A/N: This little one-shot takes place in the same continuity as my other Persona 5 fics, Light at the End of the Tunnel and From Ashes to Diamonds, but those aren't required readings.
But those who have read those might spot a few references to those event.
Makoto wasn't exactly sure when she first started developing feelings for the Phantom Thieves' resident delinquent.
She had been vaguely aware that Ryuji had found her Queen persona attractive if his initial reaction to her awakening was anything to go by. But she had always thought it was assertive, aggressive, take-charge Queen he had a crush on, not boring class president Makoto.
After that, they hadn't truly interacted much alone. It was usually during meetings, or amongst the group while going through Kaneshiro's Palace. There simply wasn't anything for them to talk about.
It wasn't until they had to put their heads together for the calling card that she realized how wrong she was.
Ryuji almost squealed in delight when he saw her Buchimaru pencil case. "Holy shit, is that what I think it is?!"
Makoto couldn't help but feel defensive and pulled the case closer to her. "Is there something wrong with it?"
"No no, 'course not!" Ryuji quickly said, a wide grin on his face. "I used to watch the hell out of that old Buchi show when I was a kid!"
"R-Really?" she stammered out, her eyes widening. "I didn't figure you for the type, Sakamoto-kun."
"Hey, I thought Buchimaru was cool," he replied. He leaned in further to get a closer look at the case. "Didn't think they still made that stuff anymore, though."
"Oh, they don't. I think they stopped producing Buchimaru almost ten years ago at this point. This is an old pencil case. My dad gave it to me when I was younger, and so I keep it on me at all times." She felt a wistful smile begin to appear but forced it back into a more neutral expression when she saw Ryuji staring at her.
He nodded and gave her a thumbs up. "That's awesome, Prez! I can ask my ma to dig through some of our boxes, we might have some old Buhcimaru stuff."
"O-Oh, no, she doesn't have to go through all that trouble," she quickly tried to assure him, but he brushed it off.
"Nah, it's alright. She's probably been dying to get rid of that shit anyway." He picked up a pencil and started doodling on a notebook. He had drawn his original Phantom Thief logo several times. "Ya never know, might be nice to reminisce anyway."
Makoto let a smile slip then nodded. "Alright. If you did find them, I wouldn't turn them down."
Later, the conversation having been forgotten for the better part of a week, Ryuji caught her as she was leaving the Student Council room. Most of the students had cleared out of the building at that point, so she was more comfortable with him boldly approaching her like this.
He reached into his bag and proudly held out the Buchimaru plush. It was older, worn down, and one of the ears was missing, but it held a certain charm that Makoto couldn't deny.
It took all of her not inconsiderable willpower to not squeal in delight and bounce up and down. Instead, she gasped and immediately snatched it out of his grasp.
She turned it over and saw the letters "R. S." stitched into the bottom of one of its feet. She looked up at Ryuji, stars still in her eyes. "I can't believe you remember!"
"I asked my Ma the day after, and after that, there was no stopping her," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "Had to look at old baby books though. Ugh, freakin' embarrassin'."
"I can imagine," she said with a laugh. She squeezed the plush into her chest. "Thank you, Sakamoto-kun."
"Hey," he said. "We took down a Yakuza together, I think we're close enough to call each other by name."
"Okay," Makoto said, her cheeks reddening slightly. "Ryuji. Thank you."
"Like I said, no problem. C'mon, Akira wants us to meet up for a Mementos trip. We might reach the next level today!"
Her gaze steeled and she nodded. "Right. Let's go."
Even as they made their way to the hideout, her grip on the plush never relented.
The next push came when the grades for finals were posted that July. Makoto saw Ryuji alone, scowling at the board. She checked her grades first, happy to see she topped her class, before moving up next to him.
"Are you alright, Ryuji?" she asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, just… y'know." He waved at the board. "Sick of seein' that shit."
Makoto looked back at the grades and scanned it to find his name. He was towards the bottom of the list. When she turned to him, he looked disappointed in himself. She'd never seen him like this before.
