A Surprise Party

Ikebukuro

Akira and Shiho walk into a jewelry store, they were going to find a cake for the party but decids to wait till Shiho reveals herself to Ann. So Akira decids that he was going to buy Ann jewelry for her birthday. But what he didn't tell Shiho was that it was going to be a promise ring.

Shiho starts laughing when they walk in after he tells her what he was buying; "You better get her something that's at least a thousand yen."

He smiles; "I don't think a thousand is enough. Maybe a piece of jewelry that's worth ten thousand yen should be enough." "Maybe with this, she would stop suspecting that you're always having an affair or won't slap you now."

She laughs again; "Uh huh, like you would spend that much on her."

He smirks and walks up to the counter, "Excuse me ma'am? What kind of ring can I get for ten thousand yen?"

She looks at Akira her eyes wide; "Holy crap Akira!? You're serious!? A ring!?"

The lady smiles at them and looks over at Shiho who was still in shock; "Aw, is this going to be for her? Maybe you should have surprised her with the ring instead of having her here."

He chuckles; "Nope, even though she's beautiful and a great person, it's for my girlfriend who happens to be her best friend."

"Ah okay. Well it depends on what kind of gem do you want on it."

He smiles already knowing what gem he wanted; "How much would a ruby be?"

The lady gestures him to follow her and she shows him a gold band with a big ruby gemstone and another one with small rubies.

"You can get either one of this with around that amount of yen. They're both one karat."

He looks at both of them closely; "They both look good though." "Maybe you should ask Shiho." He looks over at Shiho; "So Miss Suzui, which one of these looks better?"

"Huh?' She shakes her head still surprised; "Oh!" She walks up to his side and looks at the rings; "I think you should get the one with the small rubies, it's flashier."

He smiles; "The one with the rubies is it then." "Ann will surely like this present especially what it really represents."

After Akira pays for the ring, they walk out of the store and Shiho looks at the ring; "A ring huh?"

He smiles; "Yeah, I figure she would like a ring."

"Is he going to propose to her?" She smiles; "Well I'm sure she's going to love it."

"Yeah I hope so. Oh yeah, I got to text Ryuji real fast." He brings out his phone and starts texting Ryuji.

[Yo Ryuji, is everything ready?]

[We're in the train now; Futaba and Morgana are already there so are Yusuke and Haru.]

"Why would Haru and Yusuke be there already?" "Haru is probably asking Sojiro for more advice for her coffee shop." "Oh yeah, I was so caught up with this that I forgot." He turns towards Shiho; "Okay, our other friends are already there and Ryuji and Hifumi are on their way.

She nods; "Cool, you should text Nijima-san to bring Ann over there then."

"Yeah." He then starts to text Makoto.

[Hey Makoto, can you bring Ann back to Leblanc?]

[Okay…but have you told Ryuji to tell Ann to say he was just messing around?]

[Nope! We have a plan and it involves Ann being suspicious.]

[Are you sure that's a good idea? Ann has stopped freaking out and hasn't said anything for a while.]

[Yeah, I'm probably dead soon but it will be worth it in the end.]

{Okay then…we'll be there.]

He looks back at Shiho; "You ready Miss Shiho? They're heading back now."

She laughs; "Of course, Mister Akira."

Yougen-Jaya

They make it to the road that Leblanc was on. Akira got a text from Makoto saying that they made it to Leblanc Café while they were on the train since Shibuya was closer to Yougen-Jaya than Ikebukuro. They soon walk up to the entrance of the Café.

Akira looks over at Shiho; "So are you ready?" "I'm just going to say that this is a bad idea." "I know, that's why it's even better."

She smiles at him; "Yeah."

He smiles and grabs her hand; "Okay, just follow my lead." He slowly opens the door and walks in with Shiho following him. Once he sees that Ann was alone with a blank look on her face with her eyes red and puffy. Seeing her alone, he acts like he was just caught cheating; "A-Ann!? I-I thought you were with M-Makoto!?"

Ann glares at him then slowly walks up to him. She looks at their connects hands of him and the other person; "I was…but I heard from Ryuji that you weren't hanging out with him but…" She looks over at the girl, "You were with this…girl."

"W-Wait I minute! I can explain…"

*SLAP*

She slaps him so hard that everyone upstairs heard it while 'the girl' gasps and Akira falls onto the stools catching himself on the counter.

"You bastard! After my family welcomed you into the family, you go and cheat on me!?" "How could you do something like this Akira!?"

Akira was still recovering from the slap but he knew now that he shouldn't continue his plan; "Ann…wait! This is just a misunderstanding!" "Now that was a slap if I ever saw one, even I felt some of it.

"Oh! Now it's just a misunderstanding now!" "You are just like those other men…same goes for you Arsene from keeping it from us."

"Don't bring me into this…"

Shiho realizing that Akira wasn't doing what he had planned made her decide to reveal herself before things got worst; "Ann stop!"

Ann was about to go after her but stops when she recognizes the voice and her eyes go wide; "S-S-Shiho!?" "W-What!? Shiho dear!?"

Shiho takes off the sunglasses; "Yeah Ann, it's me."

She starts to cry softly unable to handle all the emotions going through her; "W-What's going on!?"

Shiho walks up to Ann then hugs her; "I wanted to surprise you so I told Akira that I was coming over when we talked that day."

