Spoiler-free Persona 5 Strikers story. Nothing more than a little rewrite of a group interaction in the game!
By the way, I write what I want, so while this is for ShuAnn/AkirAnn week, I don't base my stories on prompts or anything of the sort.
Begin!
~Normal POV
"The view from up here is incredible!" Haru said, smiling widely.
"And so high up…" Futaba added uneasily, but she still seemed to be enjoying herself.
On their last night in Osaka, Akira had been given the option to take either the female Phantom Thieves or the guys up to the top of Tenboto tower. He had chosen to treat the girls on this occasion. (And had left Morgana with Ryuji and Yusuke before asking them.) Thus it was just him, Ann, Haru, Makoto, and Futaba all gawking at the cityscape below them.
Beep "May I see?"
Akira nodded and turned his phone to show Sophia, their AI friend, the view.
"Ohhh, it's amazing! We're so high up!" Sophia gushed.
"Thanks for taking us up here, Akira," Makoto said.
"Anytime, ladies." Akira replied.
"Always such a gentleman," Ann giggled.
Futaba smirked, and muttered, "Not that you're complaining, huh, Ann…?"
Ann blushed and shoved Futaba to get her to shut up. Thankfully, the others didn't hear this.
As the group was admiring the scenery, a few other people in the area were talking loudly. Most in particular were couples, girls thanking their boyfriends for taking them up here as well. The Phantom Thieves found it rather hard to ignore these conversations.
"Couples are everywhere, aren't they," Haru said, with a small sigh.
"Yeah, ones that don't know how to keep the PDA to a minimum…" Futaba remarked.
"This is a prime date spot," Ann added, "You can't blame them."
"Couples? Date? PDA? What are you talking about," Sophia asked.
Akira turned his phone back towards him. "When two people develop romantic feelings for each other, they get into a romantic relationship, otherwise known as 'becoming a couple.' Then they go out on dates where they spend time with each other and their relationship gets stronger. It's often a guy and girl together, but there are exceptions depending on the person and who they're interested in."
"The terms for such a thing are 'girlfriend' and 'boyfriend.'" Ann said. "And PDA is short for public display of affection, which lots of people are annoyed by."
"I see… and do any of you girls have a 'boyfriend?'" Sophia asked.
Futaba turned beet red behind her glasses. "No! I can't even think of the possibility!"
"Did I say something wrong?"
"No you didn't; Futaba's just too shy for dating yet, so thinking about it flusters her," Makoto answered. "And to answer your other question, ahem, no I don't have a boyfriend either..." She turned pink and added, "Too busy with college right now; though I can't say I haven't thought of it…"
"I'm also too busy for such things," Haru admitted, "But I've… thought about it…" She smiled to herself, thinking of a sweet, but loudmouthed, boy on the Phantom Thieves' team.
"I've never had a boyfriend either…" Ann answered, sheepishly. She willed herself not to look directly at Akira while saying that.
"Hm, interesting…" Sophia mused. "What about you, Akira? Do you have a 'girlfriend?'"
"I've never had one actually…" He looked up from his phone to see his friends staring at him with wide eyes. "What?"
"Nothing, we're just a little surprised, that's all," Makoto said.
"You mean, like, you've never dated anyone? Like ever?" Futaba asked.
Akira could feel his face and neck getting hotter by the second under the girls' curious gazes. "I want to, if that helps, but, um, why are you all so shocked?"
"Well because you're-" Ann stopped herself as all eyes turned to her. She started to get uncomfortably hot as well. "B-Because you're such a… good guy! I mean any girl would be lucky to have you!" Though internally, she was screaming, "Whew, dodged a bullet! Stupid, Takamaki, you came this close to blurting out that you think he's cute!"
There was a brief pause before Sophia decided that the situation needed to be more awkward.
"Akira, if you were to take one of them here for a date, who would you take?"
Akira felt his heart stop. "Way to throw a guy a bomb…"
"Hm, actually I'm curious about that too…" Haru said. Though she had no interest in Akira that way, she was still intrigued by what his answer would be.
Makoto giggled a bit, "I'd like to know that too..."
Ann, meanwhile, was freaking out inside. "No! No, no, no, no! If there's a chance he doesn't like me back then I don't want that to be said in public! But… What if he does like me back? Then I would want that said privately, damn it!"
Futaba smiled evilly, "Yeah, Mr. Fearless Leader, tell us which of the lady Phantom Thieves stole your heart."
Akira scowled at the small girl. She knew damn well who he had feelings for. Futaba had an annoying habit of bugging Akira's phone, which had been her source for discovering that he had feelings for Ann. This happened through a text conversation he was having with Ryuji on the subject, the blond boy being the only other member who knew his secret, and Futaba had texted him afterwards to tease him about it. It had been quite a thorn in Akira's side, but she had promised to keep it hidden.
Nonetheless, Akira felt the butterflies kick in. He would be called out instantly if he lied, and trying to leave would only cause the girls to get upset, and Sophia to get confused. He had to be honest. Plus, Sophia could simply ask again later, and dodging the question forever would be quite impossible. And since he had been too shy to confess his attraction to Ann at every opportunity, it seemed today that fate had finally given him an ultimatum: either say it now, or not at all.