Normally he would laugh it off with a joke, or something like that, but not now.
He sighed then started to walk off. "I really tried, too…"
"Would you like some help studying?" Makoto asked suddenly.
Ryuji straightened and looked over his shoulder, his eyebrow raised. "What?"
"Would you like a tutor? I'm offering to help."
He thought about it for a second then shook his head. "No, I don't… you probably got enough crap to deal with, I don't wanna add to the pile."
"Ryuji," Makoto said, stepping up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Not only am I the Student Council President, but I am also your friend. If you need help with your studies, I will never turn you away."
He looked away for a moment, then return his gaze to hers. "I mean… I guess if you're offerin', and everything."
"Good. Meet me in the office after school today, we'll begin then."
She found out that it wasn't that Ryuji was bad at studying, he just had no clue how to study. He was under the impression one just needed to read the book over and over again and again until it was memorized.
After going through several different studying techniques, they found one that was effective for him.
Ryuji was a visual learner, and needed information presented to him in a visual manner. Makoto suggested mind mapping, a technique used to visually organize information in a sort of diagram.
She had Ryuji write the topic for the chapter in the center of the page, English in this case, and then circle it. From there, he would connect one of the main ideas of the chapter and connect it to that center circle.
There was still a little bit of an issue keeping the information coherent, so Makoto suggested using different colors for each branch, or drawing pictures if it helped.
"I don't effin' believe it," Ryuji muttered, flipping through his notebook. There wasn't much actual studying done today, but they had made significant progress nonetheless. "I know how to study!"
A few days later, he came up to her excitedly. "Yo, Prez, you ain't gonna believe this, but I just got even better at studying!"
She blinked. "Oh? How so?"
"I ran!" he answered without elaboration.
Makoto waited for a few moments before asking, "And?"
"I dunno, but I did my after-school-run yesterday, and when I got home, I figured, y'know, I'd try out some of that studying shit that we did together, and it just felt like everything was so much clearer!"
"Really?" She stroked her chin in thought. "That does make sense actually. I don't know why I didn't think about that, to be honest."
He gave her shoulder a light punch and a wide grin. "Thanks for taking a chance with me, Makoto! I'm not going to let you down!"
"Well, that's good. You can show me how well you study at our next session tonight."
"No problem!" He ran off towards his class. "See ya later, Prez!"
After another few months of almost daily studying sessions, Ryuji surprised her again. "Hey, you doing anything after this?"
Makoto looked at the clock. "Umm, no? Why?"
"I was wonderin' if you wanted to hit the arcade with me, then get some ramen." He did another doodle of the old doodle and smiled down at it.
"You want to go to the arcade… with me?"
"Sure, why not?"
"No one's ever really invited me to go anywhere," she said.
He snorted, not looking up from his notes. "Their loss. It's cool if you can't, I just think it'd be fun to spend some time doing something other than this shit with you."
Makoto glanced down at her notebook. They had been studying for an hour now, and she was comfortable at where she was currently. Ryuji had also been showing great improvement since the last midterm as well, proudly showing off an assignment to her with an A grade.
She gently closed the book. "Does now sound good?"
His initial reaction was a wide-eyed amazement. His second reaction was slamming his own book closed and jumping to his feet. "Hell yeah!"
He flinched. "Er, uh, I mean…" He lowered his voice and pumped his fist. "Hell yeah!"
Makoto didn't try to hide her laughter.
She was terrible at Gun About. That was the first thing she realized about going to the arcade with Ryuji.
The second thing she learned is just how much fun it was.
Even when she was missing every single shot, Ryuji was right there, cheering her on. When she did hit an enemy, he cheered as if she just beat the final boss in one go.
"Want some help?" He finally asked the question after about five minutes of play.
She sighed and nodded. "Yes, please?"
"No problem!" He stepped up to her and took her hands and adjusted her grip on the gun.
Her cheeks immediately flushed. His hands were surprisingly soft for how much he punched things in the Metaverse.