Ann, after hearing the truth, was able to calm down a little but was now crying from happiness in seeing Shiho again so she hugs her back; "I can't believe you're here!" "This is so wonderful!"

Shiho starts crying from happiness; "I know it's been a while." She lets go of Ann; "Akira wanted to mess with you before I revealed myself but you kind of slapped him before he was going to go further." She says laughing

Gasping, Ann walks over to Akira who was sitting on the stool and hugs him; "Akira! I'm so sorry!" "I'm really sorry for saying that you two were like other men."

He laughs; "Don't be sorry, I kind of had it coming." "Still don't know why I was brought into this."

Ann laughs as well; "Yeah you did. Still I slapped you a little too hard."

A"Yeah, I'm going to probably have a bruised handprint now on my cheek. Anyway, now for your other surprise, everyone come on down!"

Ann looks at him confused hearing him say 'everyone come on down'; "Everyone?" She then hears multiple footsteps and saw everyone come down the stairs even Sojiro was upstairs; "Wait a minute! What's going on now!?"

Everybody then wishes Ann a Happy Birthday

Shiho starts smiling big; "Oh? Did I forget to mention that me and Akira were actually throwing you a surprise birthday party as well?"

Ann's eyes go wide eye again looking at Shiho and then at Akira; "Y-You two planned a birthday party for me!?"

Shiho laughs; "I just said we did."

Akira smiles at her and caresses her cheek; "Yeah, I know there isn't any décor…"

She stops him by kissing him with as much love as she could show then pulls back after a minute; "Thank you."

He smiles big at her; "You're welcome, my Anki."

Shiho fake scoffs; "Uh hellooo, I did say both of us!"

"Oh! Sorry Shiho!" Ann lets go of Akira and hugs her; "Thank you, Shiho."

She hugs her back; "Of course." She looks behind Ann and glares hard at Ryuji; "Even though a certain someone almost ruined it…"

Ryuji starts sweating from her glare; "H-Hey! I was just being a good friend!" "I reckon ye're about t' visit Davey Jones Locker, lad."

She marches over to him; "And you didn't think to just confront Akira first!?"

Hifumi wanted to say that it was her idea to text Ann first but was too scared to say anything especially after hearing Ann's slap.

Ann joins in on the assault; "You jerk! You almost scars me half to death!" "I believe you deserve punishment for your arrogance."

"The eff!? Why should I be punished!?" He points over to Akira; "He's the one that told me to not tell you that it was a misunderstanding!"

Akira smirks; "Yeah but I wouldn't have done it if you didn't text Ann first."

Ann looks over at Hifumi; "Sorry Hifumi but we're going to borrow Ryuji for a bit." " Sorry Kidd but you might feel this one."

Shiho smirks, "Don't worry Ryuji; we're just going to reward you for being a 'good' friend."

Ryuji starts freaking out while they starts dragging him to the entrance; "What the hell!? I don't want to get rewarded!"

After they successfully drag Ryuji away, Sojiro laughs; "Well Akira, it seems you dodged a bullet and only got slapped. Usually girls will threaten to castrate you for cheating."

He sighs; "Yeah that was really close." "Told you it was a bad idea."

Hifumi walks over to Akira; "Um...does it make me a bad girlfriend for being too scared to do anything?"

He laughs; "Nope! Ann mad by herself is scary but with Shiho mad as well. Wellll, you're going to probably die." After he says that, they all hear a scream; "Case in point."

Futaba walks up to him; "Are you okay?" "We were worried that Ann-chan was going to stop loving you…"

He rubs her head; "I'm doing fine now, Ann can hit hard though." "Don't worry Necro; I know that Ann would never stop loving him."

The café entrance opens and the two girls walks back in smiling innocently. Shiho smiles and bows; "Reward has been given."

Hifumi shivers, "Um, I should go check on him…" She then starts walking towards the entrance but avoids the two girls in fear.

Akira walks over to the girls; "So what did you two do to him?"

Shiho smirks, "You don't want to know."

"Well now I don't feel so bad about getting slapped."

Ann laughs; "Yeah I could have done a lot worst." "A lot worse." She then looks over at Makoto; "We're you in on it too?"

Makoto nods; "Yeah, it was easy but well, you know what happened." "That young man never learns, does he?" "No."

Yusuke smiles; "Akira was a model for me for a picture about spiritual energy. So I brought it here for you to have for your birthday." "It's a great piece of art."

Ann smiles big; "Aww, thank you Yusuke!" "You get a picture of Akira!? I want one of Arsene!"

Akira facepalms; "Oh god, it's the picture of me in the church…" "I don't think she's going to like this painting…"

Yusuke goes upstairs to grab the painting and returns with the said painting; "Here you go Ann." "We're sure you'll like it."

Ann carefully grabs the picture and looks at it seeing the pose that Yusuke asks Akira to do; "I don't know what this is supposed to mean but it's a nice picture of Akira. I love it! Thanks again, Yusuke!" "You really captured Akira's handsomeness."

Akira's eyes go wide not believing that she loved the painting; "Are you serious!?" "I was not expecting that."

The entrance to the café opens and Hifumi walks in. She walks over to Akira; "Akira, can you help me with Ryuji?"

