could get any redder," Morgana gasped between giggles, "but then it did!"
"Stupid cat," Ryuji muttered. Then he smiled up at Akira.
"Shall we go inside?" Yusuke suggested. "If we wait much longer, the tables in the back will all be taken."
"Oh, right, we should hurry," Makoto agreed, leading the others through the door.
Ryuji stayed where he was on the sidewalk. Akira didn't move either. He just kept holding onto Ryuji's hand, taking in the thoughtful look on his face. "Is everything alright?" he asked, finally breaking the silence.
"Yeah. I was just thinking how cool it is to have good friends that are on our side. It's not something either of us had a year ago, you know?"
"I know." Akira let go of Ryuji's hand, and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Are you ready to go in?" he whispered as he nuzzled Ryuji's ear.
"I'm ready to go anywhere with you," Ryuji answered with his brightest smile yet.