After he was satisfied with her grip, he stepped aside, keeping on hand on hers and another on her opposite shoulder.
"It ain't like a real gun," he said gently. "Don't gotta worry about no kickback. Gun's got a sensor, so you have to line the barrel up with the bad guys, not the sights."
Makoto could feel his warm breath on the back on her neck, and a shiver went up her spine. That was a… strange sensation. Why was her body feeling like this? All he was doing was trying to help her play the game better.
"Got it?" he asked.
"Uh, y-yeah, yes, I do believe I… I got it."
He stepped back and for a fraction of a second, Makoto wished he would close the distance again. She pushed that thought away and went to use his advice in the game.
To give Ryuji credit, his advice paid off… somewhat. She got marginally better, hitting every one out of five enemies.
Eventually, they won enough tickets to get a novelty ring at the counter. It was of some old Shonen show that neither had ever heard of but looked cool enough. At first, Makoto went to hand it off to Ryuji, but he refused.
"You won the thing," he said, a grin splitting his face. "What's that quote about victory and getting the treasure and shit?"
"'To the victor goes the spoils?'" Makoto offered.
"Yeah, that!"
The two laughed and joked all the way to the ramen shop that Ryuji had mentioned earlier.
As they departed for the night, Makoto couldn't help but feel saddened as he boarded the train first. She wanted to hop on and stay with Ryuji, to spend the rest of the night just talking, or even having a repeat of when he held her close to help her with the game.
She felt her cheeks warm again at the thought. Her hand found its way into her pocket as she played with the ring she won.
Well, she thought. This is unexpected.
No matter what she told herself beforehand, Makoto was in no way shape or form prepared to witness her sister's Palace.
She powered through it. She put on her brave face. She had to, with that Akechi bastard tagging along with them.
His callousness about the situation, the fake smile he put on, the little comments about Sae, they were all wearing her down on the inside, but she refused to let it be known. She would not let Goro Akechi get the better of her.
After the initial infiltration, they discussed their next steps and parted ways, the group slowly filtering away. Soon, it was just her and Ryuji.
She gave him a curt nod and turned to leave, but she felt her arm grabbed.
"Makoto."
She turned back to him. The look on his face was one she hadn't seen very much before. There was no sense of joy, no joviality, no grin. His face was set, and his eyes betrayed the concern he felt.
That determination… it looked good on him.
"Are you alright?" he asked gently.
Makoto nodded, a forced gesture. "Of course, I am."
"Bull." Ryuji let her go and gave her some space. Once again, she wished that space closed. "You just went through your sister's Palace. It's alright if you want to talk about it."
She felt a hitch in her throat.
Out of everyone, Ryuji stayed behind to check on her. She shifted her weight, contemplating her next move.
That's when her body took over and threw itself at Ryuji, enveloping him in a tight hug. He let out a soft, "Oof!", but wrapped his arms around her.
She sobbed quietly into his shoulder and didn't mind when he ran his hand through her hair, whispering softly to her.
"It's okay." He was surprisingly gentle. "It's alright. I'm here for you."
Words could not describe how thankful Makoto was that Ryuji was there for her that night. Even if the words he spoke were a lie, that no, it wasn't alright that her sister was twisted and distorted, he was still there for her.
He led them to a nearby bench and sat them down. He let her cry into his shoulder, not speaking, just letting her be.
"Ryuji…" she said quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"…no prob, Prez."
Shido's Palace was crumbling.
The lifeboat was too far away for any of them to reach in time. All the calculations Makoto was doing in her head amounted to nothing. There was no way out of this situation.
"I got this."
Her blood ran cold.
"Huh?"
"Hang tight," he said. "I'll grab the boat."
Ryuji jumped over the ledge, too fast for anyone to grab him. He was crouched in a running position, and then he was off.
She could do nothing as he ran down the boat and leapt over the water that separated the two sections of the ship. His right leg almost gave out, but he punched it and kept sprinting.
The others were cheering him on next to her, but she couldn't bring herself too. She stood there, holding her breath, her hands clenched tightly into fists. She knew he was a runner, that was a champion in the track team, but he was running faster now than he ever had before.