"Sure thing." They both leave and once they got outside, Akira sees Ryuji slumped over against the wall and he had to stifle a laugh; "So what did they do?"

He slowly looks up at him; "Ann kicked me in the nuts and Suzui slapped me hard..." "Arrr…even I felt it."

Akira laugh; "Yeah I can see why you're in that position now." "That would bring any man down."

He glares at him; "You said that you were going to say that you forced me into this!?" "Come on lad, he didn' even force ye."

"First, I said no promises. Second, Shiho is right; you should have confronted me first."

"I'm not talking about that! I'm talking about not telling Ann!"

Akira smils, "Yeah, I shouldn't have done it but I wouldn't have done it if you didn't tell Ann first. Anyways, I got punishs for messing with Ann. You got punishs for almost ruining Ann's surprise and scaring Ann."

Ryuji sighs, "Damn, I guess you're right." "Hey at least you're not hanging from the gallows." "Can you lend me a hand? I can't walk really right now."

Akira laughs, "Of course." He kneels next to Ryuji and grabs his arm. He then puts it over his shoulder and gets up slowly then starts walking back to the café; "You know, this is an interesting bro moment." "Something to tell your future kids."

He scoffs; "Yeah, Yeah." "Better than scuttlin' yer owns mates at least."

Hifumi blushes thinking of a way to make him feel better; "Um…maybe later I can help you feel better, Ryu-kun?"

His eyes go wide blushing while Akira laughs; "Well now you have no reason to be mad."

Leblanc Cafe

Once they make it back into the Café, Akira helps Ryuji into a booth and he starts smelling curry being made as well as coffee; "You're making curry and coffee; Sojiro?"

Sojiro looks at him; "Yeah, you guys didn't get any food so I thought I make a big pot of curry for you guys but Haru is the one making the coffee. I actually asks her if she wanted a job here so she can earn experience for her future café and she accepted it."

He now notices Haru behind the counter; "Oh wow, really? That's good for you Haru."

"Thank you Akira-kun, I can't wait to start working here!" "I can't believe you're going to be working in a coffee shop…"

Sojiro nods; "She's doing really well already and it would be good to have some extra help. Maybe she could even use her grown vegetables for me to add to the menu."

Haru smiles hearing his idea; "I would love to do that!" "Oh great…"

Shiho walks over to Ryuji; "Sorry about that Ryuji. But I'm sure you learned your lesson?"

He sighs; "Yeah…sorry, you two."

Ann smiles and walks over to Ryuji as well then puts a arm around his shoulder; "Apology accepted, and thank you for worrying about me even if it scared me half to death." "Now you're making me feel bad about wanting a punishment."

Akira walks up to them and smiles; "Let's just let bygones be bygones." "That is a good idea." Ryuji and the two girls nod in agreement.

That's when Makoto walks over to Shiho; "Um Suzui-chan, can I talk to you alone real fast?"

Shiho looks at her confused but nods; "Yeah, that's fine."

Akira looks at them; "You guys can use the attic."

"Thank you." Makoto tells him and they walk up the stairs.

Ann looks at them going up stairs then looks at Akira; "That was weird; I wonder what she wants to talk about with Shiho?"

"It's probably about Kamoshida, she still feels regret about not doing anything about him."

She looks down remembering when she told off Makoto; "It's my fault…"

He puts a hand on her hand in comfort; "Yeah, but you were still upset about Shiho. It happens to all of us."

"Yeah, you're right and it would be good for Makoto."

Attic

Makoto and Shiho make it upstairs and sits on the couch.

Shiho looks at her; "So, what's up?"

She puts a piece of hair behind her ear; "I'm sorry for bringing him up but I'm sorry for doing nothing about Kamoshida…"

Shiho looks down; "I figured as much...Ann told me about you and her's argument. When you told her that she did nothing to help me, she had said that to you."

She keeps looking down but nods her head; "Yes, it was in the heat of the moment when I said that to her and it was also because I knew she was right and didn't want to admit it. So I should be part of the blame for not doing anything about him."

Shiho shakes her head; "It wasn't either of your faults, the only one who did it was Kamoshida. Besides, there was nothing you or Ann could do, he had so much power in the school that no one would go against him."

"But I still do anything about it…"

Shiho puts a hand on her hand; "Do you regret that you didn't do anything?"

"Of course I do."

"Then that's all that matters." Shiho smiles at her; "We all make mistakes, I shouldn't have gone into his office and just told Ann what he was doing. Ann shouldn't had kept pretending to hit on Kamoshida for me, and you should have done something about it. Basically what I am saying is, is that we all were idiots and we should just look past this."

Makoto finally looks at her smiling; "Yes, you are right. We should all look past this. I'm glad that I got to talk to you, I couldn't stop thinking about it."

"I understand and I'm glad we talked as well." She gets up and Makoto does as well; "Do you want to be friends?"

Makoto smiles, "Of course, I would like that." "I'm glad you two were able to talk about this."

"I'm glad to hear that! Let's exchange chat id and number then."

They both bring out their phones and exchange information.

After they were done, Makoto hugs Shiho surprising her; "I'm sorry for what happened to you."

She hugs her back; "Thank you." She let's go of her; "We should go back before Ann and Akira worry."

Shiho nods; "Yeah! Don't want them to worry now!" They go downstairs then over to Akira and Ann

Ann sees them walk towards them; "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Better than okay!" Shiho says smiling at them

Makoto nods in agreement; "Yes, everything is okay now."