He took a deep breath, and tried not to stutter, as he said, "If I answer honestly, can I trust that three of you won't get too upset?" He liked Futaba, Makoto, and Haru perfectly fine as friends, but he could never see them the way he saw Ann. That said, he also didn't want to risk hurting their feelings; in case one of them did happen to feel that way, even if he was sure they didn't. (He was especially sure Haru didn't feel that way: she clearly preferred Ryuji.)
"Oooo, so you do like one of us? Do go on!" Futaba teased. She was reveling in this. She had done some sleuthing through Ann's phone as well, and found, through some messages to one Suzui Shiho, that Ann did in fact reciprocate Akira's feelings. (And had for quite some time.) Futaba Sakura wasn't gonna stand by while her Joker and Panther ship needed to sail!
"Wait, seriously, you do?" Makoto said, quizzically, "Well, now I'm really curious."
"I'm not terribly shocked," Haru said plainly, "You have known us all for quite some time. It's not unreasonable that this could happen. But I won't lie: I do want to hear your answer."
Ann tried to keep a straight face, despite her pounding heart, "You… don't have to answer if you don't want to… I- we will understand if it's too embarrassing."
Akira couldn't help being grateful that at least one person cared about his embarrassment. And of course it had to come from the one who was about to be equally embarrassed by his choice, whether she reciprocated or not...
"Are you going to answer," Sophia asked.
Seeing no way to stall any longer, he had to take the plunge...
"...Ann."
Akira quickly shut his eyes to prepare for the onslaught of teasing; which was likely to be followed by Ann politely trying to spare his feelings. But after several moments, no such teasing occurred. He cautiously looked back at his teammates.
Futaba was grinning in a, "Ha, you finally said it" way. While Makoto and Haru both looked at Ann with huge smiles. The most interesting reaction however was Ann: she was cherry red and her eyes were completely locked on him.
"Hehe, I should have known," Makoto said.
"Ann, you lucky girl!" Haru said, giggling.
"Alright, alright, Makoto, Haru, Sophia, I believe this is the moment where we leave these two alone!" Futaba said, with her trademark evil giggle. She grabbed Akira's phone, and dragged the other two girls to the opposite side of the tower. Akira and Ann barely noticed.
Figuring that he had a chance to elaborate, Akira cleared his throat. "Um, Ann-"
"You like me?" Ann asked, softly.
Akira pushed his glasses up his nose, trying to ignore his high body temperature. "Yes, I have feelings for you…" He didn't notice Ann smiling now as he continued. "I didn't want to tell you in front of everyone though-" He was interrupted by Ann wrapping her arms around him.
"I feel the same way. I have for so long… I just never thought I'd be able to say it. I love you, Akira."
Akira was momentarily stunned. Once her words had registered in his brain, he gently hugged her back. They didn't pay attention to how long they stayed that way. It didn't matter. All the two teens could think about was their happiness at this turn of events.
"Are you gonna kiss already or what?!"
That is until they remembered that their friends were still here, and were apparently watching.
"Futaba, leave them alone!" Makoto scolded.
Akira sighed in exasperation and pulled back from the hug. He then dropped his voice to a whisper so only Ann could hear. "You know… we still have about an hour before we have to get back to the van. Want to go somewhere more private?"
Ann giggled softly. "Sure! But, um, just let me take care of one thing, ok? You can wait by the elevator."
Akira nodded and walked off to do as she said. Ann meanwhile, found the spot where the other girls were standing.
"Wellllll?" Futaba teased.
"Um, Akira and I are gonna go for a walk so if the other guys ask, especially Morgana, could you girls cover for us?"
"We'd be happy to, Ann!" Haru replied, cheerfully.
"What are friends for? I'm sure we can come up with something believable," Makoto said.
"And I'll keep Sophia with me, so you can be completely alone," Futaba added, with a wink.
Ann smiled brightly at them. "Thank you! You girls are the best!"
"...You will tell us about it later though, right," Haru asked.
"Obviously! I'll see you back at the hideout!" Ann then left to join Akira at the elevator.
Once the other girls saw them leave, they all burst out laughing.
"It worked!"
"Did you see Ann's face when he confessed? I didn't know she could turn so red!"
"It was so cute though!" Haru squealed. "They'll be a perfect match!"
"Those two have been head over heels for each other for ages. It's only fair that we give them a little push." Makoto said.
"Push?" Sophia said quizzically, "Do you mean this was some type of plan from the start?"
"We'll explain on the way back to the camper," Futaba said.
"So what are we gonna tell the guys," Makoto wondered, "I mean, they're gonna notice that two of us are missing."
"Just tell the truth. 'Ann wanted to have a talk with Akira; ya know, private leader conversation,' type thing. We don't have to say what it's about." Futaba said, with a wink.
"What do we say if they don't come back on time," Haru asked.
"We'll figure something out, but let's just hope we don't have to."
~The End!
I loved Strikers a lot and it had so many hilarious group interactions, but this one should have been different. In the original scene, Sophia does ask who Akira/Joker would like to date out of the female teammates, but unfortunately the game only gives you the options to say "the one I love" or "none of them" instead of letting you actually pick one. I know dating was removed in Strikers, but it could have made for some cute reactions if you were able to choose one of them! (Of course I would have picked Ann everytime, but still!)