He made another leap for the controls.
Makoto finally breathed
Ryuji made it.
The team all climbed aboard the boat, ready to sail to safety.
Now, all they needed to do was pick up—
The explosion rocked the sea, as the cloud of smoke and flames consumed him. Everyone covered their eyes at the force, threatening to capsize them. Makoto clutched the edge of the boat, straining to see beyond the explosion.
When they were finally able to, she looked up to the controls. The sight that greeted her made her heart stop.
There was no one there. He was gone.
"No way…" she heard Ann say. "It can't be…"
Makoto felt the tears sting her eyes.
"RYUJI!"
When they returned to the real word, Ann was the first to speak.
She called out, "Ryuji?!"
"He didn't… make it out…" Haru was the next to speak.
Makoto felt numb.
Ever since she had joined the Phantom Thieves, Ryuji was the one at her side. Even before that, he jumped in front of a damn taxi for her. Even more than Akira, it was Ryuji that made her feel not like the Student Council President with the weight of the world on her shoulders, but like any other kid.
Futaba yelled, "We have to go back!"
"That's… impossible." Even Morgana looked crushed.
Makoto looked over to Akira. His face was, as usual, hidden behind those glasses, but she could see the pain in his face. The way his lip trembled, or the single tear that rolled down his eyes.
He looked back to her, his glasses briefly losing their opacity. The look on his face almost made the dam in Makoto's heart burst.
"Ha… hahaha…" Yusuke's laugh was hollow, devoid of joy. "This isn't funny at all…"
Ann cried, "He was our fastest runner, too!"
He crouched down and picked up a little pin. "So. This is the treasure."
Makoto nodded. "It's a legislator's pin." Her voice cracked, on the verge of tears.
There was nothing holding Futaba and Ann back. Haru looked close to breaking too. Even the most stoic of the group, Akira and Yusuke, had to turn away.
Makoto let out a choking sob.
"Maaaan, that was close!"
That voice… There was no way…!
They all looked over to see the man of the hour, Ryuji Sakamoto. He looked like crap. His clothes were rumpled and slightly burned, he was limping badly to favor his right leg, but he was there.
He was alive.
As everyone was looking on in shock, he limped over and leaned against the light post.
"For real though," he said, "why do Palaces explode so much? Can't they disappear normally?" He noticed everyone's shock. "…What?"
"Didn't you… die?" Haru asked.
Ryuji blinked. "What?! No, course not! I got blasted out by that explosion! When I woke up, I was lying on some grass… Hurts like hell, and I don't think I'll be walking real good for a while."
He looked over the group. An irritating grin crossed his face. "What's this? We won, right?! Your crying faces so ain't cute."
Out of the corner of her eye, Makoto could see Ann stiffen. "It's your damn fault!"
As the blonde was about to walk up, Makoto stormed past her and got right into Ryuji's face.
SLAP!
Ryuji was knocked to the side by the force of the slap. She made sure to hit him harder than when she slapped Eiko.
"What'd I-?!"
She cut him off by wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a crushing hug.
"Never do something stupid like that again," she hissed into his ear. She didn't hold back the tears anymore. But these were good tears, despite the harsh edge to her voice. "Got it?"
Ryuji looked down at her, but she was too embarrassed to return the look.
"We were worried about you!" Haru cried out, joining in on the hug.
Not to be left out, Futaba jumped in too. "You troublemaker!"
She was followed closely by Ann, still crying, but now they were tears of joy.
Ryuji looked over to Akira and Yusuke, nonverbally pleading for an explanation.
Akira wiped his eyes, Yusuke coughed into his hands, and they joined in as well.
Even the cat nuzzled up to his leg.
"Alright, guys?! It's kinda getting hard to breathe here!"
"Suffer," Akira joked, but they still broke the hug. He moved to support his best friend, keeping him off his bad leg.
"Hold on, you guys… really thought I died?"