Akira smiles, "I'm glad to hear that."

Futaba walks to the corner booth of the Café where Yusuke was busy drawing; "Hey Inari, whatcha drawing?" "Hey there, Elvis!"

Yusuke quickly flips over the paper; "N-Nothing!" "I've wanted to ask this. Why do you insist on calling me Elvis?"

She sits in the booth intent on finding out what he was drawing since he quickly turns the picture over; "Come on, show me." "Cause you have the same hair as the King of Rock and Roll in America."

He glares at her; "No." "King of Rock of Roll?"

"So you'll show everyone your pictures but not me…" She says pouting "Please don't tell me that you don't know rock and roll?"

Yusuke looks away; "That's not it Futaba, its private..." "No, I don't know what this Rock and Roll is."

That just made Futaba more interested; "Let's see…" She looks at his art supplies and sees a lot of pink; "Hmm, it can't be cherry blossoms since it's close to winter." "Oh my god, Futaba-chan can you look up Elvis music for me, please?" She grabs her phone and puts on Elvis music surprising Yusuke how fast she was.

Ann looks over at them from the other end of the Café hearing the music; "Why is Futaba playing Elvis music?" "Who is this Elvis?" Carmen whispers. "He's an American Rock and Roll artist who was considered the King of it." "Huh…I may not understand what he's saying but he does have a wonderful voice."

Yusuke sighs; "Are you really trying to guess what I am drawing?" "Hmmm, so that's what Rock and Roll is? It does sound good and he does have the same hair as me."

"Yep." She continues to look for clues by looking to find anything pink in the shop till she looks at Haru and sees that she was wearing her pink sweater and remembers that had pink hair making her eyes go wide and she smiles big; "You're drawing a picture of Haru, aren't cha?" "See! Me calling you Elvis is not bad!"

He starts freaking out because she was right on the money; "Not so loud, Futaba!" "Okay, you can keep calling me Elvis then."

"You're acting stranger than usual; you never hesitant in showing people your art." "Really!? Yay! You're the best!"

He sighs; "The reason I'm afraid to show it to her…is because I have develop feelings for Haru." "Thank you for saying that I am the best."

"Really?" She says surprised then speaks quietly as well; "Then just tell her and use the picture." "Wait, does that mean you have feelings for that evil witch, Elvis?" Necro speaks quietly, surprising even herself.

He looks down not feeling confident; "I don't know if I should…" "Yes I do, even if she is this evil witch."

Smirking, she quickly grabs the picture then runs to Haru. "I don't know why you do! But we'll help!"

Yusuke, at first, didn't realize what happened but then shakes his head put of the shock; "Futaba stop!" "You must get her, quick!" He gets out of the booth and chases after her.

Everyone turns towards the commotion seeing Futaba giving Haru something and Yusuke realizing that it was too late making everyone get up to see what was going on.

Haru grabs the picture and her eyes go wide when she looks at it. Because even though it wasn't completely finished, it was a picture of her behind the counter making the coffee for everyone. She instantly looks over at Yusuke since she knew that he drew it but was still surprises that it was him because he only drew things that were interesting to him; "D-Did you draw this, Yusuke-kun?" "Of course he did, Mistress. He's the only one who can draw. I don't get why you're so shocked by it."

Everyone looks over at Yusuke while he was sweating obviously nervous; "Y-yes…I did..." "I think it is time to announce our feelings, sir."

Everyone looks at Haru; "B-But you only draw things that are interesting to you..." "Oh god, please don't tell me…"

Everyone looks back at Yusuke; "T-That's because you are interesting to me. B-Because I have develops feelings for you…" "And I have develops feelings for you my Mistress, Milady."

Everyone gasps except Sojiro, Futaba, Akira, and Ann who smiles with

She blushes smiling; "I-I…had feelings for you as well, I had them for a while but you never seemed interested..." "This is just a nightmare…this is just a nightmare…" Milady kept repeating quietly.

His eyes go wide; "Does that mean..?"

She walks up to him and hugs him; "Yes, I want to be with you." "Noooooooooooo!"

He smiles big as well and hugs her back; "Hearing that is better than any art in the world." "Oh…you don't feel the same, Milady…?"

Everyone congratulates the both of them expect for one

"Of course not, you big oaf!" Milady shouts out

Necro was upset about what Milady was saying; "Why are you being such an evil witch to Elvis!?"

She laughs; "So I'm a evil witch for not having these pathetic feelings for an oaf?"

Arsene agrees with Necro; "You may not have the same feelings for Goemon but you could at least let him down gently."

"Fine, look Goemon; you're not the type of man that I'm into. I want wealth and fame. You don't have either of that."

Even though everyone in the PT didn't like her type of men, it wouldn't be right to force her and Goemon together because it was her choice.

Goemon sighs in defeat; "Can I still be your boytoy then...?"

For some reason, Milady felt a pang of guilt hearing his sadness but shakes it off; "No…it would feel weird now since you have these 'feelings' for me. So I will set you free."