"It looked really close, man." Akira adjusted his grip on his friend. "The ship went up, and you were just… gone."
"Shit…"
Makoto stepped up helped to support the rest of Ryuji's weight. That's what she told herself. It wasn't so that he would hold her close, to ensure that he wouldn't leave her again. Not at all.
"Are you alright? You look hurt."
Ryuji smiled at her and gave her a weak thumbs up. "I might've overdid it a little, but I'm alright. Nothin' a few days doing nothing but playin' game won't fix."
"I must say, Ryuji, that sprint was artfully done!" Yusuke proclaimed. "I'd dare say I've been struck by inspiration! That determined spirit, the unbreakable will, I need my sketchbook immediately!"
"Tell me you didn't bring the sketchbook, Inari," Futaba moaned.
"No, but I will rush to grab it and be back as soon as possible."
"That can wait," Makoto said sternly. "We need to get Ryuji someplace he can recover. Is it okay if he stays at Leblanc for the night?"
"Why can't I go home?" Ryuji asked.
"Because Sojiro knows about us. Your mother doesn't. Do you want to give her a heart attack?"
"…touchy."
Akira blinked and grinned. "Did you just try to say 'touché'?"
"Yeah, touché, that's the one!"
"But Makoto's right. We'll meet up to discuss our next steps on Monday after school. For now, everyone go home and get some rest. We don't have school tomorrow, so I'm ordering you as leader to take it easy for the next day or so."
They all bid their goodbyes, each giving Ryuji an earful about doing something stupid and making sure to express their sincere gratitude for saving their lives. Makoto and Akira led him towards the train-station to head to Leblanc.
It was late, so the train was mercifully empty. They sat Ryuji down on an empty seat, and Akira excused himself to the other side of the train to call Sojiro and inform him that they'd have a guest tonight.
With a moment of silence granted to them, Ryuji laughed. "Man. I'm such an idiot."
Makoto looked over to him. "Why?"
"Scaring all you guys like that, then acting like a dick." He rubbed his nose. "Should've figured it was serious enough to make you guys cry."
"It's not your fault, Ryuji, you didn't know." She squirmed in her seat. "I'm sorry I slapped you."
"Can't lie, that hurt like a bitch!" Ryuji said it with a smile on his face, which made Makoto feel a little bit better about it. "You got one hell of a right, Prez. Don't want to be on the other side when you decide to throw a punch and not a slap."
He shifted his weight closer to her. "Seriously, though. I'm sorry for all that back there. It won't happen again."
Makoto smiled and rested a hand on his. "I know you need to rest tomorrow, but…"
"But?"
"…how do you feel about going to the arcade and that ramen shop again? Just the two of us?"
Ryuji grinned. "Sounds good. Though anything sounds better than the night I just had."
Makoto smiled and thanked whatever God was out there that He kept this stupid boy alive. She had no idea what she'd do if he didn't make it.
As they chatted on the train for the rest of the ride, Akira was on the far end of the car, pretending that he was talking to Sojiro. In truth, he sent a quick text and got a confirmation that it was alright from the old man.
The call was to give those two sometime to be alone.
He knew how Ryuji talked about Makoto. He knew the looks Makoto gave Ryuji when she thought no one was looking.
They were obviously not dating; Ryuji would never be able to keep something like that to himself. Another reason Akira was thankful he kept his own relationship secret from the group.
But maybe this train ride would bring them one step closer to confessing to each other.
For now, he just rambled quiet nonsense as he watched these two idiots try to figure that out themselves.
The next few months, unfortunately, left little time for Makoto to reflect and truly decide how she felt about Ryuji.
The failure to change the election results, the merging of the real world and Mementos, Yaldabaoth's rising, Morgana's death, Akira getting rearrested, there was so much going on. She was too thoroughly involved with getting him off the hook that it left little time to hang out with their resident delinquent.
For his part, Ryuji didn't offer any complaints. In fact, he threw himself into getting his best friend out of trouble. That had the added effect of making him even more attractive to Makoto.
It wasn't until Akira was out and Morgana had somehow returned that Makoto returned her focus to the problem that had been vexing her for months.
From when Akira return to when he left for home, Makoto stumbled her way through her own feelings and trying to figure out how to approach Ryuji to… start a relationship? Go out on a date? What was she looking for here?
Ryuji was physically appealing to look at. Makoto was more than willing to admit that information to herself. The time spent as a Phantom Thief, getting back into running shape, had done wonders to the boy.
But that wasn't what she found so attractive about him. He made her feel normal. He reached out to help her, he reciprocated when she offered him help, she felt at peace around him.
Those few times they held each other were some of the best feelings in the world. She wanted more of that, to feel close to him.
The only problem now was that she had no idea what to do about this situation. Not only was she dealing with her own thoughts on Ryuji, but the bottle blonde had also been conspicuously avoiding her in the weeks since Akira had gone back to Meguro.
There was once a time where she wouldn't have cared, but now? After all those months of ground closer to him? It hurt not having him text her daily.
True, she was starting up university soon, and Ryuji was going into his third year of high school, but that didn't mean they couldn't still talk, right?
Whatever the issue was, she was not prepared to deal with it alone. She needed help.
She mentally looked over a list of people she could approach about asking for advice. Yusuke, as much as she cared for him, would probably have less knowledge of the situation than she did.
Ann had known Ryuji for years, so she approached her first. She made sure to not name any names.
"There's a boy?!" Ann asked, a sparkle in her eyes. "Oh, my God, that's why you didn't want to get with Akira!"
"Well, no, this is more recent than that," Makoto explained, flinching at the awkward memory of Ann attempting to hook her up with their Leader. "But I would like some help."
"Say no more, I am a love genius!" She steepled her fingers and leaned in. "Lay it out for me."
"Well, it's just that I've never… asked a guy out before."
"There's your problem."
"Huh?"
Ann smiled and leaned back. "You don't ask the guy out, he has to ask you out!"
Makoto thought this over for a moment. "I'm not even sure he feels the same."
"Then you make him feel the same," Ann proclaimed. "Play hard to get, trust me, it works every time!"
"'Hard to get'?"
"Yeah! Pretend your not interested, but also make it clear that you totally want him to ask you out."
"And this… works? You've tried it?"
"Um, no?" Ann laughed nervously. "But I've seen it work in movies, so it has to be true, right?"
Makoto frowned. "I'm… not sure if that's accurate, but I'll take it into account."
Eiko was very much the same situation. To be honest, Makoto wasn't entirely certain why she decided to go to her in the first place. Friend she may be, but Eiko wasn't the paragon of intelligence when it came to boys.
Next, she went to Haru. The advice she gave was mostly sound… for a first date. But not, unfortunately, for how to get the date itself.
She talked of wining and dining, possibly going to a high-end restaurant that Makoto couldn't pay for, which meant Ryuji absolutely couldn't pay for.
She thanked Haru for the advice, filing it away to use for an actual date, before wracking her brain on who else could possibly help. Futaba was out of the picture. Makoto would be lucky to get a real answer from the former shut-in, much less a good one.
That's when a lightbulb went off over her head.
Of course! Why hadn't she thought about asking Ryuji's best friend?
She looked at her phone. It would have been Akira's first day of school, but he'd be let out by now.
The conversation they had was fruitful. He gave the best advice she had heard all throughout these past few weeks.
"Don't try to drop subtle hints, or try to flirt, or play hard to get, he probably won't get it. Guys just don't know when they're being flirted with, and if they do, they're wrong. Best bet would be the forward route. That's your specialty anyway."
Ryuji was a very direct person. He typically wore his heart on his sleeve, and the best way to get something through to him was to say it outright.
Makoto was similar. She didn't enjoy the thought of playing mind games with him, that wouldn't be fair to him.
As she hung up, she quickly texted Ryuji.
Makoto: Are you free tonight?
Makoto: There is something I would like to ask you.
For a long moment, she was unsure if she would get a response. Her heart raced and doubt plagued her mind. What if he didn't want to do this? What if she was being too forward?