Now Goemon was broken; "I guess you're right…"

Carmen whispers to Anat, "I feel really bad for Goemon…"

"Yeah...I kind of do too but what does he see in her?" Anat whispers back

"Well Its Goemon…"

"Yeah that makes sense…"

"Arrr, don't worry about it Goe, I don't 'ave a lass either! So we can both be lonely together as ship-bros!" Kidd says trying to cheer Goemon up

He sighs, "That sounds good…"

Sojiro smiles at everyone; "The curry's all ready for you guys."

Ryuji smiles forgetting about Haru's and Yusuke's moment after hearing food; "Sweet! I was getting hungry!"

Sojiro looks at new couple; "Sorry Yusuke but Haru would you like to help me with the passing out the plates and coffee? Think of it as part of your training as well."

She lets go of Yusuke and nods at Sojiro then follows him behind the counter and starts helping him get everything set up. After they give everyone the curry and coffee, except Ryuji who got a soda, they all drink the coffee to see how good Haru made it.

Akira and Ann smiles; "This is really good, Haru!" "Yeah, this is good!" "Great job, Haru!" "Ooooo, this is magnificent!" Everyone says the same things

Haru bows appreciative of their compliments; "Thank you everyone!" "Now can you finally stop worrying about being bad at making coffee?"

After they finish their coffee, they starts eating and Shiho looks over at Akira; "Hey Akira, You said something about Boss being your guardian. What happened to your parents?"

Akira looks down while Ann put a hand on his; "They, uh, disowned me."

Shiho gasps; "Are you serious!? Over a false criminal record!?"

"Yeah. From what Ann told me, is that my Father cares more about his status than about me."

She looks down feeling sorry for him; "I'm so sorry Akira…I know it must've been hard to hear that..."

"Honestly, yeah it was and I kind of went off on Ann because of it."

She glares at him; "And why would you go off on Ann because of what happened to your parents?"

Ann sighs; "Well it was my fault…Sojiro told me about his parents in June and he overheard me talk to his dad during the culture festival…"

She facepalms; "Really Ann? That's not something that you hide from someone."

"Yeah I know, I was stupid but I was just worried about Akira."

"You always worry too much and now you seen what happens when you do. Well that or slap Akira."

Akira laughs; "Yeah, she did do that."

Ann looks down; "That's because you did something stupid..."

"Well I did deserve it for hurting you and Sojiro. But, you still saved me."

Shiho looks at them confused; "Ann saved you?"

Akira sighs, "Well...I tried to kill myself."

She spits out some curry out; "What!?" She yells in disbelief

"Well I thought I lost everything after I hurt Sojiro and Ann. Not only that, I felt broken after hearing about my parents."

"Geez Akira." She says looking down; "I never thought you would try to do that…but I know how it feels..."

"Yeah it was stupid of me but like I said Ann saved me."

Ann shakes her head; "Actually, it was because of Makoto that I saved you…"

Makoto frowns; "Ann…you didn't have to say that."

"It's fine Makoto." He looks at Akira; "After you said to leave you alone, I was scared to follow after you till Makoto slapped some sense into me."

"Well you were just making excuses so I had to slap them out of you."

Akira laughs; "Did you just make a joke, Makoto?"

She shrugs; "I can make jokes as well. I think being around all of you has brought it out of me."

After they were done eating, Shiho smiles at Akira, "So Akira, do you want to give Ann her birthday present?"

Ann gasps and looks at Akira; "You got me something!?" "I'm sure you gave her something marvelous!"

Everyone looks over at Akira, who was starting to get really nervous; "Well…I…uh..." "I understand why you would be nervous." Arsene whispers.

Ann laughs; "Geez Akira, you're usually never this nervous. If it's something that only involves me and you then let's go upstairs." "Oh my god! Are you going to give her a show!?"

Shiho laughs; "Oh no, I want to see this!"

He gulps finally calming his nerves then gets out of the booth. He then grabs Ann's hand gently and leads her out of the booth. Still holding her hand, he lets out a breath that he didn't know he was holding and pulls out a small box; "I want to give you this as a sign of my everlasting love for you." "That was really good.

Everyone's eyes go wide but Ann starts becoming short of breath; "A-Akira...I-Is t-this a r-ring!?" "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

He slowly nods; "Yes, it's a promise…" He didn't get to finish because Ann just faints; "Ann!?" He put her head on his lap worried. "I think she might've just fainted. So don't worry."

"Oh, you just had to faint now!"

Sojiro walks up to them and checks Ann's pulse; "Relax Akira, she only fainted."

Ryuji walks up to Akira and puts a hand on his shoulder; "Were you really going to propose to her?" "Arrr, about time I say!"

He calms down, no longer worried since she just fainted; "No, I was just giving her a promise ring." "That sounds like the next step to marriage to be honest."

Shiho laughs; "Giving a girlfriend a promise ring is basically a step away from marriage."

Ann soon starts stirring and slowly opens her eyes; "W-What happened?"

Akira looks down at her and smiles; "Afternoon, sleepy head, you fainted."

"I fainted?" She sits up and shakes her head then her eyes go wide remembering why she fainted; "W-were you proposing to me!?"

Chuckling, he helps her up; "No, but close, I was giving you a promise ring."

Ann was beyond shocked; "A-A promise ring!?"

He nods; "Yeah, I want to give you this as a sign that I will love you and only you. Will you acc…" Before Akira can even finish, he was tackled by her and she starts kissing him.

After a minute, Ann pulls back; "Of course, I accept it."