Ryuji: Actually there was something I wanted to ask yu too
Ryuji: Diner in Shibuya sound good?
Makoto smiled, happy that he finally responded to one of her texts. Then, the implication of the rest of Ryuji's statement hit her. He wanted to ask her something? What could that possibly be?
Logically, she was sure it wasn't that big of a deal, but she mind was already slightly on the fritz from taking the first steps to ask him out, so she promptly blew it out of proportion.
Makoto: That sounds nice.
Makoto: See you in an hour?
An hour passed, and Makoto sat nervously in one of the café booths. It didn't surprise her that Ryuji hadn't arrived exactly an hour later, it was an arbitrary time anyway, but she still wish he showed up sooner rather than later.
What did he want to talk to her about? Was it bad? Did he not want to hang out with her anymore? Please, God, don't let that be it. She would gladly throw away any chance at being in a relationship with him if it meant they could stay friends.
When he did show up, he was out of breath and frantically looking around for her. He found her and smiled, sending a little spark throughout Makoto's heart. Did he always look that good smiling?
He slid into the seat across from her. "Hey, uh, sorry I haven't been answering your texts, I've just been thinkin' about, y'know, stuff."
"I understand," she said. "Starting university has been a time-consuming affair. It was your first day at Shujin, yes?"
He nodded. "Yeah. Been lonely without our fearless leader, but I've got Ann and Futaba to keep me company. They actually put me and Ann in the same class this year!"
"She's starting her first-year at Shujin? Futaba, I mean."
"Uh-huh. Don't think she really needs it, though. She's, like, freaky smart."
That was when the waitress came up to take their orders. After that, silence fell between the two. Makoto was mentally kicking herself for not just asking him to go out with her on a real date.
It wasn't like she was trying to "play hard to get", or whatever nonsense Ann was thinking. She took in a deep breath, and—
"Will you go out with me?"
The words died in Makoto's throat as she stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed at Ryuji.
In the second or two it took him to speak that sentence, he seemed to curl in on himself. He was currently finding a bar stool incredibly interesting for one reason or another.
Ryuji fidgeted in his seat. "Y'know, like… on a date?"
Wait a second, Makoto thought. She was the one who was supposed to ask him out. That was the whole point of coming here. And now it was Ryuji asking her?
"Would—I didn't—C-Could you repeat that?" she asked, dumbfounded.
His reluctant gaze finally found hers, and she saw that his cheeks were crimson. He tried his best to keep eye contact, but his eyes kept flickering around the room.
"You don't gotta say yes, or nuthin' like that, I just, it was somethin' I need to get off my chest, y'know? I've felt like this for good bit, and I saw something a few weeks back that made realize I needed to at least try, and that's why I've been kind of flaky lately, I was trying to figure out the right—"
"Ryuji."
"—like, doin' it over text ain't what I wanted to do, but I wanted it to be right and I wanted to have the right words and shit, and you know how I am at words, so—"
"Ryuji!"
He stopped and looked her in the eyes.
"Y-Yeah?"
She took a deep breath. "I would love to go out with you."
He blinked. "Y-You serious?"
"Yes."
His expression of shock quickly morphed into one of triumph. "HELL YEAH!" He more felt the harsh glares thrown his way than saw him. He quieted down, but still shook with excitement in his seat.
"Holy shit, I, uh, thank you, Makoto! You got no effin' clue how happy I am right now!"
"I think I have some idea," she mused, holding back a giggle. He just let out a belly laugh again.
His excitement died down a little, and he seemed to curl inward again. "I gotta ask… why? Y'know, why me?"
"Why?" Makoto reached out and grabbed one of his hands. "Because the truth is, Ryuji… I asked you here to see if you wanted to do the same."
"O-Oh!" Ryuji's face turned crimson as a quivering grin spread across his face. "Uh, that's—that's really cool!"
Makoto smiled. What Ryuji lacked in a vocabulary, he more than made up for in earnestness.