He smiles; "To be honest, I kind of figured you would but it's still great to hear it." He then gives her the ring which she instantly puts on.

She starts looking at the five small rubies and gold band in awe; "This is so beautiful!" "It's absolutely gorgeous!"

Shiho walks up to them; "Well it better be especially since it cost ten thousand yen."

Ann looks at Shiho then Akira in shock; "Are you serious!?" "Oh my god, that's a lot of yen!" "But I thought you said we shouldn't use the PT funds for ourselves?"

He laughs; "Maybe because I've been saving up with my part time jobs. Because I've been wanting to buy you something big for a long time." "Looks like all your hard work paid off."

Ann kisses his cheek, "Thank you, it really is beautiful." Everyone then walks up towards Ann to look at the ring.

Makoto smiles, "It really is beautiful…" "Are you doing okay, Makoto-san?" Anat whispers. "I think so…of course I'm happy for them but it still hurts…"

Haru smiles looking at Akira; "Are these rubies?" He nods. "You know Mistress you can snatch the ring and sell it back." Milady whispers. "No."

Futaba looks at the ring closely; "It's so pretty!" "Aw! I want to touch it!"

Hifumi smiles looking at the ring; "It really does look beautiful."

Ryuji looks at Hifumi and sighs; "I don't think I can ever get her something like that…" "Why don't ye ask Cap'n if ye can use some o' our booty?" Kidd whispers. "You think he would?" "Ne'er hurts t' ask."

Shiho smiles at Ann; "Well now that Akira gave you his gift and it's getting late, I guess we should wrap it up. So did you like your surprise party?"

Ann was practically flying high; "Yes! Thank you for throwing it for me!" She hugs her

She laughs hugging her back; "I'm glad to hear that, Ann. Don't forget to thank Akira, he lost his soul for a bit from your slap, helping me plan your party."

Ann smiles letting go of her; "You're right!" She then hugs Akira then whispers; "Thank you and don't worry, I'll make it up to you for slapping you, next Saturday."

He chuckles hugging her back; "Looking forward to it."

Shiho sighs; "I guess I should be heading back…" She looks over at Ann; "I know your wouldn't last a minute without Akira but you want to head back together since my parents are with yours?"

She lets go of Akira and nods at her; "Yeah, I wants to say hi to your parents anyways."

Shiho smiles; "Cool." She looks over at Akira; "Before we leave, didn't you say you would show me how you guys steal hearts?" Everyone in the PT gasps

Ann looks at Akira in disbelief; "Why did you tell Shiho that we're phantom thieves!?" "Well now that I think about it, it's not that bad that she knows."

Shiho rolls her eyes; "Calm down Ann, I figured it out once it went on the news that phantom thieves change people's hearts. I'm pretty sure that Kamoshida wouldn't just confess his crimes after what he did to me. And only you guys knew what he was doing."

She sighs; "I should've known that you would figure it out." "Does that mean I can officially meet Shiho!?"

Akira laughs; "Relax Ann, it's not like we're putting her into danger." "I actually want to meet Shiho as well."

"You're right plus Carmen wants to meet her." She says smiling. "Yes!"

Shiho looks at Ann confused; "Carmen?"

Akira smirks; "You'll see." He then takes out his phone and presses the Metaverse app making the world become distorted. Hifumi and Shiho hold their heads feeling the distortion.

Shiho shakes her head and looks around; "Okay…I felt a throb in my head but nothing's changed."

Hifumi does the same thing; "Everything looks the same."

Akira looks over at Hifumi; "Oh yeah, you never went to the Metaverse either." She shakes her head

Shiho looks at him confused; "The Metaverse?"

Morgana walks up Akira and the two girls looks at him in shock; "Maybe we should go outside."

Shiho points at Morgana shocks; "W-Wait a minute!? Why is the cat standing on two legs and talking!?"

He looks at her; "That's because I'm secretly a human and that's the only reason why Ann chose to be with Akira instead." "And Carmen would know what it's like to be with a true man once she leaves Arsene!"

Futaba walks up to Morgana and drags him away' "Even if you were really human. Ann will still ignore you Mona." "Yeah! You big poopy heads!"

Hifumi, still in shock from seeing Morgana and hearing him, looks at Futaba in shock as well; "D-Did another voice come out of both your heads!?"

Akira laughs, "Let's just go outside and we'll show you." Hifumi and Shiho nods slowly and him as well as the other follows him outside.

Sojiro shrugs; "I guess I'll read the paper till they get back."

Once they go outside, he gestures to all of them to follow him to an open area. He then looks at Ann and Ryuji; "Alright, come out Carmen and Kidd."

Carmen and Kidd came out of Ann and Ryuji.

Carmen bows to Shiho and Hifumi; "I am Carmen, a seductress; it's great to finally meet you darlings at last!"

Kidd starts crackling; "Ahoy lasses, I be Cap'n Kidd, a pirate! It's an honor t' meet ye both."

Shiho and Hifumi were shocked to say the least but Shiho was the first to recover; "This is pretty crazy so you guys use them to change people's hearts?"

Akira nods; "Yeah." He goes on to explain everything involving the Metaverse, the Personas, Morgana and how to change hearts.

Shiho holds her chin thinking aloud; "So they're your hidden personalities and you steal people's hearts by taking their desires?" Akira nods; "Okay, when did our world turn into an anime?"

He shrugs; "We're still trying to figure that out."

Hifumi shakes her head out of shock and walks up to Kidd slowly, still shocks about what she was seeing; "Um, it's nice to meet you Captain. So you're Ryuji's hidden self?"

Kidd nods; "That be true."

She smiles and looks at Ryuji; "So you secretly want to be a pirate?"

He shakes his head; "It sounds cool but nah, from what Kidd told me, is that he was a soldier but became a pirate. I was part of a track team but then Kamoshida ruined that so I stopped caring about the rules. So that's why he's my persona."

She nods; "That does makes sense."

Shiho walks up to Carmen; "Well I don't even have to ask if your Ann's hidden self, I kind of figured she would secretly be a seducer."

Akira laughs; "Oh yeah, she is." Ann lightly punches his arm making him laugh more; "Well it's true."

Carmen instantly kneels down and pulls Shiho into her chest; "I've been wanting to meet you for so long!"

"Gah!" She was now trying to pull away because she was being suffocated by Carmen's chest.

"Uh Carmen, I think you're suffocating her." Akira says trying not to laugh

"Oh!" Carmen pulls Shiho away who was catching her breath; "I'm so sorry Shiho dear! I got so excited meeting you."

Shiho, after catching her breathe, starts laughing; "Yeah you're definitely Ann's hidden self." She smirks at Akira; "Well Akira, if Ann gets a chest like hers when she gets older, you might accidentally die happy." "I know I would."

He blushes looking away; "Well, uh…I'm fine with how see looks now." "Good answer." Arsene whispers.

Ann holds Akira's arm and kisses his cheek; "Aw, thank you."

"Speaking of hidden selves, Akira. Who's your hidden self?"

He smiles at her; "Well Arsene, why don't you show yourself?"

Arsene appears out of Akira and then bows; "Hello ladies, I am Arsene, a gentleman thief. It's a pleasure to meet you two."

Shiho put a hand on her chin looking at Arsene; "A gentleman thief huh? Well he already sounds respectful and a gentleman. Okay yeah, I can see him being Akira's hidden self." The rest of the group's personas came out and introduce themselves. She smiles seeing all the personas; "This is all so weird still but cool at the same time."

Hifumi agrees with her; "Yes, I can't believe there's another world here as well." She looks over at Morgana; "Not only that, a talking cat who stands on his hind legs."

Morgana stops his foot in annoyance; "I keep telling you that I'm a human!" "I can see why this girl would want Ryuji, they are both imbeciles."

That pissed off Ryuji; "Hey you giant cat, Hifumi is not an imbecile!" "Don't ye dare go aft me matey's lass!"

Akira glares at Zorro; "Apologize now."

Zorro scoffs; "Fine, only Ryuji is an imbecile."

Hifumi glares at Zorro; "You only think he's an imbecile because he has someone who loves him unlike you." Everyone even Morgana looks at her in shock from insulting someone.

Akira walks over to Ryuji and starts whispering; "I think you got yourself a winner."

Ryuji didn't even respond because he was still in shock.

Zorro mumbles; "How dare she make a fool out of me."

Arsene glares at Zorro; "Well next time don't be a jackass."

But that's when Zorro draws out his rapier and points it at Arsene; "You dare disrespect me!? Finally! I can challenge you to a duel!"

He just quickly runs up to Zorro and quickly disarms him; "Do you really want to test me Zorro?"

Ignoring him, Zorro throws a punch but Arsene quickly grabs his hand and goes behind him pulling his arm as well.

He smirks behind his mask; "Are you done yet?"

Zorro grunts in pain; "Fine…I'm done..."

"Good." He lets go of his arm and walks toward Akira but turns around and knees Zorro hard in his stomach making him kneel while everyone else flinches; "That was for the Reaper."

Hifumi and Shiho were in awe seeing Arsene in action

Akira smiles and looks up at Arsene; "That must've felt good." "Yes it did." "Anyway, let's go back in so we can go back."

"Wait!" Carmen stops everyone from going in and quickly walks up to Arsene then tears his mask away and starts kissing him. After a few minutes; she pulls away; "Sorry, seeing you do that to Zorro, really got me excited."

Arsene smiles; "Well I had a lot of pent up rage against him that I had to let it out sometime."

She leans toward his ear and whispers; "And once we get some alone time, there's something that I've had pent up about, that I want you to release..."

He smirks; "I'm looking forward to it."

Akira laughs, "Alright you two, we need to get back."

Carmen sighs, "Fine then…"

Once they walks back in, Akira activates the app and they all return to the real world.

Shiho shakes her head; "Man...talk about living in a fantasy world!"

"I never expected to see personalities became humanlike." Hifumi says agreeing with her

Makoto smiles at the two; "You two seem to take this better than I thought."

Shiho shrugs; "I kind of figured that it involves something 'magical'.

Hifumi smiles; "Well Ryu-kun already told me most of what you guys do, it was just surprising to actually see your, um, personas and this Metaverse and Morgana standing on two legs."

Ryuji sighs; "Yeah...but now you have to hear the Morgana." "These poor lasses…"

Morgana jumps on a booth; "Rather me than you!" Hifumi glares at Morgana; "I-I mean…I'll be on my best behavior."