"Man!" He slapped the table in excitement. It was incredibly infectious. He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "I, uh, have to admit, didn't really think of what to do next."
"Why does that not surprise me?" She shook her head, but the smile still stayed on her face. Ryuji always was an in-the-moment kind of guy.
"Y'know, that new Like a Yakuza movie's coming out in a few days," he commented, scratching his nose. "If you want, we could go and see—"
Makoto's hands shot forward and grabbed Ryuji's as her eyes widened. "You want to see Dragon: Like a Yakuza, too?!"
Ryuji was so taken aback by the complete shift in demeanor that he couldn't help but let out a hearty laugh. "Yeah! Shit's cool!"
"Have you seen the first Like a Yakuza?! I hear this new one's a prequel, but the first one is so good! It's one of my favorite movies, you have to watch it with me, Ryuji!"
"Alright, I will, I will," he said, still laughing. "This weekend, then, you wanna have a little movie marathon? There're a few things I wouldn't mind showing you."
"Yes, absolutely!"
As they sat there talking, making their plans, that sense of nervousness she had felt sitting in this booth, waiting for Ryuji to show up was washed away completely.
They spent the next few hours just talking to each other, making plans for their date night, or catching up on what they've been doing for the past few weeks (other than being nervous wrecks, of course).
As they walked out of the dinner, hand-in-hand, Makoto couldn't help but ask a question.
"Um, Ryuji?"
"Hm?"
"How long have you been… interested in me?"
"Since I saw you on Johanna for the first time," Ryuji said casually.
Makoto's face reddened. "That long?!"
"Well, I mean, sorta?" He shrugged and shoved his free hand in his pocket. "Like, that's when I first realized you were really se—uh, really good lookin' in all that leather, not to mention you were a total badass. I figured at the time, eh, it's just a crush, but the more I got to know ya, the more I got to know Makoto and not Queen, the more it just sorta, I don't know, clicked?"
"Clicked?"
"Yeah! Like, we actually had a whole lot more in common then you'd think, and I just… really liked spending time with you."
Makoto squeezed his hand.
"I like spending time with you, too."
"Heh. How about you?"
"I'm not entirely sure if there was a certain thing that made me interested in you," she admitted. "Maybe it was our first time at the arcade."
"The arcade? Why?"
"Well… you did get very close to me."
"Oh." Now it was Ryuji's turn to turn into a tomato. "Oooooh. Yeah, I guess I did do that, huh?"
"If you hadn't, it might have taken longer for me to ask you out," Makoto pointed out. "But it also could've been after Shido's Palace."
"Really?"
"Yes, just… the thought of losing you… Well, let's just say I didn't like it."
"Hey." Ryuji raised up their joined hands for Makoto to look at. "You ain't gotta worry about that anytime soon."
"I better not," she replied, leaning her head into his shoulder.
This past year had been full of realizations, about her place in the world, about Personas, about how she felt about blonde-haired delinquents, but as she walked down the street, held close by Ryuji, Makoto realized one more thing; She could get used to this.
"So… what were you going to say about me in 'all that leather'?"
"Uh, well, that's, um—"
"Because I could tell you weren't going to say 'good looking'."
"Y-You don't know that!"
"Really? Because I can think of a synonym for 'good looking' that starts with the letter 's'."
His only response was to turn an even deeper red and try to sputter out an explanation.
Makoto giggled as Ryuji fumbled his way into explaining why he was about to call his new girlfriend "sexy".
Yep. She could get used to this.
Further A/N: Here's one of those side stories I promised back in From Ashes to Diamonds!
I have a few more planned, but the last chapter of the main fic is giving me some troubles, so I need to take a break from it.
This was originally going to be from Ryuji's perspective, but after about a page, I decided to switch to Makoto. Ryuji is easy to write, so I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could do a halfway decent Makoto. Oddly, after the switch, the fic itself became a lot easier to write.
Let me know what you guys think with those tasty, delicious reviews! And, hopefully, the last chapter of FAtD should be up soon!
Probably. Maybe.
Spino, out.