Akira looks at Ryuji; "You should bring Hifumi around more often." "Wow, someone that can actually keep Morgana quiet."

But that's when Shiho's phone goes off and she brings it out. She looks at it and frowns; "My parents are ready to go…" She sighs; "I kind of want to stay here."

Akira gives her a small smile; "It would be nice. You can visit us anytime."

She smiles; "Yeah, you're right." She turns to everyone; "Well goodbye everyone! It was great to meet you all!"

Yusuke and Haru walk up to her; "It was wonderful to meet you." "Meeting you was wonderful." "Please visit us again, Shiho-chan!" "Yeah, I guess you're alright."

Sojiro and Futaba walk up to her; "It was nice to meet you, Suzui." "You're really cool!" "You're as great as Ann-chan!"

Morgana meows at Shiho; "I forgot to say this but you're almost as beautiful as Lady Ann!" "…"

Shiho looks at him confused; "Uh thanks, I guess?"

Ann rolls her eyes; "Just ignore him." She walks over to Akira and hugs him; "Thank you again for the promise ring, I'll always cherish it." "I'll see you tomorrow, Arsey!" "I'll see you tomorrow."

Akira hugs her back; "I'm glad to hear that. I'll see you tomorrow." "I'll see you tomorrow, Carme." Ann then let go of him.

Shiho looks at Akira; "Actually Akira, mind if we talk outside, real fast?"

Akira nodds, "Of course."

The both walk outside then walk to the side of the entrance. She then turns around and smiles; "Thanks for helping me with the surprise party. I know it must have been rough for you."

He sighs; "Yeah, you don't have to remind me again."

"I know, I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it. Not just about the party but for everything."

He raises an eyebrow; "Everything?"

She rolls her eyes; "I'm talking about taking care Ann and…" She then hugs him; "With Kamoshida, if it wasn't for you, Ann would still be hurting and I would probably never recovered knowing that he would have gotten away from it…"

He nods; "I understand and I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you sooner..."

She lets go of him and shakes her head; "No, don't be." She then laughs, "Sorry to bring sadness to a happy day but I wants to tell you that in person."

He smiles; "It's no problem, like I said before, I'm glad you're doing great."

"And like I said before, it's all thanks to you and Ann." She looks down contemplating something but then walks over to Akira and kisses his cheek with a light blush; "Uh...that's for everything, just don't tell Ann I did that."

He looks at her in shock; "Y-Yeah, don't worry, I definitely won't tell her."

"Good. We should go back in." Akira nods and they walks back in.

Once they walk in, Ann looks at them; "So what did you two talk about?"

Shiho shrugs; "I just wanted to thank him for helping me with your surprise party."

"Oh okay, well are you ready then?"

She sighs but nods; "Yeah…let's get going." After Shiho said goodbye to everyone again, her and Ann leave.

Sojiro walks up to Akira and puts a hand on his shoulder; "So Ann's the one huh?"

He nod;, "Yeah, I feel like I'm nothing without her." "That basically means she's the one."

Ann and Shiho were walking to the train. But Ann kept looking at the ring smiling; "A promise ring…I can't believe it..." "It's like your dream is almost coming true!"

Shiho smiles; "You know, you're really lucky to have someone like Akira."

Ann beams and nods; "Yeah I am." She then looks at her suspiciously; "You know...It almost seems like you like him." Shiho just keeps looking forward; "Are you serious!?"

She shrugs; "So? It's not like I'm going to try and take him from you. I'm pretty sure he'll be nothing without you." She then frowns, "To be honest, even thought I joke about it, you didn't have to slap him today. Shouldn't you know that he isn't that kind of guy?"

Ann's eyes go wide; "I said the same thing about Emily…" "Maybe we should stop accusing Akira…" "Yeah, you're right…Geez thanks for making me feel bad…"

Shiho laughs, "You're welcome, my little airheaded friend."

Akira's Room

Akira was laying on his bed, tired from today; "Man, today was really hectic but fun." "Everything kind of worked out in the end." "Yeah, hanging out with Shiho and everyone was great and giving Ann the promise ring was even better. Also, I was wondering when Yusuke and Haru was going to admit their feelings for eachother." "But poor Goemon, I know he's heartbroken about Milady." "I know it sounds rude to say this but what does he see in her?" "That is a question that only Goemon would know." But that's when his phone goes off and he already guessed who it was; "Huh? I'm surprised that she's not tired." "Maybe she wants to wish you goodnight."

[Hey, are you up?]

[Yeah, what's up?]

[Sorry, me and Shiho were talking after we left. And she made me realize that I shouldn't keep accusing you of cheating.]

[Don't worry about it, it's my fault anyways.]

[No, I should know you're not that kind of person. I sound like Emily…]

{No you don't, it's not like I'm dead to you now.]

[Yeah, you're right. Actually, there's another reason for texting you, give me a second; I want to send you something to kind of make up for what I did.]

Akira's heart starts beating fast wondering what it was.

After a minute, Akira's phone went off and he quickly grabs it seeing what it was made his eyes go wide.

It was an overhead picture of Ann in her bed but she was in her underwear and her bra straps were off and it was only held up by her hand. There was a message after it.

[Sorry for what I did, I hope this is good enough for now.]

Let's just say that Akira couldn't sleep on his stomach for a long while